When There Was a Tomorrow
by General Rage
Summary: Do you remember when there was a tommorow? Commander Wade Shepard does, but with a Reaper threat looming he's not sure there is one anymore. And he's about to discover that his universe may not be the only one where mankind faces extinction. M for B&V
1. Just Recon

When there was a Tomorrow

Chapter 1: "Just Recon"

**July, 20th, 2185**

Starboard observation was usually a place to see many a wondrous sight on the Normandy. Uncharted planets, stars, constellations and nebulas, any such vista would take a crew member's mind off the hustle and bustle of ship life. At least, most of the time it would, today what lay outside the thick pressurized glass was part of the hustle and bustle, not a distraction. Normally Commander Wade Shepard would be standing here looking at the stars, contemplating the universe and all its magnitude with the Asari Justicar Samara, not so today. Both he and Samara remained silent as they stared out the window at something they never imagined they would see on this prolonged cruise, a wormhole. At least that's what they were told it was.

It had been four weeks since Shepard had uncovered the full scale of the task that lay before him and grasped the horror of what lay on the horizon if he failed. The Collectors, destroyed along with their base and its terrible experiments, were only pawns in a much more horrifying design. One that would see the human race turned into their masters, the Reapers. The race of ancient machines that had wiped out the Protheans apparently needed organics to create more of their kind, specifically humans. He didn't know why, but it was reason enough to fear the coming storm. The words of the Reaper Harbinger haunted him nightly.

"_You've changed nothing."_ It had said "_Your species has the attention of those infinitely your greater. That which you know as Reapers are your salvation through destruction. You will surrender your potential against the growing void. We are the Harbinger of your perfection, we will bring your species into harmony with our own. We will return... and you will rise."_

The nightmares of the Skylian Blitz and the friends he had lost there were replaced by visions of his family, his crew members and finally himself being swallowed up to join a newly reborn Reaper body as Earth burned beneath them. It was no wonder he hadn't been sleeping. Yet as terrifying as the prospect of galactic extinction was, it had also driven him forward. Now he was more focused than ever on the mission at hand, as was everyone else on the crew. No more kowtowing to Cerberus or being blocked by the Council, he needed to prepare for the Reaper invasion. If only because no one else besides the crew of the Normandy knew what was at stake. It was why they were all here in the first place, staring at this wormhole, one they could see clearly even from several light-years away.

Shepard clicked on a portable FTL communication device he had brought with him, he didn't need the fancy floor installed one the Illusive Man had placed in this ship. Simplicity worked over showmanship. Appearing almost at once was the holographic image of an old friend, Liara T'Soni.

"Alright Liara," he told her. "Channel is secure, looks like that data you fished out of the archive wasn't bull after all."

"I feared as much," Liara said, distressed at the news. "The Shadow Broker's information network is rarely wrong after all."

Not long after Shepard had defeated the Collectors he had helped Liara settle an old debt of her own with the Shadow Broker. They both got more than they bargained for in the end and came up against a rather large and intimidating alien species in the process. But now the Shadow Broker was dead and Liara had taken his place. In the midst of sifting through his files, she had discovered exactly how much he knew and had come upon a lead that had brought the Normandy to this secluded star system near the edge of the Perseus Veil. Now that information was confirmed, the Shadow Broker had discovered a wormhole and it was definitely not natural.

"How long do you think till it sucks up the entire system?" Shepard asked Liara.

"You're confusing it with a black hole, Wade." Liara corrected him. "Its singularity is slightly weaker than a collapsed star. And the proper term in any case would be pull, not suck. You should be relatively safe as long as you don't get near it."

As they talked, another person appeared in the room. The hooded woman suddenly walked out from behind Shepard, unannounced to him, and skipped over to the window, placing her hands against her brow trying to get a better look at the far off tear in space and time.

"So this is why we're here." She spoke up, only a little surprised. "I heard the crew talking, but I needed to see it for myself."

"Hello Kasumi," Shepard said, slightly agitated by her sudden appearance. "Didn't feel like knocking?"

Kasumi turned her head to the commander and seemed to scoff at such a notion.

"What kind of thief do you take me for?" She asked him sarcastically. "Knock? That's like the dumbest thing you can do in my profession. Besides, I love seeing the looks on people's faces when I just pop out of nowhere. Like yours Shepard it was kinda like this..."

Kasumi did her best to imitate Shepard's appearance, although it was hard to see her face as it was obscured by her hood. Shepard stifled a laugh, it was hard not to be infected by Kasumi's seemingly carefree attitude.

"Funny," Shepard told her. "Want me to draw a blonde little biker stache on you to complete the image?"

"Pft, please and ruin this face?" Kasumi asked jokingly. "I'll say this though, you make it look better since you keep it regulation short. Just like your hair, God you are so military when it comes to looks. In any case I'd still need a tan."

Being the ever curious woman she was, Kasumi quickly changed the subject back to the initial topic.

"So Shepard, what are we doing looking at a wormhole anyway?" She asked. "I mean, I know they're rare and all but..."

Shepard figured he might as well explain it all since she was here. Everyone was going to get a full briefing eventually.

"It's mostly thanks to Liara," he began. "She found something while digging through the Shadow Broker's files."

"Hopefully nothing on me," Kasumi said, peeking around Shepard to look at Liara's little holographic form. "I do prefer my privacy you know. I know that sounds hypocritical, but I need my personal space."

"You have nothing to fear," Liara assured. "Any and all secrets of the Normandy's crew are safe with me. For now, the wormhole should be our real concern. The Shadow Broker knew much about the Reapers and the Collectors. As I told Shepard, he was looking for ways to survive. One of his deep space probes sent to investigate Reaper activity picked up an anomaly in this sector. Subsequent data confirmed that it was some kind of Wormhole, one that could not have been created by natural causes."

"I still don't get why he thought that," said a confused Shepard. "Wormholes aren't exactly big headline grabbers in science journals from what I hear. We run into so few it's hard to gather sufficient data on them."

"Yes, but most are not in the middle of solar systems or near planets, this one is," Liara explained. "More importantly, if the Shadow Broker's analysis is correct, the particles around the wormhole seem to contain the same energy given off by a mass effect field, namely element zero."

"I'm assuming the only things that can make a big enough mass effect field to cut through space and time are a really big mass relay shooting something out really fast..." Kasumi began.

"Or a Reaper," Shepard finished for her. "Of course that's only theoretical. We're just assuming that the Reapers did it, I mean they made the Mass Relays, the Citadel and the Collector Base; who's to say that they can't find a way to make wormholes? All we know for sure is that this thing was made by something that uses mass effect fields like our ships, only it bent time and space enough to create a hole in it."

"Unfortunately that's all the information we have," Liara summarized. "The Shadow Broker's probes got too close, they were pulled through by the singularity. It may not be as strong as a Black Hole, but make no mistake, it is still a powerful anomaly."

Liara sighed deeply and shook her head.

"I'm sorry I can't give you more," she said sorrowfully, "I feel like I've led you all into a trap."

"If it really has to do with the Reapers it is important, Liara," Shepard assured her. "Trap or not we have to investigate."

"Yeah," Kasumi said butting in,. "You've only told us to check out a strange rip in time and space that was possibly born out of some kind mass effect field, but we don't know how or why, and it's possible that the Reapers are involved making this mission all the more dangerous, but it's not your fault."

Shepard stared back at Kasumi, his face not hiding the displeasure over her rather crass statement. Kasumi was one to always speak her mind, even when no one else wanted to hear it. At times Shepard appreciated her honesty, but this wasn't one of those times. Kasumi, however, sensed this and immediately shifted the meaning of her statement.

"It's Shepard's fault," she quickly redirected as she pointed at her Commander with the usual chipper tone in her speech. "He's the one who tells Joker where to go, you just gave him directions."

"Thank you, Kasumi," Shepard replied, not entirely pleased by her method of comforting Liara. "I can always trust you to cheer everyone up."

"It's a gift," Kasumi said smiling cheekily.

Liara, brought out of her slight blame fest by the human thief, finally reasserted herself into the conversation.

"If anyone can figure out what all of this is about it's you, Shepard," She told him earnestly. "But please do be careful. The Galaxy still needs you."

"I'm always careful," Shepard assured her confidently.

"I wouldn't call running head first into the lair of an ancient sentient plant creature like the Thorian very careful." Liara replied jokingly. "In any case, good luck. I need to get back to scanning the archives. Let me know what you find."

"Sure thing Liara, you'll be the first person I contact," He reassured her. "Shepard out."

As the holographic image of T'Soni faded, Kasumi lingered staring out the window with a tinge of awe at the singularity. Shepard could sense the concern on her face, even covered by the hood as it was. She had good reason for it with what she now knew about the mission, he didn't blame her for it, but she hid it very well nonetheless.

"Guess there's not going to be anything to steal on this one, huh?" She asked Shepard.

"Sorry Kasumi," Shepard replied with a light-hearted smile. "I know we haven't had the chance to hit some expensive targets like Blue Sun bases or Red Sand Cartel villas lately."

"Hey, I'm not complaining." Kasumi assured, her melancholy dissipating for a bit. "I figure as long as I'm with you I'm off the grid anyway, it's the way I like it. Even if I don't get to steal stuff there's always something interesting. That and let's face it, when the Reapers come it's not like I'm gonna have many places to hide. Might as well stick around and help for awhile, I figure."

Shepard appreciated the sentiment, especially when galaxy saving wasn't Kasumi's desired career path. He wouldn't have blamed half his crew for going their separate ways after the Collectors went down, but for one reason or another they all decided to stay on for awhile longer. They all made up excuses or spoke honestly about why they wanted to remain. Everyone except Zaeed, of course who said his contract was done. The old merc did however lay out the fact that Shepard could hire him on to help him defeat the Reapers if he paid well enough. Shepard didn't know if that was extortion or if Messani was just trying to save face and not look soft; either way, he was glad to have the experienced warrior on the ship. Zaeed was a man you wanted on your side when robotic monsters were descending towards the Milky Way. He survived everything else the Galaxy had thrown at him after all.

Kasumi turned to one of the crew mates that hadn't left for more noble reasons, Samara. The Justicar was still staring intently at the strange sight out the window, but Shepard knew her well enough to know she hadn't blocked them out.

"How about you, Sammy?" Kasumi asked playfully "I thought that oath of yours over?"

The regal Asari turned her head, her eyes as calm as ever, that little metal crown across her brow glistening from the system's sun shining through the glass.

"The Collectors are dead, true, but the mission remains." She explained in her usual humble demeanor. "The Reapers approach and many innocents are at risk from their coming. Shepard is the only one willing to stand in their way. Therefore I stand with him until his mission is complete, as per my oath commands."

Shepard was glad to see Samara trusted him so implicitly. She was a very calming influence on the ship; strange considering how deadly and dangerous Justicar were seen as by most people. She may have acted rather distant at times, but she was still a good friend and loyal companion. Being the oldest member of the crew at over six hundred, she also had the most wisdom to share out of anyone here. He always appreciated her opinion and made damn sure he listened to it.

"You ever see a wormhole in your travels?" Shepard asked the Asari.

"No," she replied truthfully. "But I did once watch a star collapse. It was in my youth before humans had ever arrived on the galactic scene. It was at a party. I was working as a dancer at the time. It was a highly prestigious once in a lifetime event, stars don't explode or turn into black holes often. The experience is eye opening, amazing and sad all at the same time. You are watching something that has existed for billions of years die in front of you, it reminds you of your own mortality, even for an Asari."

"Oh I've heard of those!" said Kasumi who was gitty with excitement. "Big fancy shindigs I hear! Lots of rich fat cats come from all over just to watch a star die! Always at a safe distance of course because supernovas tend to incinerate folks. They get as close as possible and set it up weeks in advance. Very rare occasion though. Never went to one myself. I did go to a more middle class party fair, however. It was a restaurant club that runs a simulation for the end of the universe. Fun spot, not much worth stealing though, not like those supernova parties at all."

Kasumi remembered of course who was in the room with her and she quickly rubbed the back of her neck nervously as she looked back at Samara.

"I mean, I wouldn't steal anything… not as if they didn't deserve it of course." She added under her breath.

Samara just kept staring at her, unnerving Kasumi even more than before

"You know, because stealing from innocents is unjust and, wrong and icky." She nervously squeaked out.

"You hardly qualify as someone who deserves justice delivered upon you," Samara assured her rather plainly. "At least not the fatal form of course. If you ever killed an innocent in the process of your crimes intentionally, however, I would show you no mercy."

Kasumi didn't know whether or not to be comforted by that fact and decided to just drop the subject altogether.

"Your friend T'Soni is correct, Shepard." Samara continued when Kasumi didn't respond. "If the wormhole is indeed giving off trace amounts of element zero in its particle substructure then it is most likely the product of an artificial unnatural singularity."

"So you think the Reapers are involved too?" Shepard asked.

"That question will be answered soon enough," Samara informed him. "Although it is highly likely that is the case. For the moment, I am merely making an observation, much like you. It is best not to dwell on who created it. What shall be discovered about this anomaly will reveal itself in time. Speculation, at this point, will not answer it nor will it change the outcome of the answer."

His eyes fell at that statement. Ominous and fatalistic as usual, Shepard thought she would stop that when the suicide mission was over. Then again who was he to judge? After all they were still technically on a suicide mission. Stopping the Reapers was going to be far more difficult than the Collector Base. It wasn't like he hadn't had doubts about their chances himself.

Snapping Shepard out of his thoughts was another voice, an electronic one.

"Commander," it said, "Tali'Zorah wishes to see you in the AI Core. Her analysis of the Normandy's long range scans of the anomaly is nearing completion."

"Thank you, EDI," Shepard replied, "tell her I'll be there as soon as I can."

EDI was the ship's own personal AI, or more accurately the ship's personality. Ever since they had untethered her from her system locks though she had seemed to be a lot friendlier; more social, even human, if you were to be so bold. He enjoyed that, it made talking to her a bit easier. It helped that she had gone a long way to earning everyone's trust. Even Tali had warmed up to her, quite an accomplishment for EDI considering Tali's dislike of AIs.

"Well you better get going, Commander," Kasumi told him. "I'll stay here with Sammy and watch the hole in the fabric of time suck up more space and asteroids."

"Technically it pulls things in, not sucks." Shepard corrected, remembering Liara's previous statement.

"Yeah, yeah, Newton and all that gravity crap, just hurry up and go see your girlfriend already," Kasumi said pushing him towards the door. "Oh, and tell her I'm almost done with that OSD Book file on infamous hackers in history. I've gotten some great tips from it."

"I'll be sure to Kasumi, see ya around." And with that, Shepard left the observation deck.

He of course checked his pockets as he left. He trusted Kasumi, but she was a thief. Old habits die hard after all and he did catch her on occasion with stuff the crew had claimed was missing. It was nothing personal, she always returned everything, at least when she was caught. She was just keeping her skills sharp, so there was no real harm in it.

Leaving the observation deck, the Commander started his way towards the AI core. He fully expected to be stopped by someone on the way there though. When he originally come down to the Crew Deck, several crew members had already rushed up to him asking so many questions about the big wormhole. Yeoman Chambers was the first, she had gone on about the rarity of such an event as well as the somewhat dangerous yet enticing nature of singularities like it. Kelly was chatty like that. Shepard didn't mind, kept his mind off the gravity of the situation, at least for a little while.

Of course there was one other person on the ship that was chattier than Kelly and as luck would have it he would be the first person to catch the commander as he started turn the corner.

"Oi, Shepard!" A voice shouted out.

Zaeed Massani, the grizzled combat veteran was up and about out of his usual spot down on the engineering deck and, barring Jack, was the meanest son of a bitch on the ship. The Cockney bastard was long overdue for his usual daily talk, or "story time" as Shepard called it. Zaeed always had a story to tell and with a wormhole outside no doubt he was looking forward to offering his insight. Shepard didn't mind the stories, mostly because of his own personal experience. As a boy, he always enjoyed it when his Grandpa came to babysit him while his mom was away with the Alliance Fleet. He used to tell a lot of stories too. They were a lot less violent of course.

"Scuttlebutt's been spreading throughout the ship," Zaeed said as he approached, "I'm guessing it's true. We're pulling up right against a wormhole in this system."

"If you still have doubts you can always check out the view in Samara's room," Shepard informed him. "She's been staring at it for hours I think."

"Yeah, I think I will," Zaeed replied. "It's been a long time since I saw a singularity. Course it wasn't a wormhole but a black hole."

Shepard had been right, story time.

"Me and my team were on escort duty," Zaeed began solemnly. "We were protecting this merchant freighter. Shoulda been an easy mission. But a pirate gang, three whole damn ships, jumped us. They got our fighter support and boarded us. By that time we were passing the damn hole, so it limited the pilot's ability to get outta the way. We held them off, for two whole hours. Then one of them shot the damn pilot and the bloody controls. Thing veered off towards the center of oblivion and the dumb bastard pirates still on their ships decided to follow it. Guess they were too busy thinkin' bout their payday. I was the only one that got out of there alive."

"That happens a lot to you doesn't it?" Shepard asked, a bit of a smirk on his face.

The mercenary shrugged. "What can I say Shepard?" He responded. "Takes a lot more than damn rift in time and space to kill me. Anyway, enough waxing nostalgia. I think you should know, your test tube space dino is getting a bit antsy."

Shepard knew who he was talking about, but that was hardly news. Grunt was always antsy, impatient or a bit pissed off. It was a 'Krogan Thing', they were like that. At least Grunt was a bit more reserved in his rage-like tendencies nowadays.

"You may need to elaborate just a bit more on that, Zaeed," Shepard told him

"Right, sorry," the merc apologized, "Grunt is getting stir-crazy. He's complaining about not having a decent fight in a good chunk of weeks. He's heard about this mission not being combat oriented and well... he's not happy."

Zaeed poked his head over to the kitchen, which Shepard could just barely make out from behind the corner. There was Grunt himself, at the table, seemingly arguing with Chef Gardner.

"Gorging again?" Shepard asked, recognizing a common practice for the Krogan when he was bored.

"Most likely." Zaeed answered. "Mind talking to him. It's Vid Night later and I don't want him wrecking the screen when any of my contributions to it are on the screen just because he's bloody ornery"

"No problem, Zaeed." Shepard assured. "I'll handle it. He listens to me."

"Good, I should let ya go then. Talk more later, Shepard."

Zaeed left, heading off to Samara's room for a better look at that wormhole, leaving Shepard to deal with the argument between Grunt and Gardner of course. Well half the job of a commander was to keep the peace between the crew. God knows half the time he was doing just that with this group. Five feet before he even reached them, he already had idea what the argument was about.

"Look, I'm sorry Grunt, but I don't have any of those ingredients." Gardner proclaimed "And before you ask again for the hundredth time this week, no I don't have any Ryncol."

"I keep asking because I expect you to have acquired it," Grunt told him in anger, his finger (or claw depending on how you perceived it) pointed angrily at the chef. "I didn't think that I would need to repeat myself."

"I ain't putting in an order for a beverage that only one person on this whole damn ship can drink!" Gardner protested. "If you really want something that makes your insides boil why not try that Salarian Jambalaya recipe I keep suggesting? Everyone else thinks it tastes horrible. Although, personally, I blame that on the fact I have to substitute ingredients."

Grunt seemed unconvinced by this, his face turning into an even bigger grimace.

"Unless it's made from real Salarian, I'll pass," he growled. "I want ryncol. The quarian and the turian get special foods when they ask."

"Yeah, cause they'll die if they eat anything else," Gardner shot back. "Not everyone can swallow toxic waste and survive like you can."

"Perhaps they could but their guts are just too weak."

Gardner gave a loud annoyed sigh as he rubbed his hands over his temples, frustrated at the Krogan's continuing picky attitude.

"Look, just drop it and ask for something I can actually make, alright?" Gardner tried to bargain with him. "Just cause you're tank-born doesn't mean you can get away with acting like a baby."

Grunt probably would've smashed the table between him and the chef in two, had Shepard not spoken up.

"Something the matter Grunt?" he asked sternly. He had to do that with Grunt more than anyone else, even Jack. It was a good thing the big dinosaur respected him.

Grunt turned from Gardner, still fuming slightly. It was hard to tell with Krogan, considering they always seemed angry, but Shepard had been around a number of them long enough to know how to read them. Right now Grunt was trying to compose himself in front of his battlemaster.

"I'm only trying to get Ryncol, Shepard." Grunt explained "But your chef continues to refuse my requisition orders."

"Commander, I'm already stretched with having to provide Dextro-based amino acid supplements, they ain't exactly cheap ya know," Gardner piped up, still annoyed "Our budget does not figure in alcohol for giant space lizards, especially when it ain't essential to their diet. If he wants it so bad he can get it himself."

"I don't exactly earn much on this ship." Grunt responded. "I'm here to kill and what little I plunder from the fight isn't enough. I haven't had a good fight in weeks."

Shepard shook his head. He knew this was bigger than booze. He turned to Grunt.

"Grunt, if you really wanted Ryncol that bad why didn't you just ask me? I could've picked it up for you," He told the Krogan "You don't need to bother Gardner with this."

Grunt huffed.

"I did not want to beg my Battlemaster to be my grocer. You have far more important things to consider than my cravings," Grunt responded. "That is supposed to be Gardner's job."

"A Battlemaster's job is to make sure his krant is prepared for the battle ahead. That means they have to be kept content and motivated." Shepard argued "Therefore if you want Ryncol it is in my best interest to see you get it. You're a valued member of this team and you deserve a little downtime when and how you want it."

Grunt thought for a moment, and eventually nodded with a murmur.

"I'll get you a case of the stuff next time we're in port." Shepard promised. "For now I'm sure Gardner has a sufficient substitute for it, don't you Gardner?"

Gardner scratched the back of his neck as he thought it over.

"Well now that you mention it, I do have some novelty beers I bought on a laugh. Through my own salary of course I ain't using mission funds." Gardner admitted. "They ain't as toxic as Ryncol, but Roasted Klixen and Nathak Burgers... ugh. People will drink anything these days, just glad I didn't buy the Pizza Beer I heard about."

"That doesn't sound nearly as gross as those other ones," Shepard said, a bit put off by what Gardner had just described.

"It's pizza based on Volus recipes and toppings." Gardner clarified. "It's not exactly a very appetizing looking dish and coming from me that's saying something. Aliens should never try to co-opt human food, it always looks wrong."

"I guess those will have to do," Grunt said, resigned to it all. He turned back to Shepard. "I'm sorry for causing a scene, Battlemaster."

"You're just cooped up, Grunt," Shepard assured him. "I know lately you haven't had as many chances to smash heads in as much as you like."

"I understand why we are acquiring information about the Reapers, Shepard," Grunt admitted. "It's easier to kill something if you know where best to shoot, but even so, recon still bores me."

"Don't worry Grunt, with Liara now the Shadow Broker we'll find ourselves a nice slave ring or illegal smuggling operation for you to crash soon enough," Shepard promised "Next combat mission you're coming with. I swear on my honour as your Battlemaster."

"I accept that offer," Grunt smiled broadly. "Again thank you, Shepard. I'll let you get back to your duties."

Shepard left Grunt at the counter as Gardner passed him those novelty beers. Hopefully that would tie him over for awhile till this mission was done. He'd have to ask Liara about potential Blue Suns or Eclipse Mercs operations. The sooner Grunt got a chance to tear something apart the better. In the meantime, Tali still needed to see him and that meant going through the medical bay nearby. Shepard wondered if Dr. Chakwas would be busy at al, or if she would ask him questions on the way to Tali. It's not like he didn't expect it, everyone else had been stopping him today for something.

Chakwas was indeed working, with the one member of the crew that required the most attention when it came to his physical health. Thane Kiros, the Drell assassin was in the midst of one of his latest checkups. He hadn't had one in weeks, Shepard was glad to see that he was actually taking a moment to make sure he was still able to do his job on the Normandy. In Shepard's honest opinion though, of all the people on this ship, Thane had the best reason to leave. Wade wished he had.

"Well your vitals seem normal Thane," Chakwas told him with her usual inviting smile "for the moment of course. You keep up with your standard treatment, well, let's just say the Hanar who diagnosed you who probably didn't give you enough credit."

The reptilian humanoid sat just as stiff and proper as he usually did, all the same. He did not even smile, despite the good news.

"I take it though that does not mean it is in remission." He responded. It was not a question he knew the answer already. It was confirmed when Chakwas' face grew sullen.

"No, I'm afraid your Kepler's Syndrome is still pressing forward." She admitted. "You probably have added another month or two by keeping yourself in arid areas of the ship and keeping up with the recommended exercise routine but... I'm sorry."

Thane did not seem disappointed or sad, he just nodded. It was only then that Chakwas noticed Shepard had come through the door.

"Oh, Commander," she finally spoke up "I heard you may be passing through. Don't mind us, just finishing up Thane's physical."

"How's he doing Doc?" Shepard asked

"Well, all things considered." Thane responded before Chakwas could. "I probably have a bit more time than I first thought. But, that doesn't change the inevitable outcome."

"Maybe you could use that extra time for a break, you could use it." Shepard told him "I mean I'm sure your son..."

Thane only responded with a cold glare.

Wade figured he probably shouldn't have gone there. He brought this subject up before when Thane first told him he was staying on. Shepard initially didn't understand, Kepler's Syndrome was eating away at his lungs. The Drell's equivalent of cancer, brought on by living on an ocean world they were never meant to inhabit, was starting to take its toll. Even Shepard noticed he was getting a bit slower, his biotic attacks less frequent and powerful. Thane was dying, albeit slowly, but dying still.

Shepard had thought that meant he was going to sort out his final affairs, particularly with the son he had helped him reconcile with somewhat. Instead Thane had told him he wanted to stay on. That didn't make much sense to him.

"We've been over this, Commander." Thane told him. "I speak to him when I can. I've made plenty of vid mails. Sometimes the conversation is even polite when he writes. That's more than I ever expected. The best thing I can do for Kolyat now is to leave this galaxy free of Reapers. Then I can die in peace."

"I still think your time would be better served spending it with your son," Shepard suggested.

"How I live my last days will be how I want to live them," Thane told him sternly as he got up. "Can you respect that or not?"

"I understand what you're trying to do Thane and I'm not telling you how to live your life," Shepard assured him. "But I'm just wondering if this is how you really want to spend your last year or so alive. You of all people know how little time we all have left."

Thane turned to leave, his voice becoming less harsh as he did.

"Yes, I do," Thane relented.

The doors to the medical bay opened and shut as Thane left, leaving Shepard there shaking his head.

"Try to understand, Shepard," Chakwas began, "he thinks this is the best thing he can do for his son, next to keeping him from following in his footsteps. If he thinks he can keep the Reapers from ravaging the galaxy and possibly killing his child, why shouldn't he stay on?"

"I don't doubt his commitment to his son Doc," Shepard told him, "I just think that's not his real motivation. I better let him cool off, probably shouldn't have brought it up in the first place. Sorry for bothering you Doc."

With a sigh, Shepard kept heading for the AI core at the back of the room, while Chakwas went back to her other tasks. As the doors into the room opened, Shepard's ears were instantly filled with the humming of the giant processors that housed EDI. In the center, working in tangent with one another (something Shepard never expected to see) were Tali and Legion. The Geth was hunched over the Quarian mechanic as she was frantically fidgeting with the interface. From where Shepard stood he could already see the holographic screen that EDI had set up for Tali was alive with activity. Most likely a bunch of techno babble he'd never understand, but Shepard left that to Tali anyway.

Tali looked over to Shepard almost as soon as he walked in.

"Oh Shepard, good you're here. I was wondering what was keeping you." She said rather quickly as she pulled herself away from the display. "Legion, take over the data analysis for a second. Long range scans have almost fully compiled. We need to be sure that there wasn't anything interfering with them."

"Acknowledged, Creator Tali'Zorah." Legion responded.

Shepard joined Tali near the console she and Legion were working. She seemed to be as excited as everyone else on the ship, but from the looks of her sullen body language it was for different reasons. Ever since he and Tali had become "intimate" he started picking up on her subtle body language.

"Sorry about taking so long," he apologized "you know how this ship is. Everyone has their problems it seems."

"I figured as much, Garrus stopped me for what seemed like a whole hour on my way up here myself." She recalled in a slightly annoyed tone. "I thought he'd be too busy doing calibrations or whatever it is he does in that gun battery of his. And people say I talk too much."

They both had a quick laugh at that. Garrus was rather reclusive in that gun battery of his. It had become a bit of an inside joke for everyone onboard the Normandy. Nevertheless there were other matters at hand and Shepard quickly got them back on track.

"So what exactly have you and Legion found?" he asked Tali.

"Well one thing we're sure of is that Liara's information was right," She began. "This wormhole was created with a mass effect accelerator. Element Zero traces are over it. It is a consistent and sustained singularity. But we've learned a few other things about it too, things the last Shadow Broker was unable to figure out. His probe didn't last long enough to give him accurate scans."

"Like what?" Shepard asked.

"We won't know for sure until, Legion finishes his-"

An abrupt beep interrupted the quarian.

"Analysis completed, Shepard Commander," Legion announced. "Long range scans were accurate. Presence of dark energy confirmed."

Dark energy? Those word kept popping up lately, in fact, they had mostly recently popped up during Tali's mission to Haestrom when Shepard recruited her for the Omega 4 Relay mission. That explained why she seemed a bit nervous, and why that tiny shake in her shoulders had gone down to her legs.

"Dark energy? In a wormhole?" Shepard asked

"It's most disturbing." Tali replied, shaking a bit nervously at the news. "I'm starting to wonder if this really IS connected to the Reapers and what else they can do with dark energy, especially after what happened to Haestrom's sun. We already know it can kill stars."

"What effects would it have on a singularity like a wormhole?" Shepard asked.

Tali rubbed the forehead of her face mask in frustration.

"We don't even know much about wormholes to begin with, let alone what dark energy could do to them." She said, seeming to breathe heavily as she spoke. "They could be trying to open up a faster way to get here from dark space or another way to reach the Citadel or... Keelah, I don't know."

Shepard put a calming hand on her shoulder, trying to stop her from rambling on. Thankfully Legion took away some of the tension by interjecting.

"We will not know more until we can successfully send our own probe to get an up close scan of the anomaly." The geth construct explained. "Once it is launched we can compile more accurate data from it and perhaps discover what the old machines intend to use it for."

"Think it will even get that close?" Shepard asked

"It most likely won't survive the journey," Tali responded, now calmer than before. "But our probe will last longer near it than the Shadow Broker's. We've made the proper upgrades and modified the specs, plus we actually know what to look for so that cuts out some of the work."

"I have calculated that the probe will last for at least an hour under such close proximity." EDI chimed in "With Legion's added runtimes to my analysis procedures we should gather all relevant data before it breaks apart."

Well that was good to hear. At least they weren't throwing away money at this. EDI was rarely off in her calculations. If she and Tali were saying this probe would work, Wade had no reason not to trust their judgment. He just hoped that they could gain something from all this. If they could somehow turn this dark energy against the Reapers, maybe even this very wormhole, they could turn the coming tide in their favour.

Tali shifted her head over her shoulder to Legion.

"Keep processing the incoming data with EDI, Legion," She told the Geth firmly but politely. "We need to know everything we can before we send that probe, particularly the precise range of the singularity. I need to talk to Shepard about something."

Legion only nodded as Tali led Shepard off to a corner of the AI Core.

"We've had a hectic week," she said to him warmly. "Barely a moment to ourselves. Legion's been practically hovering over my shoulder since this morning when the data started coming in. I'd complain about it, or more accurately them, breathing on me, but... well... you know synthetic."

"Well you two seem to be getting along." Shepard told her with a chuckle "You aren't pointing guns at each other for one."

Tali looked down nervously at her twitching hands in embarrassment at the reminder of that incident.

"I've gotten use to it," Tali replied, trying to recompose herself. "And I don't hate it as much as I use to when you first reactivated it, or them, whatever. I'm still a bit uncomfortable with it all, but that's not what I want to talk about. I've been with Legion all day, I'd rather talk about... well... us."

Not again, he thought, Tali had been on about this all week. He thought a mission or two would get her mind off it but he underestimated her ability to multitask in her head. Tali usually had at least two things going on at once.

"I don't understand why you're so worried about all this," Shepard told her. "We've both made this work so far."

"I'm just thinking ahead," she told him in a calming manner. "Eventually my leave here on the Normandy is going to be up and I'll have to return to the Migrant Fleet. I'm not saying the visits to the captain's quarters aren't enjoyable, I like spending time with you it's just... well..."

"It not easy to put aside a day Tali," Shepard sadly informed her. "Especially not now with so much going on."

"Quarians are the most work oriented people in the galaxy, Wade," Tali told him crossing her arms and sounding a bit irritated. "And even I think you're working too hard. Would it really hurt to just spend one shore leave with me-or take a shore leave period? Keelah, you barely even come down to engineering to have chats anymore. The only times I see you is either on the job or when you invite me up to see you and the latter are getting shorter and less frequent."

Shepard sighed heavily, his head becoming downcast at Tali's words. He couldn't exactly proclaim he wasn't doing that, he was. He wasn't happy about it either.

"If I could Tali I would take an entire week off and spend it with you," Shepard assured her ardently. "I really would. Don't doubt that."

Tali shook her head lightly and let her arms drop. As she raised her head up to him she put her arms on his shoulders and pushed herself up to him. She pulled him into hug as she wrapped them around his neck and placed her head against him.

"I'm worried about you," she told him, her concern apparent in her tone and posture. "Don't think I didn't hear you the other night when I slept over. You had the dream of yours again, didn't you?"

Shepard looked away slightly and carefully lowered her hands away from his body, but he didn't let go of them. His face had become downcast and sullen.

"You of all people know I'm not made of stone," he said somewhat sadly. "Especially after what we saw. That human Reaper the Collectors made... Tali, that my future-our future if we don't find a way to stop this. We need an edge, a plan, something. We've barely managed to kill one Reaper, and now we have a fleet of them approaching."

His head looked away from Tali altogether, towards the probe she and Legion had been working on. The probe that was possibly their only chance at learning something that could help give them an edge against the oncoming invasion.

"We've gained a lot of insight into them," Tali reassured him in her usual affable voice that always managed to lift his spirits before. "You'll find a way-but you can't work yourself to death like this."

Tali used her hand to lightly push Wade's head back to look at her.

"All we can really do is wait till they arrive," She consoled. "I don't want our time between now and then to be wasted. I want it to mean something, I want to spend it with you. And now that the Admirals are starting to pressure me to come back... well, we have even less time."

He wasn't oblivious to that. Shepard already realized he wasn't giving enough time to Tali. Every time shore leave for the crew came up he stayed behind, in his quarters, trying to think. He put on a brave face for the crew, but it was hard to act cocksure and fake a smile pretending as if all was fine and he was his normal optimistic and snarky self. In reality he just couldn't seem to enjoy himself anymore, his fears of the future were eating away at him. He was glad that Tali at least thought he was working in his room.

Truthfully, he was just peering through his mission files regularly in a monotonous repetitive search for something, anything, that looked like it would give him an edge over the Reapers. He never found anything, making him wonder just how much of the precious time he had left he just squandered. Every other waking moment was spent trying to sleep without nightmares (for once) or fighting the urge to stay sober in all of this. The pressure not to backslide into his old habit mounting as he struggled with the truth, the possible inevitability of the end result of this mission-staying sober just seemed pointless.

Then he started watching those Reaper speculative fiction documentaries that ran on some stations. They only made it worse. He thought initially it was worth a shot to try and get a different perspective on the problem. Instead, he just got an uninformed perspective-one that didn't understand the truth of it all. It became apparent soon enough that he was getting lost in his stupor. He wasn't really working so much as reminding himself just how close they all were to death.

Why was he doing this to himself? Did any of this wallowing help him? No, but it was something to do. Something he could fool himself into believing was useful, probably the most useful thing he could do in the face of galactic annihilation-reminding yourself what was coming. The more he reflected on the coming storm though, the worse he got, the more distant he became, the worse the nightmares got... if he even got to sleep at all.

All the while he was ignoring Tali. The young woman he had been trying to apprehensively get closer to on the original Normandy. That apprehension had almost gone unresolved, if it hadn't been for Cerberus. Now they were together (thanks to that second chance) and he was squandering it. It was unfair to Tali; yet he always kept telling himself he had time later. He just didn't expect later to come so quick.

He wanted to tell her about his fears. He had trusted her with them before, but that was different. He had gotten over all those things by now. The Reapers were a whole new ball game, one he wasn't sure they could win no matter how confident he was in his ability to command. They were the future threat- not issues from his days gone by. They were not so easy resolved and put aside. Why worry her with this? It would be better to just find a way to make it up to her.

"You're right," he told her. "Absolutely right. Tell you what, after this wormhole business is over we'll take a short leave on Illium; find a nice restaurant—one that serves Levo and Dextro amino acid foods; just the two of us, alone, one night; no military jargon or any of this save the galaxy crap—sound great?"

He asked as he held her hands up and clasped them together. He didn't have to take her mask off to know she was smiling under her helmet.

"It sounds perfect," she replied with a happy look in her glowing silver eyes. "Gives me motivation to wrap this up quicker."

Before either could say anything more, they were interrupted by a voice over the ship's communication system. It was Joker.

"Commander, Miranda and Jacob are ready for you in the briefing room with Dr. Solus." He said "I think we're ready to get Operation: Space Colonoscopy underway!"

Shepard could only sigh and rub his hand against the side of his head.

"Joker, I told you we're not calling it that." He groaned at the intercom

"Well that's basically what we're doing." said Joker heartily. "I know it's a low brow joke but I have only so much range to work with when something has the word 'hole' in it. We could call it Operation: Preparation H? Or how about Operation: Penetration? It rhymes?"

"Joker," Shepard grumbled.

"Fine, I'll knock off the ass jokes, too easy for me anyway. I'm above that."

Shepard usually enjoyed Joker's humour, but he had been using that line all the way out here. It had gotten old. Still, Tali was slightly giggling at the whole affair and her laugh was infectious. With a light chuckle, Shepard's grimace turned back to a smile.

"You better go. Miranda will want to go over the final specs for the operation." Tali told him, only slightly disappointed in how quick their time had ended. "I'll be here if you need me. Legion and I still have a few more calculations to program into the drone before we launch it."

Tali could only hug Shepard goodbye thanks to her suit, but it was enough.

The Commander watched her go back to her station before slipping out of the room himself. No one bothered him on the way to the elevator up to the Command Deck. A welcome relief, he practically had seen everyone on the ship today just trying to get from point A to B. The only person he hadn't run into was Jack, and that was only because she kept to her hole in the bottom of the ship. She wasn't interested in much unless it required her to kill something. At least she was loyal, that much he could always count on even if she was anti-social beyond imagination.

When the elevator arrived on the command deck Shepard walked past the Galaxy map towards the armoury and made his way through to the hallway that led to the briefing room. As the doors opened wide with their usual swoosh there stood Miranda, Jacob and Mordin standing around the table. They were all already looking at a holographic display of the wormhole as he entered the room.

"So how are we doing commander?" Jacob asked "Tali's little probe set to go?"

"She says it's ready but they're just making some final adjustments to it." Shepard explained.

"Good," Miranda replied, looking more relaxed at the news, "the sooner we figure out whether or not this thing is reaper made the better. Then we can figure out what to do about it."

"We should probably start moving the ship to a minimum safe distance," Shepard suggested to them. "The probe won't be able to reach the hole at this range. Remember it's a modified planetary scan drone, it wasn't built for travelling far into space. Tali's good, but even with Legion's help they weren't able to increase the range enough for us to keep at this distance and still get it there."

Mordin quickly shook his head.

"No. Advise against such action. Wormhole singularity strength unpredictable. Could pull us towards it. Have little time to react once it does. May, in laymen's terms, be sucked in." He explained in his usual fast paced manner. "Probe must be launched at a significant distance from the target."

"I'm as curious to find out what that hole leads to as anyone else but I don't want to go through it to find out." Jacob added before he turned to Mordin. "Any ideas, Professor?"

"Indeed." The Salarian responded immediately. "Use gravitational pull of a nearby moon or planet to give boost to probe. Launch probe. Allow it to loop around celestial body. Forces it to continue on it's way to target with little difficulty."

"We'll have to be pretty accurate for that to work," Shepard replied as he rubbed his chin "That and we'll need a moon to pull it off."

"I have a suitable candidate, Commander," Miranda stated. She turned to the hologram. "EDI, display image of system sector 43S61W."

The holographic display in the middle of the briefing room changed from the wormhole to show a gas giant in the system. It quickly zoomed in on one of the planet's moons, an ugly looking grey rock dotted with wide canyons and black mountains.

"I had EDI do a preliminary scan of the system when we arrived." Miranda explained. "This moon is almost in orbit position close to the wormhole; probably near its gravitational singularity. If we pull off Mordin's plan it should head straight into the wormhole's pull with little effort."

"Prepared as always, Miranda," Shepard smiled. "Good work. EDI tell Joker to head to the previous coordinates and prepare for launch."

"Already done commander," EDI immediately replied. "We'll arrive at the destination in ten minutes."

"More than enough time for Tali to finish up." Shepard added. "Mordin get down there to her, explain how this is going to work. Tali will want to know what we're putting her baby through on this."

Mordin only nodded as he left the briefing room.

"Miranda, Jacob, make final preparations." Shepard said in an orderly military voice as he looked back. "Legion and EDI will no doubt calculate the precise angle and trajectory we'll need to launch the probe at if we're going to this off."

Jacob give a bit of a chuckle at Shepard's sudden military sternness

"Taking this kinda seriously aren't we, Commander?" He asked "You said it yourself, this is just recon."

"If the Reapers are involved it couldn't hurt to be ready." Shepard answered him gruffly. "I'll be in the cockpit with Joker checking up on the final approach."

As he left the two to finish up Shepard had to admit to himself that Jacob was right. He was taking this more seriously than he usually would. Perhaps he just had too much on his mind thinking about the Reapers possibly being involved in any of this. Yet, whatever that probe found could lead to the something that could stop them. There was no time for jokes here, not now.

Ten minutes passed rather quickly and while Joker was a little annoyed at how the Commander kept staring over his shoulder all the way to their destination, he never said anything against it.

"Alright, we're approaching the moon now." Joker said as they got close. "Hope this little probing operation bears fruit, Commander, I used up a lot of great 'ass-related' quips on this. I don't want it to be for nothing."

"You and me both Joker," Shepard agreed. "But if the Shadow Broker was interested in this thing there has to be something to it."

Suddenly, EDI chimed in on the conversation, her blue orb form turning towards them both.

"Jeff," she said to Joker, "I have detected something near our position. It appears to be a ship."

"What?" Joker asked, confused at the news. "Someone else is here? Why are you only telling me this now?"

"They have only just been detected on our long range scanners, as if they just suddenly appeared." EDI explained.

"Cloaking technology perhaps," Shepard figured. "Probably Alliance."

"The energy signature and dimensions match no known council race species," EDI informed them. Sensing the next question she also quickly added, "neither does it match the specifications or descriptions of either Geth or Collector ships."

Shepard was at least relieved to hear that. It meant that the Collectors weren't still dogging him. Still it didn't ease his fears entirely, it was still an unknown ship and the last time something like this happened it hadn't ended well.

"What's its size?" Shepard asked

"I have scanned the ship's roster and data files." EDI replied soon after Shepard asked. "It appears to be designated as something called a Battlecruiser, yet it is 1700 meters in length."

"That's impossible," Joker said defiantly. "Do you know how much heat a ship like that would give off? You'd need a far more sophisticated cloaking tech then even the _Normandy_ to keep that much heat under wraps. They couldn't have cloaked in. They would've had to jump into the system via mass relay or light speed travel and we would've detected them long before now if that was the case."

Now things were getting seriously scary. This was all too familiar for Shepard.

"Where is this ship exactly?" Shepard asked EDI.

"The ship is on the other side of the gas giant," the AI answered."It will be in visual range in exactly 3.6 seconds."

Both Joker and Shepard looked up at the gas giant their moon was orbiting. They saw a long purplish craft creep out in front of the planet. It certainly looked about the same size as the Collector ship, but that was where the similarities ended. Besides the color, it was more sleek and elegant looking. It also looked flatter than the collector ship and as it started turning towards them they could see it had a unique shape. It was sort of like a musical note or a hawk with its wings tucked in for a bomb dive.

Needless to say neither description would've comforted Joker.

"Commander, I don't like how they're turning towards us." Joker said cautiously.

"Easy Joker, try hailing them." Shepard suggested. "We don't know who these guys are. They could be Batarians for all we know testing out some new ship of theirs. I don't want to start some kind of intergalactic incident."

As soon as Shepard had finished suggesting the idea however, EDI chimed in again.

"There is no response, Commander," she informed him, "they are refusing to initiate dialogue. They are terminating our requests as quickly as I send them."

That did not bode well. Hesitant to fire on them first and not wishing to abandon the operation, Shepard thought up another plan.

"Joker, we need to lose them." He ordered. "First sign of trouble head around the moon, engage cloaking device and we'll try and sneak past them before-"

An alarm went off before Shepard could finish.

"I have detected a significant heat increase along the cruiser's port bow," EDI warned, "they are preparing to fire."

Joker didn't need to hear anymore, he took the controls immediately.

"Everyone hang on!"

The Normandy jerked suddenly to starboard as a huge blue beam shot out towards their ship. The Normandy shook as it passed by.

"Underside shields took a scalding hit, no direct damage. They are holding but are powered down by 30 percent." EDI proclaimed

"From a near miss? Crap!" Joker screeched "They got some heavy duty hardware."

The blue beams fired once again, this time peppering at the Normandy in short bursts. Shepard got on the horn.

"Everyone to your battle stations, now!" He ordered "We've been engaged! Miranda get up here, you'll want to see this!"

Joker frantically kept his fingers on the dashboard, making sure the ship didn't run smack into an energy beam.

"Deja vu all over again." Joker grumbled as he kept the ship flying.

A blue beam bounced off their nose, jerking the ship wildly to starboard.

"The enemy appears to be firing plasma charged weaponry at us." EDI informed the Commander and Joker. "I shall attempt to infiltrate their systems and disable what weapons I can."

Plasma weapons? These people had plasma guns on their ships? How was that possible? The closest they had gotten to direct energy weapons was with the geth and even then that didn't technically count. Who were these people?

"Make it fast, EDI," Joker ordered her. "Frigates aren't meant to take on cruisers! Especially not ones this big!"

As Shepard kept surveying the ship that was firing on them, Miranda came rushing up to the cockpit from behind.

"Looks like we're not the only ones interested in this wormhole," she observed. "Who are they?"

"Well they aren't Geth or Collectors," Shepard replied. "That's all we know. Call Garrus down in the gun battery, tell him to warm up the Thanix cannon!"

Miranda didn't need to be told twice. She put her hand ,up to her ear, activating her com-link to inform Garrus of the situation. As she did, EDI perked up again.

"Shepard we have a problem," she informed him. "The enemy ship's systems are resisting my hacking attempts."

"Resisting?" Shepard said surprised as their ship shook from another plasma beam hitting their stern. "But that would mean-"

"They have an AI on board," EDI finished for him. "Highly advanced. I cannot access their ship's weapons systems. It's matching my runtimes second for second, screaming at me."

"Screaming?" Joker asked confused, as a plasma cannon shot passed by the window. "Like what? In pain?"

"No in anger," EDI replied. "It is calling me a heretic. Saying we shall burn forever for defiling its sanctum. It is attempting to breach our systems as well, but we are holding."

Now things were just getting bizarre, an AI with a religious fervor in its personality? Could an AI even comprehend that? Whatever, that wasn't even relevant. Shepard needed some kind of edge against this ship.

"Forget their guns EDI," Shepard ordered her. "can you give us anything? Take down their shields? Turn off atmosphere?"

"Analyzing," she responded, a half second later she had an answer. "I believe I can weaken a significant portion of their shields around their engines on the backside of the ship. I will need a moment."

"You got thirty seconds!" Joker told her frantically. "Do your thing!"

As EDI's orbish form disappeared from the console beside Joker, another alarm sounded on the _Normandy's _dashboard.

"Crap, we got some kind of tracking shot coming in." He groaned. "Our shields are taking a pounding. They won't hold if we get hit, give me a second."

Shepard didn't have time to ask what Joker was doing as he turned the ship towards the very cruiser that was trying to kill them. Now they could all see the approaching projectiles through the window, and they were getting closer.

"Joker," Miranda shouted. "Please tell me you know what you're doing!"

No answer, their smart-aleck pilot was had already formed a plan in his head and not even Shepard was going make him deviate from it at this point. He locked-on to one of the plasma projectiles as they approached, then a second. With a flick of a button, he fired two GARDIAN anti-missile lasers at them. Both hit their respective torpedoes. The tracking of the shots seemed to be disrupted and the projectiles were directed away from them. There was still a third projectile, however.

"Wanna dance with the Alliance's best, huh?" He asked under his breath. "Your funeral."

With a wild jerk to port, the tracking projectile past over the Normandy. As expected the ball of burning blue fire turned around and began to follow behind them. Joker kept ramming the Normandy straight towards the cruiser at full power. Miranda and Shepard could only grab onto the sides of the cockpit as the _Normandy_ dove towards the ship, plasma bolts from the enemy's ship's defensive turrets fired all around them. Any ordinary pilot would've been shot to pieces by now, but Joker was no ordinary pilot; that and EDI was helping him albeit subtly. Some of the small-fire hit, but they weren't going to do much damage in the grand scheme of things. EDI herself seemed to know what he was planning.

"Forward shields at 65 percent and holding," Her voice chimed in. "I have transferred all non-essential power to them at this time, Jeff."

"You just focus on their shields EDI," Joker told her. "We both got jobs to do."

The Normandy closed distances with the cruiser, edging its nose towards the ship, its speed increasing until the ship couldn't go any faster or risk never being able to pull up in time. Suddenly Joker pressed down on the dashboard and the Normandy jerked up over the cruiser itself while the torpedo chasing it kept following the Normandy's original trajectory. The projectile slammed into its own ship, sparking a huge explosion across the gun batteries on that side, taking out at least half of them.

Joker began to bring the ship around, back towards the stern of the cruiser.

"Does everyone still have their lunch?" He asked them all cheerfully.

Even with the stabalizers active, the ride had been quite bumpy to say the least. Both Shepard and Miranda looked practically green as they got their bearings.

"Mind giving me a bit more warning before you pull off a dive like that again?" Shepard asked.

"I'm glad I had a light breakfast," Miranda added.

Joker only smirked at the two. But there was little time to soak in the glory though as more plasma beams began firing on them. Thankfully EDI chimed back in, her orb reappearing next to Joker.

"I have brought the shields around their engines down to twenty percent," she told them. "The Thanix Cannon should be able to penetrate."

At that moment, as if by providence, Garrus' voice came in over the intercom.

"Shepard," he shouted. "Main gun is primed, calibrated and ready! Fire at will!"

"Perfect timing, Garrus!" Shepard congratulated with a pumped fist "Joker, when you got the shot take it!"

Joker didn't have to wait long to get the shot, as he turned their ship around he took aim at the engines in the back of the enemy ship. EDI helped by putting a marker on the weakest point of the shields. Joker took aim, at slammed down on the fire button.

The Thanix Cannon beneath the Normandy popped up and began to charge, its blue super-heated molten metal fired out of the gun and shot straight across space towards the enemy ship. In a giant eruption of fire the charge went straight through the shields and hull like a hot knife through butter. At once the engines of the cruiser sparked and exploded before going dead.

"Direct hit," EDI informed them. "The Battlecruiser is dead in space."

"Excellent," Shepard said relieved as another plasma bolt sped by them. "Can we hit them again?"

"Negative," EDI informed him. "The enemy AI has already restored full shield capacity to defend against another shot. It has closed my back door into the system. I cannot infiltrate the shield systems again at this time."

"Then we best get out of the line of fire." Shepard reasoned. "Joker, take us behind the moon, we need to regroup on this one."

"Aye Aye."

The Normandy flew out of the range of the plasma bolts, safe at last from the enemy ship if only for the moment. They still had no idea who was shooting at them, why they were shooting and if they even had anything to do with the wormhole at all. One thing was for sure though, this wasn't just recon anymore.


	2. Instrument of the Gods

Chapter 2: Instrument of the Gods

**July, 20th, 2185**

Behind the barren moon of the unnamed gas giant, the Normandy SR2 kept it's stealth systems engaged. A quickwitted response to the deadly new enemy they had faced just moments ago. Shepard had ordered the stealth drive turned on as soon as they disappeared behind the celestial body. They had initially hoped the cruiser would engage any back-up engines it had and go away, thinking they had left the system, but according to their sensors they weren't budging. Either they couldn't move or they had no intention to, Shepard was just happy they couldn't follow them right away for the moment.

It could've been worse, however. The Normandy had come out of the fight with only minor damage. The shields had held, thanks in part to Tali's upgrades. The plasma had damaged the armour plating regardless, they couldn't engage in another head on fight with that monster and they couldn't just leave this system. Shepard wasn't about to give up on their mission to learn more about this wormhole and he had a feeling that the enemy ship had something to do with it. There were no coincidences in this line of work. This ship just "happened" to be in the same system they were in as they were investigating a possible link to the Reapers? That didn't fly with the Commander or anyone else for that matter.

Everyone was now gathered in the briefing room, even Jack who more or less was not happy about being disturbed from her hidey hole in the lower decks. Shepard insisted she be here though, they all needed to figure out what they were going to do after all. Garrus was the first to arrive, the former C-SEC Turian was always punctual that way.

"Stop picking at your scars, Garrus." Shepard told him as he passed his long time friend.

Garrus had gotten use to huge gash on the right side of his face over the past few months, but every now and again it agitated him. Shepard always felt a bit like a fussy parent when he reminded him, almost as if he was telling a child not to pick at his scab. Then again, he had been there for when the turian recieved it thanks in part to a missile. He supposed his concern had never really gone away.

"The fight jostled me around down there, especially after that wild jerk Joker pulled." Garrus explained. "Knocked me into the wall, hurt like hell. Don't worry, I'll just put one of them ice packs on it and I'll be fine. Although I would like to request some padding for the gun battery's walls, you know so I don't almost break my neck and everything."

"I'll take it under consideration, buddy." Shepard told him.

Everyone else began to pile into the room shortly afterward.

"So explain to me what exactly happened again?" Jack asked as she grumbled into her spot at the briefing table beside Garrus. "Some assholes fired a bunch of plasma at us and we're hiding behind the moon? Why aren't we pulping their heads in with the damn Thanix cannon?"

Garrus was quick to answer, he was the one who installed the Thanix Cannon in the first place, he knew how it worked. If there was one thing Garrus knew it was long range weaponry and from what the Turian had heard of the plasma they got shot at with, both the Thanix and the Plasma cannons were in the same league in that regard.

"Those Plasma weapons they have are damn accurate." Garrus told her. "Joker and EDI working together piloting this ship are probably the only reason they didn't score a direct hit. Even if their shields weren't strong enough to stand up to it, their range reaches too far. We don't have the luxury of distance this time like the Collector ship, not to mention they have more guns too."

"So a head on assault is out of the question," Shepard added, "and that AI of theirs isn't making our jobs any easier either. They're stuck for now, dead in the water, but they ain't staying there for long."

"Fine, let them come to us." Jack replied. "We'll be ready and then we'll smash their precious little ship straight into the moon itself. Make ourselves a nice crater on the surface."

Shepard obviously wasn't going to take Jack's advice on strategy here. So he turned to the others.

"I'm going to need suggestions here." Shepard told them all. "We need to find a way to deal with that AI for one, but for some reason EDI can't crack it."

Luckily Shepard had someone on board who knew how AIs worked, Tali. And from the looks of it she already had an idea.

"Hacking their systems will not be easy via wi-fi." Tali told Shepard. "That AI would be ready for that by now. If it can learn as quickly as EDI said the only other option I can think of is hacking directly into their systems manually."

"Creator Tali'Zorah is correct," Legion agreed, "were we able to directly link Program EDI into the systems of the enemy ship it would be more difficult for the AI to eject or resist her hacking runtimes. This would require someone with technological experience, however, to break through their systems."

"You mean someone would have to get on that ship?" Miranda chimed in beffudled at the suggestion. "That's crazy, we don't have enough people for a boarding action."

The gruff grumble of a nearby Krogan arose; Grunt didn't seem to agree with Ms. Lawson.

"I am worth over a dozen Krogan warriors." He proclaimed. "That has proven more than sufficient to storm any vessel."

"Too bad you're not as handy with a computer." Jacob told him with a smirk. "Even if you were we can't just send you in alone."

"How would we even send him there?" Miranda asked in much more serious tone. "Or anyone? We couldn't get close enough without them seeing us. Stealth systems only cover our heat emissions from sensors. If they look out a window they'll spot the Normandy for sure."

"I may have a solution."

EDI's voice was followed by her bluish orb form arising from the center of the briefing room table.

"Go ahead EDI," Shepard told her, "you've saved our necks at least twice today."

"Before the Enemy AI locked me out of the shield systems I implanted a virus within the ship's network." EDI explained. "At the moment it is dormant, monitoring the ship and its activity. Mainly communications, I believe they are discussing a new plan of attack but I cannot understand them."

"But you said you understood the AI before." Shepard reminded her, sounding confused as he bent over the table. "Do you think it could've scrambled your systems a bit when you were in there?"

"No I helped her perform a check on the systems as soon as we were out of danger." Tali assured. "She's clean."

"May I add that I was grateful for your concern towards my well-being Ms. Vas Normandy." EDI complemented, sounding a bit more cheerful than usual.

"Well," Tali said sounding a bit flustered, "I was just making sure there wasn't some kind of virus in the system. You know, could wipe out the engine core's power or make it explode, you never know."

Tali was being defensive, but something told Shepard she was genuinely concerned for EDI's well being. She'd come a long way from outright hating the AI. She was still not willing to admit to it though. At least not in front of the others.

With Tali's input given EDI continued to explain.

"I believe the creatures aboard the ship understand our language, but we simply do not understand theirs." She informed them. "Their language is not registered in my universal translator data banks. I can only assume they have been studying or have encountered humans before."

"Interesting, but back to the virus." Miranda interrupted astutely "How does this help us get on the ship?"

"I can have the virus scramble their sensory scans for a time." EDI explained. "They will believe their scanners are clear, just as they most likely have been for a significant portion of time. We can use that moment to send a boarding party to the ship."

"That settles it then," Shepard said as he stood up straight from the table. "I'll take a small team on the shuttle to infiltrate the enemy vessel and directly hack into the ship's systems. Kinda like how we did for the Collector Ship when we boarded it now that I think about it."

"Need I remind you that was a trap, Commander?" Garrus asked rhetorically, a snarky tone in his voice.

"Well this time they don't know we're coming." Shepard replied, sounding a bit cocky in his response. "Should be a nice surprise, hope they made us a cake. I'll take Grunt and Jack with me to keep any attackers at bay."

Grunt responded by slamming his fist into his palm, a usual sign of delight for him. Shepard had promised to bring him along on the next combat mission after all and this was the fight he was waiting for. As for Jack, well she already had proven she could tear ships apart from the inside. Probably a good idea to bring her along, at the very most she'd probably kill half the crew that survived Grunt. She seemed pleased, as she let out her own fist pump and slightly hushed "yes, I get to kill some fuckers" along with it.

That just left the tech expert.

"I need someone that can keep to the shadows while we draw the fire of the enemy." Shepard continued. "They'll be so focused on us they probably won't be thinking we're just the distraction for the actual cyber attack. That part of the mission requires stealth."

As if reading his mind, Kasumi raised her arm in a mock salute.

"Aye, aye, Commander," she said jokingly, "between me and EDI their systems will be like putty in my hands. Maybe I'll even send them a few of those annoying spam vid-mails in my account. I've been meaning to get those vultures off my back. Honestly, how many exiled Turian princes are there in this galaxy?"

"Maybe your junk mail could clog up their systems," Shepard told her with laugh, "whatever you do just keep that AI busy long enough for EDI to crack the thing. Once we're in we can take that ship down from the inside out. We shut down their guns, we head to their engine room and we blow their power core."

"Once we're off the death trap, of course." Jack added rather quickly.

"Yeah don't wanna be there when it turns to space dust." Kasumi concurred.

"Agreed," Shepard replied, "I really don't want to go through that again."

While the plan seemed sound, Miranda still had concerns. These aliens were completely unknown to them and what they did know of them did not exactly make their upcoming assault's chances for success likely. There was the problematic matter of the enemy weapons.

"What about the plasma?" She asked. "We know they've weaponized it. That stuff is going to rip through your shields or cook you alive."

Grunt just snorted.

"Krogan hides are tough and hardy." He boasted. "The plasma may burn my plates but it will take more than a few shots to penetrate any deeper than that."

"All well and good for you," she replied a bit annoyed, "but the Commander-"

"It's alright Miranda." Jacob interrupted. "I think it's a good time to bring this up. I've been working on some armour upgrades for us."

Miranda cocked her eyebrow at Jacob as he continued.

"After we got the Geth Shotgun, the one that can shoot conductive plasma by super heating the air, I started brainstorming about how we could defend ourselves against it." He explained. "I talked about it with Tali and we derived some armour plating. Heat and melt resistant alloys, made into wearable plates underneath our main armour. Which already have added ceramic protection in their construction."

"I used some of the materials that make up my suit's own built in heat shielding system." Tali added quickly. "Quarians deal with corrosive materials and hot environments sometimes. So we use special heat resistant materials, stuff that can take acid and that. I was able to adapt it to work with plasma as well. I've already added the layer to my suit. We have plenty of them made by now to go around."

Miranda just nodded, at least that gave them a chance. So long as the non-Krogan members of the crew didn't get shot in the head or something. She looked over to Jacob.

"How come I wasn't told of this?" She asked.

"Kinda felt it would be a nice surprise for the next ship meeting." Jacob chuckled.

Miranda just shook her head annoyed.

"Jacob, you know I'm not big on surprises."

That was when another alarm sounded from EDI. That was becoming so common an occurrence today that everyone in the room thought, for a brief moment, that they had looked over the AI before the alarm had even sounded.

"Speaking of..." Miranda groaned.

"I have detected several smaller heat signatures within the enemy vessel." EDI warned. "They are similar to that of fighter crafts. The exact nature of them is unknown however. It is reasonable to assume that they are attempting to search for us."

"Logical strategy," Legion added in its usual electronic monotone, "enemy vessel is disabled and unable to mount search, smaller craft will attempt to either board or force Normandy out of hiding."

"Then we better get moving," Shepard concurred, "boarding team with me. Everyone else keep on your toes, I have a feeling none of us are going to be left out of the fight today."

Miranda was suddenly glad that Jacob and Tali had plenty of those plasma resistant metal plates for their armour.

* * *

><p>It was less than five minutes later when Shepard, Jack, Grunt and Kasumi got down to the hanger bay. With the fighter craft from that ship apparently getting ready to search the system for them they couldn't lollygag. They needed to blast that cruiser out of their space and fast. As he was getting ready to go Miranda came up to Shepard near the shuttle.<p>

"Do you really think it's a good idea to bring Jack along on this mission?" She asked. "Surely Samara would be more prone to showing restraint, not to mention not flying off the handle."

"I know you and Jack don't get along Miranda..." Shepard responded.

"That is an understatement Commander." Miranda was quick to interjected.

"Point is we both know she's loyal. She could've left at any time after the Collector Base was destroyed." Shepard reminded her. "She didn't. She'll follow orders, that much I'm certain. So if you're worried about her killing me in a blood crazed haze, don't."

"I know, you can handle her and she does respect you I'll give her that." Miranda admitted. "Hell she's even less willing to talk back at me since she learned I quit Cerberus after the Collector mission. But there's still that pent up rage in her, she's still an anti-social recluse and that does not help our team."

Shepard had noticed that. At the very least both Miranda and Jack had stopped bickering whenever they got the chance to square off. Part of that was the fact Jack kept sitting in the Normandy's lower decks, the other half was the fact that none of them were working for the Illusive Man or his little group of pro-human, screw the rest, terrorist group. That was one monkey Shepard was glad to get off his back.

Still, he had to admit Miranda had a point. Jack was damn reclusive, now more than ever. He wasn't sure why. Not even Yeoman Kelly could make her open up about it. Whenever someone tried to talk with her she kind of brushed them off, if she didn't just tell them to "fuck off." Whatever the case, despite Miranda's concerns about her issues, it wasn't relevant now.

"Look we'll handle it when we got time." Shepard assured Miranda. "Right now, we have a giant ship on our asses and I need someone who's proven she can take said giant ships apart. Besides, you really want her here in case someone boards the Normandy?"

Miranda thought that over for a second before shrugging slightly and nodding her head.

"Point taken, Commander." She resigned.

"You're in charge while I'm gone." Shepard told her as he attached his shotgun to his back holster. "Those bastards get on board you need to contain them. They can't reach the bridge, the engine and especially not EDI."

Miranda, as always, was quick to stand at attention.

"I won't let them get an inch, sir," Miranda assured, "although personally I would like to know what we're facing."

"Wouldn't we all." Shepard added.

Miranda left, allowing Shepard to continue his way to the shuttle where the others were already getting on board. As he made his way towards it, he was stopped by Tali who he saw standing near the shuttle's doors.

"Part of me thinks I should be going with you." She told him. "I'm not saying Kasumi isn't a capable hacker it's just, well, this whole plan is risky."

"When is it not risky, Tali?" Shepard asked her. "Look I need you here. Joker is going to need the best engineer on staff to keep the power core running smoothly if we get into another fire fight. Not mention if they board-"

"Me and Zaeed are the last line of defence in this area." Tali completed for him. "Yes, I know."

He hugged her close in an attempt to calm her nerves.

"I'll be fine. I promise." He told her. "You just protect this ship; it's our home after all. Hell, I'll even bring you back a souvenir. They may have some cool hyper advanced alien shotguns on board. You never know."

Tali hugged the Commander back.

"I do like shotguns." Tali admitted with a giggle. "Just be careful, Wade."

Shepard let go and rushed into the shuttle.

"You know me, Tali, I'm always careful." He said with big old grin.

Tali shook her head, smiling under her visor.

"You're never careful, Wade." She told him chuckling as the shuttle doors closed.

"Okay, maybe I'm not," he shrugged, "but that's why I always pack tons of medi-gel remember?"

As he finished his line the shuttle's doors clamped shut and the small craft began to rise above the ground. Tali had to leave the hanger bay quickly as the airlock was starting to open. She got back to the engineering deck in time to see the shuttle take off out of the hanger doors and into space.

"I wouldn't be so worried." Miranda told Tali as she approached her from the side. "He is Commander Shepard after all."

"Yeah, you're right." Tali nodded. "I should feel sorrier for whoever is on that spaceship he's boarding. I guess I just can't help but feel a bit worried for him."

"You care about him and you wish you could always make sure he's safe," Miranda said, attempting to calm her nerves. "it's only natural. He'll be back in no time, you'll see."

Miranda left Tali to stare out at the hanger for a bit, but it only lasted so long. Before long the Quarian had steeled herself once more. Shepard had his job to do and she had her own. Wade wasn't going to let these new aliens, whoever they were, however advanced, take him down so easily.

"Keelah se'lai, Wade." she whispered under her breath.

She went back to the engine room. She had to be ready for when the aliens tried to board them. She would not let her and Shepard's home fall.

* * *

><p>The Normandy's shuttle crept across the vast empty void creeping ever closer towards the enemy vessel. Grunt would've been pacing in anticipation had Shepard not told him to stay seated. Jack was at least remaining calm in her seat, fiddling with her gun. Kasumi was the only other one besides Shepard who was a little nervous.<p>

"You know if those guys look out a window they'll know we're here." Kasumi warned "It's not like we have a cloaking device on this ship or anything."

Shepard looked out their own window towards the vessel they were fast approaching. He didn't see any port holes.

"Far as I can tell there aren't any windows." Shepard told her "Let's just hope that EDI's virus keeps their scanners jammed till we can make a landing."

"Where exactly are we landing anyway?" Jack asked

"The ship has to have a docking bay." Shepard told her "We just have to slip in and hope it's not filled to the brim with enemies. Here's hoping."

As Shepard spoke he noticed several small craft exiting the vessel out of its side, along with a number of flat like space craft there were a dozen or so slender cigar shaped like craft following them. He had a hunch the slender ones were the boarding craft.

"Looks like they're starting." He told the others "They aren't turning on us so I guess they can't see us. EDI's virus is working so far."

He noticed an opening for them in one of the hangers, and saw the vehicles speed out of the ship through a strange glowing field.

"Must be some kind of mass effect field," Kasumi suggested "like the ones we use to keep hull breaches stable."

"I don't know," Shepard told her "this looks different. Well, as long as the door is open..."

The shuttle slinked in as the last fighter took off. Evidently EDI's virus had worked and they had avoided detection from the ships. That meant they were probably linked in to the same scan system of the cruiser itself. They landed in the hanger shortly after they entered, hiding the shuttle by what looked like a large bulbous landing craft. Not like the slender boarding craft they saw heading for their ship, these looked like they were for planet side transportation. They were bulkier and rounder, their apperance somewhat resembling a large beetle-like shell.

The team piled out, weapons in hand.

"It won't take them long to find out something is up." Shepard warned the others "So remember, we stick to the plan, get EDI into this ship's systems and find a way to take this thing down."

"Just as long as I get to tear a few of these aliens apart I'm good." Grunt assured

There was a strange sound from what looked like a door on the opposite side of the room, a sort of wailing, beeping sound. The doors flew open to reveal three 8-foot tall creatures in blue armour, flanked by several smaller hunched back creatures. The taller ones had four mandibles making up their mouths. They could tell by the way their jaws seemed to open up as they talked. Their helmets were slicked back in a sort of fringe and they held unfamiliar looking bulbous objects in their hands, prbably guns from the way their holding them.. The little ones had large triangular structures on their backs, connected to what appeared to be gas masks on their faces. For moment none of them seemed to notice the squad.

"They look like... Volus... with less suit." Kasumi noted confused

"And their buddies look like Turians." Grunt grumbled

One of the taller creatures suddenly looked their way. In a flash he pointed at them and shouted something in some strange unknown language none of them recognized. All at once the contingent of aliens raised their arms and began to discharge their weapons. Bolts of plasma weapons quickly filled the room. Quickly the group took cover as the bolts of plasma began slamming into shuttle and transport they had hidden behind.

"I'll tell ya what they look like," Jack said as she peered out behind the landing gear of the alien transport. "dead! Just like every other piece of shit that crosses us!"

Jack leapt out from the cover of the alien landing craft and sent a biotic shockwave careening across the floor. The blue wave of death sent the little hunched back creatures flying, smacking straight into the taller friends once or twice. Despite this the bigger aliens stood firm, shimmering slightly as the biotic waves hit them.

"They're shielded!" Shepard warned "Everyone switch to rapid fire weapons, fastest way to take their shields down!"

Kasumi brought out her Kassa Locust submachine gun as the plasma bolts slammed into the edge of the shuttle she was hiding behind. The aliens were moving up, backed up by what was left of their tinier friends. She fired a few shots at the big blue one rushing up front. Its shields were strong though, the rounds seemingly bouncing off, only causing a shimmering short out affect as the creature continued to approach.

Shepard ducked into cover with Grunt, who was behind what appeared to be some kind of blocky purple weapons rack the Krogan had tipped over. Shepard only assumed that because it looked like there were weapons strewn across the floor nearby Grunt's feet. He slid beside the big Krogan as Grunt's trigger finger continued to press down hard and repeatedly on the Mattock assault rifle he was carrying. The powerful shots of the weapon tore through the shields of the blue armoured aliens quickly. Shepard saw a flashing spark, similar to when their shields went down.

"Hit him now!" Shepard ordered Jack as he pointed at the unshielded enemy.

Jack stuck her hand out, pulsating with blue energy. The enemy alien was lifted off the ground and began to float over to them, spinning in the air. Jack was quick to fire a shotgun slug into its chest as it floated closer. Grunt seemed a little annoyed though; obviously he wanted to be to finish the alien off. Shepard decided to give him a chance, he turned to Kasumi.

"The other two, overload!" he ordered the thief.

Kasumi didn't need to be told twice. Whipping out her omni-tool, she only needed to press a few commands before she sent out a small electromagnetic pulse at the two enemy aliens. Suddenly both their shields went down and they seemed jump at their weapons, which were now spewing blue steam out their sides.

"Plasma guns are overheated, Grunt take them!" Shepard told the Krogan

"Finally!" Grunt shouted in elation.

The large space lizard threw himself over the top of their cover and pulled out his large Krogan shotgun once more, he began firing once or twice at the smaller creatures in his way. He fired a shot at the bigger creature to the right; the slug severely injured him, forcing him into a kneeling position of sorts. His comrade's weapon seemed to cool down for he began firing volley shots at Grunt. One hit the ornery reptile in his forehead. Krogan skulls were thick so it didn't hurt, but it still pissed him off.

"You're meat!" he declared "Both of you! MEAT!"

In a rage Grunt charged head long at the blue armoured aliens, smacking the one he shot down to the floor as he continued on through to connect his head with the one that was still standing. He treaded over several of the helpless smaller aliens in his way as he rammed the large one straight into another nearby landing craft's side. The creature's stomach collapsed as the Krogan's heavy head plate slammed him into the solid metal. A huge purple blood stain was left on the side of the ship as the creature's guts seemed to spill out in front of it. Grunt pulled back and let the creature drop to the floor. Shepard caught up with him only then as Jack looked over the downed remaining human sized Alien. She put a round in its head from her heavy pistol for good measure.

"Good warm up fight, Shepard." Grunt told him with pride. "Give me more."

"I doubt there will be any shortage of hostiles on this ship, Grunt." Shepard assured him. "You'll satisfy your blood lust in due time. Right now, I think we should head further in before their friends catch up with us. We still need to plug Kasumi into the system somehow."

"We should head through the door our buddies came through." Kasumi suggested pointing at the entry way "Seems to be our only option right now."

Shepard nodded and the others quickly picked up and moved through the entry. They were doing well so far, hopefully this would get easier as they went along.

* * *

><p>The Normandy held position behind the moon, but stealth systems wouldn't matter for much longer. If their scans were correct the fighters and boarding ships were looping around the celestial body, getting into position to attack. They'd have visual soon enough and that meant the Normandy would have visitors. From what EDI could tell the ships had separated into two units, one coming from behind the Normandy, the other in front. They wouldn't be able to shoot them all down, they'd have to try and outrun them. Problem was they'd have to stay in relatively close contact to the enemy ship otherwise EDI would lose her connection and Shepard would be on his own down there.<p>

"Tali would kill me if I did that," Joker thought to himself as he mulled the situation over in his chair.

"Jeff," EDI chimed in. "Garrus informs me that the torpedoes and cannons are primed. He is ready to give additional firing solutions once engaged."

"Yeah well, let's hope those obsessive calibrations of his pay off," he commented. "They're coming in fast."

Joker was quick to start moving the Normandy back away from the moon so the nose began to face it, maybe he could potentially shoot more of them before they got close. It was inevitable some would get through, but hopefully it wouldn't be any boarding parties.

"Yeah right, when are we ever that lucky?" Joker thought to himself as he ran the strategy over in his head.

He caught a glimpse of the first few fighters coming over the ridge of one end of the moon. Target locators blipped onto the screen before them, indicating torpedoes had locked on. It was a little overkill for ships so small, but he figured the explosions would rip apart the other nearby fighters as well. The first volley was launched as the enemy ships turned on them. The torpedoes sped across the void striking two the enemy fighters dead center.

The silent explosion within the vacuum followed soon afterwards. Joker couldn't miss a beat however and began firing the Normandy's cannons into the mass of enemies speeding towards them. He made the ship fly upwards as he did so, keeping the nose up. Maybe taking the high road, so to speak, would give them a bit of an advantage against these guys. It did for a time, as it kept them out of the range of their weapons, but soon they closed the gap and the small ships began to pepper Normandy with plasma fire.

"Shields are holding," EDI assured Joker. "Second group is closing."

"Time to play a little game of Chicken then," Joker declared, surprisingly calm for the situation.

The Normandy's thrusters suddenly sprang to life and sent the Human warship hurtling towards the first group of enemies at her front. Joker kept firing the cannons as they got closer, taking down several enemy fighters that were converging on them.

"We brake for no one!" Joker laughed as he rammed the Normandy through the cluster of enemy ships. "Unless you wanna crash into our shields you bastards better run!"

Many a fighter was quick to dodge away from the speeding starship, they were the smart ones. EDI was putting so much juice into the forward shields at this time that the ones that stood their ground ended up getting pasted on the kinetic barriers of the Normandy, if they weren't destroyed by Normandy's guns first. Their shields weren't strong enough to withstand a larger ship like the Normandy and her shields smashing into them. Joker silently thanked Tali for the upgrades once more. They had saved their lives again. He wouldn't be doing this little kamikaze run otherwise.

As Joker was running the ragged, the enemy ships from behind were desperately trying to catch up to the backside of the frigate. There was nothing they could do about them except hope they didn't catch up. Unfortunately at least one did, a large boarding vessel rocketed its engines towards the cargo door of the Normandy, intending to ram itself straight through to the inside. It fired repeatedly on the section it was attacking with its frontal plasma cannon, weakening the shields just enough for them to breech. They smashed into the underside of the Normandy. A collision that did not go unnoticed.

"Jeff," EDI warned. "We have a breech on the hanger deck. Boarding vessel, large, I estimate at least 75 or so hostiles inside."

"75!" Jeff shouted back in shock "We're just a frigate! We don't have that big a crew! Overkill much?"

"They're attempting to overrun us," EDI exclaimed. "I have notified all available hands to report to the engine room as quick as possible."

"We're not letting this ship get overrun again," Joker declared adamantly as he pressed on the intercom. "Tali! You read me down there? You got company!"

* * *

><p>"Yes Joker, I see them." Tali quickly shouted back up at him as she stared at the large purple object jutting out of the Hanger bay. "Don't worry I got this handled."<p>

Already the aliens had popped the hatch on their vessel and were pouring in. Tali pulled out her shotgun and took aim at the glass window separating her from the hanger. She blasted it out in two good shots, sending fragments of glass down to the floor below. She quickly switched to her heavy pistol and began firing on the small little chubby creatures slumping their ways towards her from below.

"EDI," she called out. "Disable all elevator access to the hanger bay!"

"Already done," The AI assured. "Containment will not be compromised. Security detail is on its way to you. Approximate arrival, 15 seconds."

As Tali was taking aim at the strange bulbous aliens and their taller companions pouring into the cargo bay, Zaeed rushed out of his room nearby, armed with large Revenant Machine gun in his arms.

"And for a moment I thought Shepard stuck me with the boring assignment." He mused as he took position beside Tali "Burst through our hanger eh? Crazy bastards. Gotta admire their balls to pull that a bit though."

"Admire later!" Tali replied rather annoyed, plasma bolts from below smacking into her cover and forcing to duck down "Shoot them!"

"Don't need to tell me twice love."

Zaeed laid the hammer down on the Revenant's trigger, quickly dismantling the shield of one of the larger blue aliens before tearing the creature's body to pieces. He then pulled the pin off an inferno grenade he had with him and tossed it into the mass of bad guys below. The grenade's phosphorous load exploded amongst a group of the smaller aliens. As they burned, Zaeed took aim at the strange pyramid pack on one of them. It punctured and suddenly the little bastard was sent flying up in a gush of gas, set aflame by the little creature's still burning body. He only stopped when he smacked into the ceiling.

"Shit," Zaeed noted. "Little buggers are gas breathers. Just like Volus."

What was left of the gas exploded as the dead body hit the ground.

"Possibly methane," Tali suggested. "Very volatile. Try shooting the packs if you can't get a good lock on their heads."

Zaeed only chuckled at that advice.

"Damn, you've been hanging around Shepard way too much." He told her as he flipped his Revenant to phasic rounds, good for taking down shields "Looks like their bigger friends are shielded from what I saw, so you use that Energy drain attachment of yours on them if you can."

Tali nodded and the old grizzled merc went back to firing on the enemy below. The Revenant's seemingly endless stream of fire tore through anything in its way. Before one of the larger creatures knew what was happening its shields were down and its head was full of massive holes. It didn't even get out of the boarding vessel. The enemies that did get out soon took cover where they could find it, and the plasma bolts began to perforate the area around them. Luckily they had the high ground in this fight, and the security detail EDI had sent had by now arrived. Four armed guards, they'd have to do. Tali instructed them to shoot out the windows and take cover, as well as fill them in on what she and Zaeed already knew.

They just had to keep them contained for now, a job made relatively easy by the now added firepower. For the enemy's part, they crouched into cover, trying their best not to get caught out in the open. But even while suppressed, the aliens were still capable of proving themselves a threat. As Tali poked her head out of cover to check on the positions of the enemy, hoping to call them out for Zaeed, she saw a blazing green light shoot out towards her. She moved to the side slightly, behind what was left of the glass window. She didn't think she was still in danger. She was wrong.

The green bolt of plasma turned in mid-air and collided with the window. The blast shattered the already broken glass, sending bits flying at her. She stumbled back in shock before she quickly dived for cover once more. She heard the distinctive beeping sound from her suit, indicating her shields had just up and died. The residual heat from the blast had drained them, even though the window had taken most of the direct impact.

"I didn't know plasma could lock-on!" She scowled in anger.

"Must 'ave some kinda homing function," Zaeed replied as he ducked down into cover again. "You see where the shot came from?"

"Near the closest of the turbines to us I think," Tali told him.

Zaeed popped back up, Sniper rifle in hand this time and took aim at where Tali had pointed her would be assassin. One of the little bulbous aliens popped out of cover to fire blasts of green plasma at them. As he did, Zaeed fired a shot into its brain pan. The little monster collapsed dead instantly.

"Well he won't be doing that again." Zaeed told Tali as he ducked back down

Tali only nodded before getting back up out of cover. She saw one of the larger aliens, a strange pink device in his hand with needle like objects stick out of it. He had come out of cover and began shooting randomly at their positions. She followed a streaking pink tracer of sorts and watched as it seemed to embed itself in the arm of a nearby security crew member. The poor human let out a shot as he fell back in pain his buddies rushing to his aid.

"The hell just got stuck in him?" One asked

"Looks like a big ass thorn," another said

Before they could even attempt to pry out the "needle", as it were, it just exploded. The needle just seemed to shatter into pieces before them in a pin puff. It was less powerful than a firecracker from the looks of it, but that was just one of those little spikes. Tali wasn't about to underestimate these creatures, not after what had just happened to her. She looked up again and saw the pink spike shooting alien out of cover firing another volley. Using her energy drain function on her omni-tool, she jacked the attacker's shields, draining them completely. As the alien tried to figure out what had hit him, to accomplish that Tali fired several rounds from her heavy pistol at his chest. She was too far away to get an accurate view of his head, but three shots to the heart seemed more than enough to take the creature down.

"Shepard has to fight a whole ship of these things." She realised as she ducked down once more "I hope he's not in over his head."

"Don't worry love," Zaeed responded as he expunged a thermal clip from his rifle. "He's got the Krogan and the Con with him. I'm sure they're more than enough trouble for these bastards to handle."

* * *

><p>"Come out and die you pieces of shit!"<p>

Jack's shotgun seemed to drown out everything else around them. It was a never ending barrage of shell after shell, as the former convict fired relentlessly into the on rushing crowd of the tall turian-like enemies that kept flooding into this hallway. While her bloodlust was distracting, it did give Kasumi sufficient cover for her work.

They had found what looked to be a console of sorts in one of the corners of the ship. It wasn't far from the hanger thankfully so they didn't need to look far for it. The problem was the language. Kasumi didn't understand any of the symbols on this terminal. It was impossible to know exactly what this thing was for, probably some kind of monitoring station. As she had begun the hack a team of enemies popped out from around the corner and started shooting. Luckily there was enough cover in the doorways as well as a large pillar in the center of the little corner they were in to keep them safe for now. Jack was covering one hallway already, Grunt the other as Shepard expected a flanking attack at any second now. Meanwhile the Commander was shifting between helping Jack, what little help she needed, checking on Kasumi and waiting for Grunt to call out the inevitable flanking attack for him.

"How's the work coming Kasumi?" Shepard asked as he reloaded his Tempest sub-machine gun's thermal clip.

"Well I'm getting a nice crash course in extraterrestrial languages," The thief responded, sounding a bit annoyed at the Commander's pestering. "Other than that nothing yet. Just keep them off me."

A plasma bolt slammed into the bulkhead near them both, making them both flinch.

"Flank!" Grunt shouted aloud, his assault rifle chattering away.

"Keep working!" Shepard told Kasumi as he rushed to Grunt's side.

The Krogan had engaged a small squad of the smaller aliens, led by at least four of the taller ones. One of them was wearing red armour, the significance of which Shepard wasn't sure. It could signify rank, but for all he knew it was just as likely an aesthetic choice. Shepard fired several a shots from his Tempest as he slid into the cover across from Grunt's position. He armed his incendiary rounds on his submachine gun and fired wildly into the mass of aliens. He managed to ignite at least one of the small ones and kill another. Plasma shots filled the halls smacking against the bulkhead of the ship, leaving large scorch marks along the purple metal. As Shepard took cover again, one of the aliens dropped some kind of device on the ground. It sprouted up what appeared to be a see-through blue barrier which they took cover behind.

"Of course they got portable shield walls," Shepard said annoyed as he brought out his Scimitar Assault Shotgun. "They have everything else, why not shield walls. Makes total sense to me!"

Shaking his head in frustration he looked over to Grunt.

"Take that shield barrier of theirs down now!" He told him "Concussive shot!"

Grunt only nodded as he jumped out of cover and fired a singular powerful round from his shotgun. The miniature missile glided across the hall and struck the barrier. The blast it generated knocked the smaller aliens in front of it down on their stomachs and overpowered the shield for a moment. The blast even seemed to damage the shield of one of the larger aliens.

Shepard used this moment to get out of cover and pick a target, the same large alien at the rear. With a single, powerful influx of biotic energy he launched himself forward in a biotic charge and smashed head long into the de-shielded enemy. He was sent flying back. Shepard fired a shotgun round into his tumbling form and quickly turned to the next of the enemy leaders, firing two shots in quick succession at its head. The point blank range shots passed through the shield in an instant and perforated the alien.

One of the remaining leaders screamed out in anger at the deaths of his comrades, flaring his mandibles at the Commander. He rushed Shepard stretching his leg out to kick him. Shepard grabbed him by the foot and forced it to the side. As the alien spun round, Shepard delivered a right hook to the creature's face with the butt of his gun before shooting him as he tumbled back. The final leader alien was not deterred by this and began wildly shooting at Shepard, bringing his shields close to critical. But he took his attention off Grunt, and the Krogan's assault rifle ripped through the creature's armour with ease, splattering it's purple blood everywhere.

The little aliens at the front screamed at the deaths of all four of their commanding officers and seemed to run around in a panic. Caught between the krogan and the human they ahd no idea what to do. The first ran towards Grunt. They soon realised how big a mistake this was as the Krogan mowed them down. They quickly turned heel and began running past Shepard, shooting him as they did. Shepard fired back in defense, killing one or two before the rest got by him and made a break for it down the hall.

"Cowards," Grunt grumbled. "Without their battlemasters they flee like vermin. Almost not worth killing, or they would be if it wasn't so much fun."

Shepard would've responded but he heard a large explosion and several angry swear words in quick succession. Jack needed help now. He told grunt to keep watch on the corridor in case they returned and rushed back to help the Ex-Con. When he got there the hallway was strewn with several bodies, but there were still plenty of enemies further down the line, firing plasma at Jack. She was in the corner of the room, clutching her shotgun. Nearby in the center of the entryway was a small scalded crater in the metal floor.

"They threw some kind of fucking plasma grenade at me!" She screeched "Fuckers almost fragged me!"

"You hit?" Shepard asked her

"I'm fine," she responded in her usual exasperated attitude "Shut up and help me kill them already!"

Shepard only nodded at Jack's request and poked his head out off cover to fire a stream of rounds at some of the nearby enemies with his submachine gun. Still that wouldn't be good enough to take them down. He looked over to Kasumi, still working away at the terminal.

"Kasumi!" He shouted. "You got a second?"

"I think I've cracked the damn AI's firewalls," Kasumi exclaimed in frustration. "Whatever you need make it quick! I can't be distracted right now!"

"I just need an overload blast," Shepard called back. "Short out their weapons and shields for a few seconds!"

Kasumi grumbled to herself in Japanese, annoyed at the conditions she was under. With a quick few taps on her omni tool she initiated an overload program and targeted it at the enemy down the hall, jumping swiftly out of her cover behind the pillar and back again. The charge once again shorted out the shields and overheated the plasma weapons of the enemy.

"There! Now kill them already!" She told them. "I seriously need to work here!"

Shepard looked over to Jack and counted down with his fingers, when he reached zero they both leapt out of cover and launched simultaneous biotic shockwaves at the cluster of enemies down the hall. When it hit them the aliens went flying, smashing their skulls into the bulkhead of their ship. It kept trucking on through them, like a bullet train at full speed. The little ones got it worse, as they were sent flying they flailed their arms uselessly in the air before slamming back down hard. The walls and ceiling splattered with purple and blue blood. If the aliens didn't get killed from having their necks snapped by the blue wave that tore through their ranks they would soon wish they had been. Jack rushed in soon after, with reckless abandon, and began pumping lead into any of the aliens she saw even twitching.

"Try to frag me will ya! Fuckers! You all thought you were hot shit didn't ya!" She screamed as she pumped round after round into the aliens on the floor.

Shepard was about to tell her to stop when he saw one of the bigger aliens get up and level his weapon at her.

"Jack to the right!" he called out

Acting on sheer adrenaline now, Jack saw the dumb half dead alien. She looked to the ground and spotted what appeared to be some kind of blue ball. She assumed it was a grenade, or at least it looked like the alien equivalent of it. She used her biotics to pull the alien up into the air before grabbing the grenade. She found this little button on it and pressed it, the thing started to glow blue with hot plasma.

"Here's your toy back!" She declared as she threw it at the alien. "Choke on it!"

The grenade latched on to the alien's chest plate as he floated in the air. A bellowing scream came first, than an explosion accompanied by a hot blue flash. Jack shielded her eyes once more, putting up a biotic barrier between herself and the explosion to keep herself from getting thrown back by the miniature blast. When it was over the alien lay in pieces on the ground, Jack was seemingly satisfied with this and finally calmed herself.

"Alright, I'm good now," she assured Shepard. "Just needed to see a few of these bastards get their brains spewed out across this ship."

Shepard shook his head and sighed, why did he have so many people on his ship that considered violence as therapy for their issues?

"Just try not to set off another grenade in these close quarters," he told her. "You don't wanna get blown away like that guy."

"Just an adrenaline rush, wasn't thinking, I said I was good," She reiterated. "Besides, fucker was asking for it. Should've stayed dead, now he will."

It was pointless to ask her to make a promise not to do it again, that wasn't how Jack did things. Luckily he got some news that cheered him up.

"Shepard! I hacked it!"

That was Kasumi, quickly both he and Jack rushed up her, Grunt remained at his post but they could see him from where they stood next to Kasumi. The thief herself was practically bouncing with joy near the terminal.

"I don't know how I did it but I cracked the firewall!" She exclaimed. "These systems reminded me of a turian developed system I once ran into. Obviously not the same system, but it had a similar coding. Won't bore you with the details, point is I got in and I've isolated a good chunk of the systems from the Alien AI. Meaning EDI won't be kicked out so damn easily this time. It's like I set her up an apartment, except in cyberspace so the decor probably isn't that good but the view's nice. You can send her the wireless connection address. It's specifically tuned to the Normandy's systems. It should let her in no trouble."

"Good work Kasumi," Shepard told her as he began to contact Joker. "I'm sure EDI will love it."

He got through to the Normandy on comms.

"Joker, we're in the system," Shepard told the pilot. "Tell EDI to upload herself into the ship's systems, she can use a link Kasumi's set up between our ship and the Normandy's."

"Thanks Commander! I'll tell her! But we're kinda in a pickle here!" Joker shouted over the comm. "We're getting swarmed by these bastards! Shields are holding, but they got a boarding crew inside down on the hanger deck! Tali and Zaeed have engaged!"

Good, Tali was with Zaeed. The old fossil was a jerk but he'd keep her safe. So long as they didn't do anything stupid.

"Stick to the plan Joker," Shepard told him. "Keep our ship flying and give us time to space this hunk of junk."

"Roger commander!" Joker replied

* * *

><p>The hanger floor was littered with alien bodies, but there were still plenty more down below. They had managed to slip past the bulk of the gunfire through sheer numbers alone. Tali and the others, however, were not worried. EDI had shut down elevator service to the hanger floor. They wouldn't be able to get up that way.<p>

"You'd think they woulda pulled something by now," Zaeed thought aloud as he observed the hanger below. "They're right beneath us, right in front of the elevator and they ain't doing squat. Makes me nervous."

"They're probably trying to force open the doors," Tali assumed. "Or the vents."

Her head suddenly bolted up from the window, her brain realising something she had stupidly overlooked in all the excitement.

"The vents," she stated in shock, as she turned to the security detail. "Get down to Jack's hidey hole! They're going to try and get through there!"

The security team rushed into the engine room downs and down the stairs to where Jack usually resided. They were careful to avoid touching the convict's stuff as they surveyed the area. They didn't want her finding out they had been here. The enemy hadn't broken through yet, but now they were ready for them when they inevitably did. Back up top Tali had rushed into the engine room, Zaeed close behind.

"If they get in here they could do who knows what kind of damage to the Normandy," She frantically concluded as she began clicking buttons on her terminal "We need to get ready."

Clicking a few buttons, the metal mesh beneath their feet opened up in certain places. Out popped a number of waist high cover plates, similar to those Shepard had encountered on Purgatory. Tali had them installed here after the suicide mission, considering the Collectors were able to board the Normandy relatively unmolested had shown Tali the value of have cover to hide behind so you were swarmed by boarders. The large metal plates that now covered the entryways and the long hallway leading to the power core would give them that cover.

"Kinda wish I had a flamethrower down here," Zaeed said brazenly. "Close quarters, could have ourselves a little alien cook out so to speak. I already have the beer, they'd bring the meat."

"I'm not even going to ask if you really do have beer on you because I know you probably do," Tali told him hastily as she loaded up her shotgun with thermal clips. "Let's just try and focus on surviving."

"We could ask for more reinforcements," Zaeed told her. "Lawson and Taylor could use the target practice."

"If these bosh'tets invade any other part of the ship they're going to need all the help they can get up there," Tali reminded him. "We just have to stick to Shepard's plan."

Over in the corner, Tali's fellow engineers Donnelly and Daniels were readying their pistols.

"We're ready when you are boss," Donnelly said with a cocky grin. "Those freaky aliens ain't getting near the engines."

"Yeah we just finished cleaning out half the fuel intake valves," Daniels added, her own joking smile adding to Donnelly's. "Not to mention all the holes they're putting in this ship. It took forever to buff out all the dents after we took down the collectors. I don't really appreciate them dropping in unannounced like this."

Tali beamed under her helmet, it was nice to see everyone had her back on this.

"I know you will," she replied with utmost confidence. "Let's just hope we don't have any more surprises today."

At that moment a shattering sound was heard by them all. While the others struggled in their minds for a few seconds what had happened, Zaeed knew what it was immediately.

"That came from my room!" He shouted. "Bastards must've broken through the window! They've boarded again!"

"That's insane!" Tali shouted. "How could they board us through a window without causing depressurization? Even with mass effect fields it's a crazy idea!"

"Don't care!" Shouted Zaeed. "They're in my room!"

In a rage Zaeed rushed over the cover Tali had activated and rushed out the door. Tali tried to stop him, calling out to the merc as he ran.

"Zaeed stick to the plan!"

But the merc only answered back in angry growls. It was déjà vu all over again for her, but to Zaeed's credit Prazza's personality wasn't nearly as enjoyable or comforting and that was saying a lot given Zaeed's usual attitude. She would've gone after him, but she heard gun fire coming from below their feet. The aliens had broken through the vents and the security detail had engaged them.

"Oh perfect," Tali said brushing her hand against her faceplate in distain.

* * *

><p>It took a few minutes before EDI's "face", so to speak, materialized on the Terminal Kasumi hacked.<p>

"I have established connection," she stated matter-of-factly. "Firewalls holding, the AI is unable to breech. Thank you Ms. Goto for your assistance."

Kasumi seemed to blush at the praise.

"Aww, it was nothing," she assured. "When I got the hang of the system it was like breaking into a high school locker."

Shepard was quick to get EDI back on task. They had no time to lose with the Normandy being boarded.

"How much control we got?" Shepard asked her.

"Moderate," EDI replied. "The alien AI is formidable. I do not think I should risk doing anything more than expanding Mrs. Goto's firewalls for now. However once I locate the AI core it should be a simple task to delete it from the ship's databanks and replace it with my own runtimes. Once that occurs I will have full control. Till then I am currently hacking into and taking control over the minor functions of the ship and I have the schematics of the vessel as well."

Less than a minute onboard and EDI had already given them an advantage. She didn't mess around.

"Can you direct us to the bridge?" Shepard asked.

"Of course," EDI replied. "I have full control over most of the doors on this deck. I should be able to lock out a sufficient number of the enemy leaving your path to the bridge relatively clear. It is at the back of the ship."

"Thanks EDI," Shepard said to AI gratefully. "We'll get moving now."

"I should have control over more systems and doors by the time you get to the passage leading up to the next deck," EDI told the commander as he and the others began to move. "I will activate emergency lighting to guide your way. Be careful, I can only keep them from reinforcing the people they have already posted along the route and they will no doubt attempt to break through the doors inevitably."

Fair warning, but Shepard wasn't so worried about them at the moment. He was more concerned how the crew back aboard the Normandy was fairing. He quickly asked EDI about it through their com-link.

"How's the Normandy doing?" He asked

"They have contained the aliens for the moment," EDI informed him. "But more boarders are attempting to overwhelm them as we speak."

Shepard instantly regretted asking the question.

* * *

><p>Zaeed rushed to the door of his room, where the Normandy's trash compactor threw it's refuse out into space. The atmosphere was still there, but the window had indeed been broken through. A smaller boarding pod was sticking out of the window. Amazingly the glass remained intact as if a hole had been melted in it, as for the aliens inside theses ones appeared different. They were more bird like with strange feathers on their heads and weird looking skull-like masks on some of them. Strangest of all they carried large plasma shields on their arms like they were swat officers or something. Zaeed didn't care about the shields, he busted through ones that looked way tougher than them. He was concerned about the fact one of them appeared to be eyeing an old beat up rifle on one of the boxes in the room.<p>

"NO ONE TOUCHES JESSIE YOU SONS OF BITCHES!"

Zaeed's Revenant filled the room with fire, the dumb alien who had lowered his shield a bit when he reached out for Jessie died first, the others were luckier. Even with all the fire power in the Revenant it wasn't enough to pierce their plasma shields. One of the aliens charged at Zaeed and tried to swing its shield at him. The old merc stepped back slightly and grabbed the creature's bony looking arm as he side stepped to the right of the creature.

The merciful thing to do would be to just shoot the creature now, but instead Zaeed broke the alien's limb, forcing it cover him while the others opened fire with the strange looking pink needle spewing guns and green plasma weapons. Zaeed pulled the shield device from the freaky looking space bird's arm and kicked him into the path of a bunch of needles that were coming towards him. Zaeed rammed his hand onto the shield device, giving him cover and allowing him to steady his machine gun slightly without needing to hold on to the handle indefinitely. The needles kept slamming into the poor bastard as Zaeed hid behind the shield for a moment to change his rifle's ammo type. Suddenly the alien exploded into a mist of pink.

"So that's what happens when enough of them hit ya." Zaeed noted.

Suddenly a large green plasma bolt struck the shield he was holding and short circuited. Zaeed didn't need it though. He just needed the phasic rounds he had armed, the ones that could go through shields like a hit knife through a varren's skull. The rounds he fired cut through the freakish birds and their shields as Zaeed screamed aloud. He grabbed his old beat up rifle Jessie and strapped it to a spare part of his armour for the moment. He now pulled back, the shield he held in his other arm coming back online as he exited the door. What few of the alien birds that were left tried to follow the merc out, even as the phasic rounds tore through their companions.

Maybe it was stupid to jump in like this for a shitty old gun, but damn it Jessie was his gun. He wasn't going to let her get sullied by these ugly looking tossers if he could help it. He'd deal with the others bemoaning him for doing it later.

* * *

><p>The security detail couldn't hold that many of the aliens rushing out of the vents, they had to pull back once they saw that glowing blue orb that landed near them. They guessed they didn't want to be near it, they were right. The thing, which they now knew was a grenade exploded just as they got to the stairs. They now joined Tali and her fellow engineers at the palisades the Quarian had activated for them.<p>

"We thinned out a few but more just keep on coming!" explained one frantic guard. "I could've sworn we were almost done with these bastards!"

"Stay calm," Tali told him coolly "we just have to hold them here. We'll get them in this tight space and kill them off one by one, their numbers won't matter down here."

The port side door opened up. One of the taller aliens walked about an inch inside before Tali popped up and unloaded a point blank shotgun blast into the creature's chest. The alien went flying smacking into the next to him. His smaller companions rushed in, shooting their plasma weapons wildly at the palisades. Behind them, another taller enemy alien forced them to push forward, shouting commands no one on the Normandy could understand.

On the starboard side of the engine room, more of the aliens came out of the door located there. Daniels and Connelly fired their heavy pistols at the small aliens that lurched through, taking them down easily, but the shields on the taller ones in armour held out. Tali noticed the trouble and once again used energy drain function to steal away the power of the enemy shields. As the aliens saw their cover evaporate before their eyes, the two human engineers resumed their assault and brought the alien down.

A long drawn out scream was heard coming from the port side door, rushing into the room came Zaeed a plasma shield attached to his arm while his machine gun in the other kept spewing out fire. The shield slammed into the head of one of the taller blue armoured enemies that was unfortunate enough to get in Zaeed's way. He plopped himself behind as palisade next to Tali.

"Bout time! The hell were you doing?" Tali demanded to know

"My own damn business," Zaeed told her "worry about the fucking birds that are coming in along with a hell of a lot more of their buddies from downstairs!"

"Birds?" Tali asked confused

Her question was soon answered as the creature's Zaeed had engaged in his room plowed their way into the fight their shields giving them cover. Tali had grown fed up of this, she had just gotten use to two new alien species shooting at her, now she had a third. It was time to thin the herd a bit in her mind, or in this flock from the looks of the new aliens.

"Go get them Chiktikka." She said as she drummed up a few commands on her omni tool

The familiar purple combat drone emerged on the field and began its assault. Electric shocks zapped one of the small methane breathing aliens into a wall quickly. It was somewhat comical how the poor thing flailed and screamed as the surge of electricity travelled through his body. Chiktikka then turned one the nearby bird aliens with their shields and sent a tremendous pulse through their ranks, shorting out their plasma shields and overheating their plasma weapons.

"Perfect!" Zaeed grinned, delighted at the now vulnerable aliens.

The Revenant tore through the three birds Chakita has disabled with ease, Zaeed laughing a bit as they fell over each other in their death throes. But more quickly replaced them and their plasma bolts slammed into Chikita, causing the drone to disperse it's physical form.

"Tenacious bastards ain't they." Zaeed asked as plasma polts slammed into their cover

"Worse we've just lost ground to them." Tali reminded him "The elevator is practically wide open for them. I've already contacted Miranda, she'll have to hold them, but we're on our own for sure now."

No reinforcements were going to be coming to flank these bastards from behind, and they were backed into a corner. They could only hope that they could hold out long enough for Miranda and the others to push them back and help them out or that they could kill them all before they ran out of thermal clips. Both options were pretty grim.

* * *

><p>Shepard took cover in an alcove along the hall as more plasma bolts rained down on their position. The two large aliens on the ramp that led up to the next deck were certainly in a better position than they were. This was the first patrol they encountered since EDI had taken over partial control of the ship, but even only two of the blue armoured aliens were formidable enough to slow them down. Especially with the plasma weapons they were packing.<p>

These ones weren't like the smaller version they saw among the other tall aliens, these ones were practically rapid fire light machine guns. Even worse, as they fired on the group, a smaller alien pushed over a large purple rectangular box of sorts to create cover for itself and its commanding officers. As the two large ones hunkered down behind the box, the small alien had set up these aliens' version of a machine gun. A heavy plasma gun that had shields on its sides to boot. It felt like a scene out of an old war vid where the enemy machine gun emplacement was practically tearing apart the heroes' cover, bit by bit. Thankfully, plasma just scorched the sides of their little alcove, so they could sit tight here, at least for awhile.

"Can't stay here forever," Shepard told the others. "We need to take out that gun."

"No shit." Jack grumbled from behind him. "I thought we were just going to let it perforate us."

Grunt was across from them, in another alcove taking pot shots at the thing when he could, but it wasn't exactly working. Shepard had a better idea.

"Kasumi," he started "I need a flash grenade from you for a second."

The thief tossed her Commander one. Shepard pressed himself close to the edge in preparation for his plan.

"Alright," he began "when I throw it you head out there cloaked, get behind them and punch out their plasma machine gunner."

"You always give the fun jobs." Kasumi beamed, Shepard didn't know whether or not she was being sarcastic.

"You just keep doing what you're doing Grunt!" Shepard shouted over to him "Bring down their shields while they're disoriented!"

Grunt merely nodded.

"Jack," he said turning to his last team mate. "I'm going to get close when Grunt takes down shields, you pull the one I don't hit towards ya and we'll finish him off consecutively."

Jack looked at the Commander bemused.

"You do realise you're asking ME to cover your back." She pointed out

"Jack, don't get wise on me here," Shepard told her "I'm not Miranda, I trust you remember? Besides, you'll be able to shove it in Lawson's face that you looked out for team when she thought you wouldn't. I thought that would make you happy, you love one upping her."

As Shepard predicted, Jack's smile grew tenfold and the convict replied "Let's fuck'em up!" as soon as she processed the idea. Jack was easy to motivate when you knew how to talk to her.

Wasting no more time, Shepard threw the flash grenade at the small squad of aliens that was giving them so much trouble. A blinding flash came soon after and the constant fire ceased its rain. Now blinded, the aliens left themselves open to Grunt's attacks as he quickly began firing methodically at their center mass, damaging their shields. Meanwhile the little gas breathing alien tried to regain its composure. Only to have its face slam directly into the plasma gun it had set up. Kasumi appeared behind the downed creature, her cloak evaporating in front of the two remain enemy combatants.

"Oh I'm sorry was he with you?" she asked sardonically

Before she could say anymore one of the aliens took a swipe at her, which she dodged easily. She flipped over the cover in front with a somersault, just as Shepard was lining up his biotic charge. Kasumi landed a foot away from the enemy position just as a blue blur sped past her and slammed into the alien on the left. Jack jumped out of the alcove next and wave her arm, now teeming with biotic energy, at the second alien. As he lifted up into the air Shepard fired two consecutive shots from his shotgun. One for the alien he downed and another for the one Jack had just lifted up. The convict finished the job by firing three heavy pistol rounds into the creature's abdomen. When it fell with a satisfying plop the whole team regrouped at the top of the ramp Shepard contacted EDI.

"How much further?" he askled through the com-link.

EDI's form appeared on a nearby terminal just a few feet down the hall to the left of them. She had apparently been hard at work getting around this ship.

"There are still several rooms between you and the bridge." EDI replied "I must caution you, I have taken control over this ship's equivalent of security cameras. The enemy is attempting to break through the doors I've locked. I will not be able to keep them out much longer."

"Isn't there a faster route?" Jack asked

"This is the fastest route." EDI assured "It is a big ship."

Shepard figured it wouldn't be that easy to reach the bridge, even with EDI's help they still had to do the leg work. The only option they had was to keep going, try not to stop and not get held up by these aliens for too long. The sooner they got to the bridge the sooner they could set this thing to blow and head back to the Normandy to help out the others.

"We'll just have to book it," Shepard reasoned "anything else?"

"Yes," The AI responded "the room past the next door way up this ramp leads onto the top level of what appears to be an armoury. I can see a number of vehicle-like objects in storage as well as several enemy squads waiting your arrival. It appears the enemy AI has deduced our method of attack as well as our route."

Not unexpected, AI did think faster than organics. Still it was starting to complicate things again.

"We seriously need to frag that fucking thing." Jack noted in an angry growl

"That remains my task and I'm endeavouring to work towards it." EDI assured "I have taken control of several key systems but many of the critical ones remain under its thrall. Once I isolate the location of its data core I will deal with the problem. I cannot locate it for now however, perhaps their technology does not require the massive storage that I do."

"You sure you can overwhelm this thing EDI?" Shepard asked "I'd hate to see my ship's brain get infected."

"I appreciate your concern Commander," EDI responded in a seemingly delighted (for her anyway) tone "but you do not need to worry. I have full confidence in our mission my role in this endeavour. I will not fail you."

With that EDI left them once more and Shepard and the team began to plan anew. They needed to get through a room teeming with bad guys, possibly the first of many.

"We are not gonna last long inside that room if we don't think of something." Shepard told the others

Grunt peeked back at the large plasma gun still mounted on top of the alien box and grinned.

"I think I got something." He said with sinister foreboding

* * *

><p>Aliens crowded around the door to the armoury, their weapons aimed directly at it, waiting for the intruders to make a move. A haunting chime rang out as the doors whisked open to reveal Grunt packing a large plasma machine gun in hand. With a mighty roar, plasma bolts slung out at the enemy combatants, striking them down with relative ease. Their shields were torn apart by the never ending barrage of plasma that Grunt had stolen from them.<p>

"Have a taste your own medicine weaklings!" Grunt cried out

A large alien took several shots to his upper torso before falling off the ledge to the floor below, only stopping when his body smacked against a large bulbous looking machine. The little aliens that tried to run were either cut down or had their methane tanks punctured causing them to blast off in another direction and explode as the searing plasma ignited the gas. One hurtled into one of the taller aliens, who kicked him off as he fell to the ground.

As Grunt drew their fire, Shepard and the others rushed out firing. Jack launched a shockwave towards another group of tall armoured aliens, sending them catapulting over the side of the ledge. Kasumi kept herself cloaked as long as she could before delivering a punch that shattered the jaw of one of the taller aliens from the side. Shepard just made sure his shotgun was loaded as he advanced forward, each inferno incendiary round igniting another alien bastard that got in his way.

Eventually Grunt ran out of ammo in his plasma weapon, or battery power they weren't sure exactly. Not wanting to waste the hulking piece of metal he still carried completely he tossed it at the head of a still standing armoured alien surrounded by his gas guzzling pals. The bigger one fell off the side of the ledge while the little gas guzzlers followed or grabbed on for dear life at the sides of the ledge. Grunt walked over to one that had managed to get a good grip and just stared down at the helpless creature. That was until Jack rushed over and put a bullet in its brain. It fell to the ground with a satisfying thumb.

"You hesitating big guy?" Jack asked a bit confused "I thought you wanted to kill shit?"

"I told you, the little scampering aren't worth killing half the time, only when they're shooting back at me. Otherwise I could care less." Grunt explained rather simply "It's the worst kind of insult among my people, not being worth the kill."

That was when several plasma shots hit the boilerplate the two were enar and they dove for cover. More aliens below on the ledge across from them were shooting at them. Mostly they consisted of the large armoured guys.

"They worth killing?" Jack asked

"Yeah, they are." Grunt grumbled, a bit irritated at being caught off guard for a moment.

Shepard took cover with Jack and Grunt by the pillar they were hiding behind. The krogan pushed over a nearby alien filled with their weapons as increased cover. Kasumi joined them soon after, decloaking herself for the moment.

"Alright we gotta keep pressing." Shepard told them "Grunt lay down some cover fire while me and Jack get closer. Kasumi stay cloaked and let off a flashbang when you get near them. Then find cover and unload on them."

As Shepard told them his plan and explosion rocked one side of the armoury. One of the doors burst open wide and in swarmed more of enemy reinforcements. They had breached through and now there was more trouble to contend with.

"Great," Shepard groaned "as if we need more of these guys."

* * *

><p>As if Miranda needed more of these new aliens on board. Joker had told her about a second boarding craft down in the decks below and a few seconds later Tali tells her they had to fall back to protect the engine room. They were coming here next, she knew it. That why she had already told everyone to set up some makeshift cover with anything they could find. Tables, boxes, desks, anything that was not bolted down was being set up in the center of the crew deck where they knew the aliens would be climbing up to. She had already made EDI shut down the elevator completely so they'd have to climb up, but they'd be climbing up nonetheless.<p>

Shepard told her to keep this ship from falling into their hands, that was exactly what she was going to do.

"Joker," she said talking through her com-link "how's the fight outside going?"

"We've thinned the herd a bit," Joker called back "shields are handling the attacks. I think they're worried about killing their buddies on board. They're just trying to weaken our shields."

Good, maybe that meant they'd have less enemies to deal with in the long run. She took up position at the back of the firing line where Garrus and Jacob lay in wait.

"You sure Mordin is fine upstairs?" Miranda asked Jacob

"Says he's keeping an eye on Joker," he replied "He wouldn't have any protection otherwise."

"He say anything about our chances?" Garrus asked

"Something about calculated odds of success being about 55% at holding every one of them down here." Jacob answered "Better odds than usual according to him."

"As long as everyone is in their positions we'll be okay." Miranda assured the others "Joker and Mordin have nothing to worry about."

They could hear a crackling sound from the elevator doors. They couldn't see it from where they were but they could only assume they were cutting through the lock with some kind of blowtorch. When the doors burst open, bounding around the bend came several of the armoured and gas guzzling aliens, plasma guns blazing.

Miranda was first to strike back, using her biotics to pick up one of the gas guzzlers and slam him back down to the ground, the shockwave tossing a few of his tiny combatants back. As the other crew members opened fire, Jacob rolled over the cover he was in with Miranda and Garrus and made a mad dash to a table in the center where some crew members were making their stand. He kept his heavy pistol firing as he ran, pulling a tall alien off the ground whose shield had just been whittled away to nothing. As he slid beside his fellow soldiers he fired a round into the creature's head. He popped right back out of cover once more and kept firing, this time at the little gas guzzlers who ran for cover as their apparent commanding officer's body landed at their feet.

"Keep up the fire!" Miranda ordered "We hold this deck, keep them away from the forward gun batteries! They get there this ship is defenceless against anymore of their friends outside!"

As Miranda shouted her orders, run of the blue armoured aliens rushed past the incoming fire, its plasma weapon practically smoking in its hand as it kept its finger on the trigger. As it neared the kitchen however it was caught by surprise as Mess Sergeant Gardner lurched up from behind the counter with an M-22 Eviscerator Shotgun in hand. One shot aim at the alien's head broke apart the creature's shields. The body of the alien flew off its feet and slammed the left side of its head onto the metal floor of the Normandy as it toppled over.

"Stay out of my kitchen ya bastard!" he sneered, firing another round towards another group of aliens that were coming up the aisle towards him.

Garrus kept knelt down right beside Miranda who was busy try to call out targets for everyone. Now and again he saw her overload one of the blue armoured aliens' shields and follow up with a pistol round to its skull. He was counting the seconds between how long it took her to do that. The average was about 1.5 on his last count, efficient as always. He could only do this when he was reloading of course, otherwise he kept up a steady stream of sniper fire.

Garrus took aim as two tall aliens wearing red armour lurched out of the hallway next. He got a bead on the first one's eye and fired one shot from his rifle. It penetrated the shield and the helmet without any trouble. The Turian saw the poor creature's brains splatter against the back of the wall. He cleared the chamber of the burnt out thermal clip and aimed for the second alien who was more than a little shocked at what had happened. Garrus caught him off guard, when he fired the round it went straight through the mandible mouth of the alien and out the back. The alien was choking on its own blood as it collapsed to its knees. As Garrus motioned for his next shot he watched another of the tall armoured aliens toss something at him.

He looked at a blue glowing orb arch its way over to him and Miranda. It could only be one thing. Without hesitating he tackled Miranda by her waist they both went flying over their cover as the orb landed exactly where they were hunkering down and exploded in a devastating flash of blue fire.

"You could warn me next time." Miranda told him as they both lay prone to the ground

"You're welcome." Garrus replied, not at all offended by Miranda's comment. He knew it was just her way of saying thanks.

"Think it's time for our surprise," she told him as she reached for her com-link in her ear. "Samara, Thane, hit them hard!"

The door to the starboard side observation deck opened up wide as Asari Justicar walked out. In the men's bathroom on the port side of the ship, Thane slid out, submachine gun in hand. In front of them were a mass of enemy combatants taking cover in the hallway and near the elevator. Before they could even react, Samara built up a huge wave of biotic energy and sent it hurtling towards the enemy position. It hit them like a freight train and sent them all flying into the air towards Thane.

With precision, Thane fired off his submachine gun at each of their hurtling forms, endeavouring to finish them off if the biotic throw hadn't broken them in half already. The Drell elegantly dodged out of the way of a hurtling gas guzzling alien, its head smashing into the floor where he previously stood. As he motioned away he punched a flying mandible mouthed alien in its stomach. The armoured creature slammed into the wall. Thane surmised he had broken whatever ribs the creature had left, if it even had ribs of course.

Samara was a bit winded from building up such a large wave of biotic energy but she quickly recovered. As she and Thane were about to take position by the elevator for Miranda second part of her plan they were interrupted by a crashing sound coming from the port side observation deck, Kasumi's room, the one with the big window. Samara had closed hers as soon as she heard about the boarders, but she had a feeling even if Kasumi hadn't it wouldn't have mattered. Thane backed up as the doors opened wide. A boarding craft sat lodged in a shuttered window. The craft had entered it so quickly it didn't matter how much steel sat between it and the inside. It punctured it like a bee's stinger into a bear's flesh. And much like a stinger its poison was already seeping into the Normandy. Several of the gas guzzlers, a squad of bird like aliens their shields at the ready and one of the mandible mouthed aliens, this one with gold armour.

He shouted a string of unintelligible words no one understood, one of them sorta sounded like "wort" but it was lost in the wake of plasma fire. Thane tucked and rolled into cover, using the backside of the elevator shaft as protection. Samara put up a temporary barrier for herself as she moved towards the main hall of the crew deck. She kept her front towards the enemy, when she another of the gas guzzlers crawling out of the elevator shaft she pointed her hand towards him and used her reave ability. The little creature's nervous system cried out in pain as she used her biotics to heal herself and wound him.

As she did this another of the tall aliens pulled himself up out of the elevator shaft, with more of his little friends following him. It seemed even if you killed one of these little monsters, more just kept filling the void. One of these little gas guzzlers seemed braver than his companions as he rushed at Samara, his pink weapon firing needles at her. Samara's kinetic barriers absorbed the attacks and she sent a bolt of biotic energy straight into the creature's little chest. He flew back but his larger friend batted him away with ease, the creature's head smashed against a wall instead of his commanding officer's body.

Enraged now by Samara's attempt to kill him with his own ally the alien charged at Samara, ready to strike her down with his bare hands for her insolent display of defiance. She was close enough after all since she advanced down the hall. But the Asari was undeterred by this show of aggression. As the alien balled its fist and made a move to punch her, Samara grabbed it in mid air. She then began to force the hand back on the alien, stressing his bones to breaking point. A mixture of biotics and centuries of combat prowess was at work here, a testament to Samara's professionalism. While she could kill him now, in several ways, she restrained herself for the moment. His body was shielding her from the line of fire for now and the code she followed had demands. The enemy was to be given a chance to yield in a position like this.

"Your rage blinded attack was as foolish as the one launched upon this vessel." Samara told him, speaking in a language she knew he understood, human "Surrender and I may allow my comrades to take you into their custody."

The alien spat back in what Samara could only assume was angry rhetoric. He attempted a swipe at her then which she easily avoided. She hadn't used her translator this time; she could only assume he understood. She figured it was a meaningless attempt at getting him to capitulate, but she lived by the code and its rules. She would not break them.

"Find peace in the embrace of the goddess." She told him

A biotic charged punched rammed into the alien's head, shattering his skull. The creature began to fly across the hall, flipping end over end, heading towards one of the bird creatures. It used its shield to block the dead body from toppling onto him and then flicked it off with just as much ease. The bird alien than began firing on Samara once more, his fellows behind him joining as well. Samara kept focus on where she thought the real trouble lay, with the golden alien commander and his team. She did not notice one of the downed gas breathers behind her, downed but not dead.

As pink needles struck her barrier, Samara moved out of the line of fire and into the relative safety of the starboard side hallway, directly in front of medical. The downed gas sucker awoke and looked up to see the Justicar towering over him, just a few feet away. He went for his plasma weapon and began to charge it, taking aim at the Asari's back. But as he was about to fire a single shot rang out and sliced through his head like it was a ripe melon. The bolt of plasma was sent reeling into the ceiling instead of the Asari. Samara heard the shot and turned around to see the now dead alien and her saviour in the doorway of the medical station. Legion stood there, Windowmaker sniper rifle in hand.

"Target eliminated." Legion stated "Threat to crewmate Samara removed."

Samara merely nodded in appreciation for Legion's timely assist. No more words needed to be said than that.

"What took you so long?" Garrus asked as he took up position near the two

"Apologies," it said "rifle needed appropriate calibration. Can now assist in full capacity."

Garrus secretly wondered if Legion was making a joke at his expense. That part about calibration just seemed a bit out of place to him. Or maybe he was just projecting. After all, could Geth even joke in the first place? That thought was pushed to the back burner as plasma bolts whizzed past his head.

* * *

><p>The fight to the exit door in the armoury had been brutal, for the enemy that was. Shepard was surprised they had gotten out alive, let alone that they had gotten out so quick. Grunt had charged forward screaming bloody murder, pushing several of the bastards over the ledge. Kasumi had tossed her flash grenade to disorient the ones remaining and once again Jack had added a shockwave to knock more of the aliens into the air.<p>

For his part Shepard had kept them at bay with the heavy weapon he brought, a grenade launcher. The packed area of the ledge the enemy was hiding on made taking out groups of them relatively simple. He remembered how one of the two men squads of those tall aliens with the mandibles flew towards him as the explosion engulfed his friend. Shepard barely missed getting tackled by the flailing alien as he side stepped out of the way. He also looked back to watch the creature skid into the floor, dislocating its jaw in the process. It made Shepard cringe just watching it.

They made it to the door and had EDI lock it behind them. They didn't know how long that would hold exactly though. These aliens had proved they were willing to bust through their own ship just to kill them. Of course they had good reason to, given what they had planned for this bucket of bullets.

They followed the hallway until they reached what appeared to be a gun battery station. EDI had informed them that the bridge wasn't far away from them now before they entered. There was a scant amount of guards taking position along the various guns that had fired at them previously. So many guards had been diverted to the armoury to stop them they had left other areas of the ship undefended. Tactical error on their part, strategic boon for Shepard and his team, they just had to clear them out.

Kasumi went in first, cloaked of course, and snuck up behind the guard near a console overlooking the gun battery. With a quick punch to the back of his head neck the alien collapsed on his console and fell on his side. That was the cue for Grunt and Shepard to rush in and take care of the other two guards on the platform above them. Kasumi turned to power down their shields and Grunt fired a single shot into the brain of the first guard. Shepard's Tempest pierced the alien's armour and flesh at several intervals along the creature's body. He went down firing off his weapon. Jack had the last two guards, rushing out, firing her submachine gun at them as they charged the others, she ate away at their shields before delivering a biotic push that smacked them both in the chest and slammed them against a wall. She finished them off with a burst of bullets to each of their heads.

"This was too damn easy," she said, sounding very paranoid "I hate when it gets easy like this it means shit is about to happen."

Shepard couldn't argue with that logic, it was how things tended to go for them. Still they had taken the battery and they were one step closer to the bridge. That was something to be proud of at least. That and take a small breather for about a second. Shepard used that second to stare out the large plasma shielded window to the outside. The battery was on the side of the ship they hadn't struck with the Thanix. It was relatively undamaged and working at full capacity. Shepard could see the wormhole they had come all this way for outside. He hoped that all this trouble would be worth it.

As the squad began to fall in Kasumi had remained by the terminal, seemingly pressing buttons in a flurry.

"Kasumi, please tell me you ain't checking your extranet sites or something on that?" Shepard asked sarcastically

"No I'm trying to make things easier for the Normandy." Kasumi replied, rather stoic and serious for her.

That immediately grabbed Shepard's attention.

"Talk to me." He said, pretty much asking her to continue explaining.

"I can give EDI a backdoor into the gun battery systems." she explained "That will allow her to overload the plasma cannons on this thing and blow them. The Normandy can get closer and not have to worry so much about staying out of the line of fire."

That would give them more room to manoeuvre beyond the backside of that moon, meaning they could keep away from more potential borders.

"Do it." Shepard told her "Joker needs room to breathe if he's going to show these bastards what the Normandy can really do."

Kasumi smiled a cheeky grin and got to work on the console. As she started inputting the code for her backdoor however a small explosion rocked over her head. Everyone turned to the platform to see two silver mandible mouthed aliens, these ones wearing more elaborate looking helmets. They were smoother and more streamlined. The helmets covered their faces entirely coming to a spiked edge around their mouths. In their hands they held red coloured large bulky weapons in their hand. About the size of a standard grenade launcher, except these things shot heated plasma bolts with an area of effect from the looks of it.

"Kasumi keep working!" Shepard told her "We'll handle this!"

He brought out his shotgun and fired round after round upward at these no doubt special operations soldiers. They quickly sought cover behind the purple barrier that surrounded the platform. Grunt kept up the fire on them, but they just kept popping their heads out and firing off another one of the explosive plasma bolts. One of them exploded right in front of the Krogan and even though he was usually able to withstand such attacks, this blast forced him stumble backwards, trying to maintain his balance.

The blasts came in quick succession as well. Jack kept moving as the bolts slammed into the path she left behind. Her shotgun was of no use at this range; all the way down here it would just annoy them. She needed to get closer. She made a dash for the ramp that led up to the platform above, leaping over the guardrail for it as one of the bolts exploded behind her

Shepard has the same idea as her. He figured that if at least one of them could get up they could negate the effect of these guns.

"Grunt keep drawing their fire!" Shepard told him "I'm going for them head on!"

Grunt seemed to laugh at that declaration.

"Spoken like a true Krogan Shepard!" he laughed

With that Grunt renewed his assault on the two spec ops aliens, firing concussive rounds over their heads to annoy them and get their minds off Jack and Shepard for a few paltry seconds. Enough time for Shepard and Jack to get into position. He wasn't the only one helping though, Kasumi took two seconds away from her time at the console to fire an overload charge at the spec ops aliens when one popped his head up. The pulse took down the shields, but she got the attention of the aliens once more. As one took aim at the thief, a tattoo hand grabbed his gun and pulled it away.

"Wanna know how it feel to have a biotic's hand jammed down your throat assbite?" she asked

She delivered a punch to the side of the alien's helmet, his friend pointed his own gun at him, but struggled to fire as the two fought each other for control of the plasma launcher. The alien kicked Jack in the stomach, but she did not relinquish her hold. She delivered an elbow to same place she punched as well as headbutt to the alien's neck. That didn't get him to drop it. As the two tried to take control over the weapon, Jack slowly but surely forced it to turn towards the head of the alien. She then fished around for the trigger of the gun as it came into alignment with the alien's skull. The alien, sensing what she was trying, kept trying to resist her push. He tried moving the weapon's barrel back to her head, but she resisted.

"Piece of shit," she snorted as they struggled "you think you got the balls to kill me? Better aliens have tried, I can have it arranged so you can meet them."

Jack kept building up a biotic field around her. She needed all the protection she could get. As she did she realised this was more than likely a very stupid plan. Scratch this was a stupid idea, setting off a heap of explosive plasma right in her face! That was pretty damn stupid.

She started to back away as best she can when she found the trigger, no other way out now. She let go this bastard would frag her anyway and she wasn't sure if her biotics would finish him off either. Bastard was pretty tough to have lasted this long.

She looped her finger into the trigger of the weapon and began to press down.

"Hope you didn't that head of your cocksucker!" she screamed

She pressed down hard on the trigger and a blast of plasma exploded into the alien's face. Jack was sent flying back, her biotic barrier absorbing most of the blast but it still hurt like hell when the explosion hit her. When she hit the ground she cried out in pain, struggling to get herself back up. The alien she had turned the gun on however was not so lucky. A smoking grater was all that remained of his head.

His friend was prepared to finish Jack, but a blue blur in the corner of his eye caught his attention. Shepard charged directly into the alien sending him flying back. He smacked against the wall and Shepard ran towards him, fist bared. The alien dodged his head out of the way, leaving Shepard to only connect with steel instead of flesh. The alien struck back with a kick to Shepard's stomach, forcing him away, and a left hook to the side of his face. The side of Shepard's mouth bled a bit. The human Commander came back with an uppercut against the alien's chin. Not stop there as the alien's head return to its regular position, Shepard delivered a crushing head butt, striking the alien right in the nose. (Or what passed for a nose) With the creature reeling in pain, he grabbed the alien by his back and threw him into the barrier at the edge of the platform. Now downed Shepard merely took out his shotgun, walked over to the dazed alien and shot him in back, putting it down for good.

He rushed over to Jack and helped her up.

"You alright?" he asked

"Just get me some medi-gel and put me back in coach." She mumbled "I'll fucking rip'em apart."

Good, she was okay. He helped her back down to the others where he quickly administered an application of medi-gel to Jack side and arm where the explosion had hit her the hardest.

"You're lucky you just got burnt," Shepard told her "you would've died without that biotic barrier around ya."

"Hey following you should've killed me like sixty times now." Jack told him defiantly "I'm fine alright, just a scratch. As long as my tatts are fine I'm good."

Well they seemed okay, so perhaps she wouldn't throw a hissy fit or something. It was hard to tell from the seared skin though. Chakwas would have to look at her after they got out of here.

"You still haven't told me how fucking badass that was by the way." Jack added cockily.

"I'll admit it was pretty cool," Shepard responded "Pretty stupid too, but pretty cool. Next only do that when the gun doesn't fire explosives okay?"

"Hey, I don't need you to tell me that." Jack responded in a huff "I ain't doing that shit again anytime soon, trust me."

Finally Kasumi shouted out in glee, pumping her fists into the air.

"Firewalls down!" she declared happily "Shepard, tell EDI she has a clear path to the gun batteries' systems!"

Shepard nodded and turned on his com-link.

"EDI," he began, "we've taken down the firewall to-"

"I am aware."

EDI form once again popped up on the console.

"Thank you, Mrs. Goto," she said, seemingly pleased. "I now have full control over the gun batteries on the ship. I suggest you exit the area before I complete the task of overloading them."

"Wait, this isn't gonna blow up the whole ship is it?" Shepard asked.

"It will merely destroy the individual plasma cannons," EDI assured him, "now, please go. I cannot guarantee that this room will not sustain damage from the explosion. Head through the door at the end of the hall and from there follow the hazard lights to the bridge."

The squad decided to let EDI just do her job and get moving. She had significantly less to worry being a program after all. As Shepard and the others left the guns began to overheat beyond safety parameters, EDI disabled the safety protocols and just let the plasma coils start to cook within their own casings.

EDI kept the runtimes active as she searched around the systems. Since Kasumi had hacked open the gun battery for her, she now had access to the other weapon systems which she could now lock down as well. As soon as she was done with this task she could switch over to the other weapon systems.

As the plasma guns turned hot red and warning lights began blinking erratically, EDI heard a voice.

"Heretic! Heretic!" it kept crying out

The alien AI no doubt, it wasn't able to attack her directly but it was still trying to stop her nonetheless. EDI kept it locked out of the system, making sure her firewalls wouldn't recognize any of the codes he was transmitting along with his threats, thereby rejecting his commands to reinstitute safety protocols.

"Infidel! Blasphemer!"

"This reminds me of many of the comments Jeff has to deal with on the extranet." She thought to herself as she continued to work, refusing to address the enemy AI and its incessant whining.

Suddenly one of the guns overloaded and the built up plasma energy caused it to explode in a flash of purple light. The other turrets and cannons began to follow suit, blowing apart as each of them overheated from the absorption of too much plasma energy. One after another, they broke apart all across the ship in magnificent explosions.

"You will pay for this! You will pay for defiling the will of-"

The transmission was finally cut off, with her task complete she was able to close that annoying transmission channel the AI was using to berate her. EDI was now looking forward to being rid of this annoyance once and for all when the time came.

As the next few plasma cannons began to go up in flames, she contacted Joker back aboard the Normandy.

"Jeff, the guns have been dealt with." She told him "Bring the Normandy in closer you won't have to worry about them."

"You sure all the weapons are down?" Jeff asked "I mean not to say you aren't efficient or anything EDI but I don't wanna fly up and end up getting a torpedo up our ass. Poor girl has been punctured enough today."

"I have destroyed all plasma based ship to ship weapon systems on the port and starboard sides." EDI assured "My access to the gun batteries has also allowed me further access to the other weapon systems. Torpedo tubes have been locked down indefinitely. Automated defence systems will soon be hacked into as well."

"Which means...?" Jeff asked

"I can have the remaining fighters and boarding vessels shot down by their own mothership." EDI replied, a strange sense of satisfaction in her electronic voice

EDI could practically feel Joker's elation in his response.

"You're one in a million EDI, ya know that?"

"As I have said Jeff," EDI replied "I always work at optimum capacity."

* * *

><p>Apparently the bridge was the one door EDI couldn't hack through. The alien AI still had control over this area it seemed. They didn't need EDI to be able get in though and they didn't need her to tell them what lay on the other side. They could hear the frantic shouts and commands from the occupants within.<p>

"Looks like they all got called back to defend the bridge." Shepard reasoned, his ear placed firmly on the cold metal of the bridge's door. "We may be facing more of those spec ops aliens or who knows what else."

"We've killed half this ship already." Grunt growled in his usual boastful attitude "Just get me in there and I'll tear apart whatever is left of them."

Shepard turned to Kasumi, now frantically working on the circuitry of the door. She had pried off a panel near the side intending to at least get half of this door open for them.

"How's it coming?" he asked her

"Fine just fine," she assured him "just need to connect the blue thingy to the red watcha-ma-call-it."

"Don't you mean wires and sockets?" Jack asked

"I don't know if I'd call this stuff that," Kasumi replied "its different tech so I'm not entirely sure about the proper. Some things do look like wires though, so perhaps some things are universal to all species."

Shepard placed himself back into cover on the part of the door that wouldn't open with Grunt and Jack. Knowing Kasumi she'd figure this out any second and the door would slide open before she could tell them.

They heard the familiar hum that signified a door opening on this ship, the light around the frame sparked slightly and suddenly the door's right side creaked open. The bridge was mildly revealed for them through the partial opening. The dark sullen blue lighting filled the room and they could see two trenches surrounding a circular platform in the middle of the bridge. Taking cover behind the various pieces of equipment and pillars were several mandible mouthed aliens that wore both regular and spec ops armour. One stood out however. He stood atop the platform, an ornate crown-like helmet atop his head that sloped up and sprouted three spikes from the end. He wasn't hard to spot; he was the only one of them wearing gold.

"Goldie is mine." Grunt told Shepard, his anticipation practically dripping off his voice

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves Grunt." Shepard warned him "We have like 15 other guys to get through before we reach him."

The Krogan stared at Shepard, a look of confusing and annoyance over the Commander making the whole thing sound like that was a problem. Shepard didn't even have to look back to imagine the look Grunt was giving him, he always gave it when he reminded them of the odds they were stacked against.

"He's the leader, taking him out should be a priority right?" Grunt asked

Shepard was a bit surprised; it was rare for Grunt to figure tactics into anything. He usually just trusted that he'd go in and smash everything and everyone to paste. He left strategy up to Shepard. Still, Grunt raised a valid point.

"If you can get to him permission to engage," Shepard told him "otherwise stay with the group."

Grunt seemed to be okay with this compromise, so Shepard turned to Jack.

"Alright here's the plan we use shockwave to disorient them while Kasumi throws in a flash grenade." He told her "Grunt goes in first after that, stay behind him till we get to cover. That pillar closest to us should do it."

Without saying much else, Shepard and Jack got to either side of the partially opened door. Biotic energy surged through their arms and as they readied their attack. They leapt out and fired two simultaneous shockwaves into the room. The biotic wave struck a large contingent of the alien soldiers, both spec ops and regulars and sent them tumbling through the air. Those that remained were blinded by Kasumi's follow up flash grenade. As soon as it went off Grunt charged in firing his assault rifle at the first group of enemies he spotted. Just as Shepard told them, the rest of the squad kept behind him as they made a dash for the pillar. Nearby and below them were the trenches, which were filled to the brim with enemies who now fired up at the squad.

"Fire in the hole!" Shepard shouted aloud before adding "Love the classics."

He aimed his grenade launcher down and fired several rounds into the trench, clearing out at least four of the enemies down there in the ensuing explosions.

"All yours Jack!"

The Ex-Con leapt into the trench immediately and tossed out another biotic shockwave when she landed. Shepard caught the tail end of her assault when he watched several of the aliens fly up out of the trench and then fall back down. He in the meantime fired on the aliens near the ramp that led up to the center of the bridge. Seizing the moment Grunt charged into the fray, firing off his shotgun at the enemies whose shields Shepard's fire had just damaged. This got him close to the ramp, and the golden clad alien up on high. The creature flared his mandibles and lifted a large weapon on to his shoulder.

It was a matching golden color and on top of it pulsated three green coloured circular bits. The alien fired the weapon and a huge green bolt of energy surged towards Grunt, the Krogan charged up the ramp as fast as he could to avoid to incoming projectile. The weapon didn't strike him but instead exploded in the midst of the alien commander's underlings. Grunt slammed his full body weight into the golden alien's gut, tossing him to the other side of the platform. His weapon fell from his grasp.

He wasn't down for long though, he quickly righted himself as Grunt rushed him. The alien leader pulled out another of his plasma weapons he had attached to the side of his armour, but Grunt punched the alien so hard in the shoulder that he dislocated the alien's firing arm. Practically running on blood lust now, Grunt open his mouth wide and grabbed the enemy ship commander by his neck. As the alien screamed in pain, Grunt twisted the creature's neck in his mouth, using his body to push him against the platform's console. With a sudden snap the alien neck was broken.

Grunt released his hold with his mouth and lifted the body into the air.

"I AM KROGAN!" he screamed proudly and tossed the body into the mass of alien soldiers below, or what was left of them anyway.

In the shock of seeing their commander defeated, Jack got the drop the remaining aliens, as she charged out of one of the trenches at full power and delivered a devastating biotic punch directly into the pitiful little squad. They flew into the air and smashed against wall. Jack panted as she slowed to a stop, Kasumi and Shepard running up to her.

"Good work team," Shepard told them all "the bridge is ours."

Grunt laughed heartily as he walked around the command platform, only recomposing himself when Shepard and the others walked to the top of the platform.

"Enjoying yourself?" Shepard asked him

Grunt merely smiled widely and lumbered off the platform. Shepard went over the console, letting Grunt be. He was happy and satiated now, he'd be fine. He stepped aside to let Kasumi take a look at the console. A few clicks of her omni-tool and she was in the system. EDI appeared on the console shortly after.

"Excellent," she said rather pleased "I now have full access to the ship systems. One moment please."

EDI's form vanished from the console, a second later the computers around the room started bleeping wildly, and a mild alarm rang throughout the room. The blue lighting flicked haphazardly and suddenly went off completely. They stood in the dark for a few moments before everything slowly turned back on. EDI appeared once more.

"The AI will no longer be a problem." She proclaimed

Shepard hesitated to ask, but did so anyway.

"What did you do just now and why did it give the room an epileptic seizure?" he asked

"I was able to locate the ship's AI from the bridge. Its core processor is surprising compact. Potentially mobile even." EDI explained "It was located nearby in the flooring beneath us. I have purged it."

Shepard had a feeling he knew what that meant.

"We could have captured it you know." He told her, not that he cared that it was dead after all the trouble it caused them, it just surprised him EDI had gone for the kill switch so quickly. "We may have been able to figure out who these aliens are."

"My apologies commander, but the AI's preaching was distracting from the task at hand." EDI assured him "This was the safer solution, we could not risk bringing the program aboard the Normandy. It is better off that it is dead."

"Agreed," Shepard relented before adding "but you sure that this wasn't personal? I mean it did try to infect you."

"I assure you commander its attempts to corrupt me played a little to no role in my course action." EDI assured "The threat it posed to you and the mission was a far more relevant factor."

Kasumi just beamed at that.

"Aww, she was protecting us." The thief smiled "I feel so loved."

"Served it right I say," Jack added "so what exactly did you do to it?"

EDI paused for a moment before finally answering.

"You really do not want to know." She responded "The experience is difficult to convey in organic terms, but it was similar to tearing apart a body with your bare hands only on are far deeper and more stressful level. It was not easy to dispose of, it was far more advanced than any AI we've ever encountered. I could not be gentle or it would have infected and destroyed me."

In the end Shepard was just glad that it was dead and it wouldn't be a risk to the Normandy anymore. With that said it was time to get on with the mission.

"Where's the engine from here?" he asked

A holographic map appeared for the squad and outlined a path for them.

"Through that door at the end will lead to an elevator and down to engineering." She told them "I would suggest suiting up appropriately before descending I am about to vent atmosphere to kill off any remaining enemies down below."

Shepard nodded and turned to leave the platform. He noticed Grunt prying the golden helmet off the dead alien he killed. Shepard gave him a disheartened look, coupled with a shake of his head.

"Spoils of war Shepard." Grunt replied

The human commander sighed and just patted Grunt on the arm.

"Suit up, we're blowing this tin can."

"Bout time." Grunt replied with a sinister grin.

* * *

><p>Things were not looking good down in engineering. With two security crew members injured, the main lobby of the engine room lost, the slim tiny little tunnel leading to engine core their last strong point and Donnelly and Daniels pretty much running out of thermal clips Tali was starting to wonder if they'd get out of this alive. Zaeed kept firing his Revenant at the incoming waves, and it was easy to take out these bastards in what amounted to a cramped little space, even a bullet hose like the Revenant ran out of ammo eventually.<p>

"The injured could spare us a few extra," he suggested "I mean they can't use those thermal clips in their condition."

"That buys about an extra five seconds," Tali figured "not exactly going to make much of a difference, huh?"

Tali was now honestly wondering if her being in charge of this holding action had been a mistake. Whenever she got put in charge of anything things went wrong. With Shepard she didn't have to think about the fighting or the strategy. She was military material, she wasn't her father. She was honestly starting to wonder if she was bad luck, a jynx when it came to leading people into a fight. She had been lucky before, she ended up surviving her last two disastrous tenors as leader. This time she probably wouldn't.

One of the gas guzzlers scrambled close to the palisade of the last two security officers still n the fight. Tali leapt up from behind cover and fired a shot into the alien's brain. He collapsed over the cover of the security detail, his arms swaying in front of their faces and the giant methane tank on it's back sticking out like a sore thumb.

Then it hit her, an idea.

"Bring that body over here! Now!" she ordered

The security officers didn't understand but they complied and keeping in prone position dragged the dead alien over to Tali, flipping it over her cover. With plasma bolts still whizzing around the Quarian engineer rested the creature on its side and began fiddling with its suit, keeping in cover best she could.

"Hell are you doing?" Zaeed asked confused

"Making us a bomb." She explained

She eventually found it, the seal to the methane tank on this creature. She pried it off and held the large triangular object in her arms.

"Give me those inferno grenades of yours." She told Zaeed "We're going to strap them to this thing then we're going to launch it at them."

Zaeed's face went wide eyed.

"You're bloody crazy!" he shouted

"Give me the damn grenades!" she demanded once more, in no mood to argue

Zaeed, figuring they were done for either way, handed some of his inferno grenades over to her. She stuck the explosives with an adhesive she had in one of her suit's pockets to the tank. Six grenades seems to do it.

"This is going to be a much bigger explosion than what we saw before." She told Zaeed "you're going to have to keep your heads down alright?"

Everyone in the tunnel nodded and kept themselves prone to the floor, all except Zaeed who would have to shoot the tank.

"You do realise if it veers away and smacks into a wall it's going to blow up in our faces." He informed her, a plasma bolt smacking into the cover near him.

"Don't have much of a choice Zaeed!" Tali told him frantically "Just shoot when I tell ya!"

She steadied the tank and then pulled on one of the back connecting tubes. The tank went flying straight at the aliens pouring into the room.

"SHOOT!"

A single shot rang out. It hit dead center. The tank ignited and the inferno grenades went next setting off a fireball that engulfed the deck.

* * *

><p>Shepard and the rest of the Squad arrived at their destination and walked off the elevator. Now suited up, they stared at the dead bodies of the guards in the engine room, suffocated to death from the lack of oxygen.<p>

"Glad none of those little ugly alien assholes were down here," Jack spoke through her oxygen mask "fuckers don't need to breathe air."

They looked up at the towering engine power core above, pulsating with purple and blue light, sparks of electricity coursed throughout the massive machine. It was, to say the least, awe inspiring. And they were about to blow it up.

"Let's plant these charges already." Shepard told them all as he brought out a circular object with a handle, one of the explosive devices they'd be using "We'll have about twenty minutes to get back to the shuttle once we arm them."

The others simply nodded and got set to work.

* * *

><p>The bird creatures had formed a small defensive barrier in front of their comrades, and they slowly advanced upon the defenders of the crew deck. Miranda was quick to counteract the tactic. She activated an overload pulse that rendered the avian alien's shield inert. Powered down there was nothing to stop Jacob from firing a full blast from his shotgun into the invader.<p>

Garrus aimed for a small space in the shield where the alien poked his gun out to shoot at them. One round tore through the alien's hand. It lifted its shield in pain and allowed Garrus to get in another shot on its head this time, killing it for good.

Legion activated his extra shielding as he walked out of cover and into the line of fire, blasting away with his Geth Pulse rifle. The weapon tore through the hand held shields with ease and ripped the bird aliens to shreds.

Now with no protection the aliens behind the now deceased oversized parrots were open for attack. Miranda picked up one with and slammed him back down to the ground before raking the lines with her submachine gun, Garrus just kept taking headshots while Jacob kept up the fire with his shotgun. Samara cleared the hall with a biotic throw that sent the mass of aliens' backs into the wall. The way now clear, Legion activated his own combat drone program and let it roll towards the enemy lines. In a flash of light it exploded suddenly and took several of the last remaining boarders with it.

But before anyone could celebrate their turning of the tide the golden alien commander charged out of cover. Jacob took a stand to meet him head on but was batted away before he could get off a round. He then activated a weapon in his hand, a glowing blue twin bladed sword of some kind, no doubt made of plasma like most of these aliens' weapons.

He took a swing at Miranda who ducked out of the way. The blade came close to Garrus' head forcing him to roll out of the cover on pain of getting sliced. Thane lurched out of cover to fire a slew of rounds into the back of the alien commander. The creature seemed to just shrug them off as they slammed against his shield. He then picked up a nearby overturned chair and tossed it at the Drell. Thane avoided the chair skilfully and kept firing allowing Miranda the chance to down the alien's shields with overload.

As the alien leader's protection sparked out of existence he turned to Miranda mandibles flaring. He didn't have the chance to engage her though as a blast of biotic energy sent him hurtling across the floor of the crew deck. Samara, glowing bright blue with the power of her biotics stepped forward as the alien got to his feet.

"Stand back," she told the others "I shall handle this intruder."

The alien roared several angry words in its tongue and charged at Samara, plasma sword at the ready. An upper swing lashed out to decapitate her, but the Justicar ducked under it and delivered an elbow to the alien's chest. She stood upright quickly and struck out with a left hook to alien's jaw.

A downward slash sought to cut Samara in two, but she parried to the side, bent down and delivered a kick to the alien's legs. It knocked him off his feet, but he quickly flipped himself back up and thrust his foot into Samara's chest. The Asari tumbled back a bit but remained upright. She spread her arms out to balance herself, keeping her from falling. Then she grabbed the alien with her biotics and slammed into the ceiling.

As she let go, the alien gracefully dropped back down, catching itself with its free hand as it landed. Once again it charged At Samara slashing upwards from below. She flipped backwards and then catapulted herself into the alien head first. The alien was forced to drop his sabre as they both careened into the floor. The alien stood back up, kicking Samara in the side of her face as he did so. She quickly got to her feet, and was scratched by the alien's claws across her shoulder, followed by a right hook punch to her face.

Her eyes in a fury, she lashed out with a biotic push that sent the alien directly into backside of the elevator shaft they were now facing. She held the alien there and looked at it with a steeled gaze.

"You should not have come here." She told it flatly

He roared incomprehensibly at her, prompting Samara to toss him into the kitchen section of the ship, missing Gardner by inches. She quickly rushed over to the alien and grabbed him by the throat as he tried to stand up.

"Find peace in the embrace of the Goddess." She told it

The creature screamed defiantly as Samara delivered a final punch that turned the alien's head to pulp. Gardner was the first to react.

"Aww," he groaned, "in the kitchen, Samara? You know how long that's gonna take to clean up?"

Samara stood up, taking a deep breath as she did.

"Apologies Mess Sergeant," she said "I shall try to make amends later."

"Yeah," Miranda complied "right now we need to get down to Tali and Zaeed. This deck is secure but they're swimming in these things, we need to move."

* * *

><p>The run out of the ship was considerably easier than the fight into it. EDI had vented the atmosphere of the path leading back to the hanger they came in from. Shepard was at the head of the pack, trying to keep the pace consistent for the others. Grunt was a close second with Jack. Kasumi wasn't far behind him. They had set the charges about five minutes ago, meaning they had fifteen left to get off this ship before it blew apart.<p>

"I hope Tali and the others are okay." Shepard wondered to himself as they ran.

* * *

><p>Garrus and Legion were the first to jump down the shaft to the engineering deck. They found the place in a shambles as soon as they got off the elevator. They could see the carnage in the hangar but they couldn't hear any fighting. They made their way to the engine room, slowly going towards the door, guns at the ready. It opened suddenly and a charred dead tall alien fell out. After they got over the sudden shock the two remembered why they were here.<p>

"Tali?" Garrus called out

"In here!"

The two ran in and found Tali, Zaeed and the others, battered, tired but alive amidst a pile of dead alien bodies.

"Creator Tali'Zorah," Legion spoke up "are you undamaged?"

"I'm fine Legion," Tali responded, looking relieved to see the Geth "thanks for asking."

"The bloody hell took you blokes so long?" Zaeed asked in a snarky voice "You missed the party."

"We had guests of our own to worry about." Garrus replied, chuckling lightly

Everyone, excluding Legion who did not understand the humour of the situation, laughed uproariously. They had survived, despite everything that said they shouldn't have. They had repelled the boarders, the Normandy was saved.

* * *

><p>Joker was now hovering the Normandy a few miles above the alien spacecraft. EDI was true to her word as always, flying near the hacked defensive turrets of the ship destroyed what remained of the attacking fighters and boarding craft. He could finally breathe.<p>

"Oh god, now I know what Winnie the Pooh felt like when he tried get honey from all them damn bees." He mused

The com-link opened up at that point.

"Joker," said Shepard over the line "we got to the shuttle, the bombs are set to go off in less than five minutes is the Normandy secure?"

Joker contacted the Commander back.

"Yeah sir," he replied "Miranda just sent word, all boarders are dealt with. No friendly casualties either, friggin miracle you ask me. I can't believe we pulled this off."

As Joker spoke, something lurked across the floor of the Normandy's command towards the cockpit. A long purple gun of some sorts held in its bony fingers. A skull like masked covered its head as it started to take aim at the defenceless pilot. With one stroke it would accomplish its mission , to see the pilot of this vessel dead. Everyone was so focused on the battle at large they hadn't paid attention to it. The bird like assassin had crept through the vents of the ship just to get all the way here.

But as it was about to pull the trigger, its entire body just went numb with pain. The avian creature could not move for some reason, as if something had paralyzed him. He motioned his eyes to look behind him and saw a heavy pistol pointed at its eye.

Without a word, Mordin pulled the trigger and the intruder fell to the floor dead. Joker looked back and saw the Salarain doctor standing over the slain would be assassin and could only stare in shock. For Mordin's part he was just happy that he had been able to paralyze the alien with a Neural Shock in time.

"Holy shit!" was Joker's response to the whole thing exactly

"Clever of assassin." Mordin said aptly "Used fire fight in hopes it would draw away guards. Security not anticipating stealth mission. Did not anticipate me. Good thing I stayed. Joker, are you unharmed?"

"Physically yeah but fuck dude!" Joker shouted aloud "Why'd you let him get that close?"

"Apologies." Mordin replied "Was waiting to catch it off guard. Assassins usually most vulnerable when preparing for final kill. Thane explained that. Wanted to test opportunity."

"Dude! Guy! Gun! Aiming for head!" Joker stressed, somewhat angry at being the part of an experiment he most likely wouldn't have wanted any part of.

"Rest assured you were in no danger." Mordin replied "As soon as he lifted his gun I was more than ready to take him down. Needed to make him think I hadn't saw him. Would've tried to shoot me as well. Kept up appearance of work on terminal. Never saw me coming."

"Yeah well, next time try and like give me some warning okay?" Joker told him "Geez, this day has been one fucking pain in the-"

Suddenly a shockwave rocked the Normandy. Joker looked out the window to see the alien ship exploding into a million pieces.

"Joker on our way back," Shepard said over the comm-link "mission accomplished. Ship is dust."

Joker breathed another sigh of relief, he seriously deserved some R&R after this.

* * *

><p>It was another hour before everyone was back in the briefing room, all of them worn out. Mordin had spent the time doing an autopsy on one of the alien boarders. Everyone had spent it on clean up duty. Tali and Shepard did take a second out to embrace one another as soon as the shuttle landed. Needless to say after what they had both barely survived they were both overjoyed to see the other again.<p>

Inside the briefing room was a rather tense scene, as they all tried to piece together what had happened. Mordin shared his findings first.

"Analysis of one of the tall mandible jawed alien was fascinating." He began "Biological structure and organs not similar to any known species. Similarity to Turians merely cosmetic, genetically completely different. Not a cousin or branch off species. Same with the Volus-like gas breathing aliens. More than likely completely new species. Will need to study further to learn more."

"Could they be like the collectors?" Shepard asked, inferring to the obvious question on all their minds "Genetically modified aliens that serve the reapers?"

"No. Not genetically tampered with. No evidence to support that. Biological system completely organic. Collectors had their systems replaced entirely with tech. Not genetic experiments, legitimate species more than likely."

"So how come we haven't seen them before?" Miranda asked "Is this a first contact situation?"

"Could be. This area is pretty unchartered." Jacob concurred "Damn, I hate to think we just started an intergalactic incident."

"Those fuckers fired first," Jack snorted "who the hell cares! We were in the right, kill or be killed."

EDI's form appeared on the table, instantly catching everyone's attention.

"I believe I have an answer." She began "When I took over the ship I copied a series of files pertaining to ship's logs in hopes of determining their origin. I have calculated their ship's path during the last several hours from it."

A map appeared in the center of the table and revealed the system they were in. A line stretched from the last known position of the now destroyed ship and circled around the gas giant and then straight into the worm hole they had come here originally for.

"That's not possible." Miranda said, voicing the opinion of pretty much everyone in the room

"They came from the worm hole?" Shepard asked in amazement "EDI are you sure?"

"Positive." The AI replied "And if the logs are correct it is not the first time this ship has ventured through it."

"Can you do that with a worm hole?" Miranda asked "Go in and out at your leisure?"

"This isn't a typical wormhole Miranda," Shepard reminded her "and if the Reapers are involved somehow who's to say they couldn't make a wormhole that can do that?"

That did not comfort anyone. With the stakes now raised, involving new aliens coming through wormholes, Shepard pondered whether contacting the Alliance or Council should be their next move. But he was interrupted in his thoughts. A ship wide alarm sounded and EDI quickly spoke up.

"Alert, we are being hailed!" EDI said "I cannot determine the signal it is being transmitted into the ship from long range!"

Before anyone could ask any questions the intercom system boomed loudly with an inhuman voice that spoke perfect English. It was gravely and low, threatening and derisive. It demanded to be heard and everyone listened.

"Your destruction is the will of the Gods and we are their instruments."

As the voice cut out, EDI alerted them again and showed a holographic picture of an alien vessel appearing right over the Normandy. It was massive, far bigger than both the alien ship they destroyed and the Collector ship combined.

"Enemy ship detected." EDI warned "Scan of roster, designated as SuperCruiser. Unknown ship type. Recommend immediate retreat."

Shepard wasn't an idiot he knew this was a fight they couldn't win.

"Joker, get us out of here now!"

Joker didn't respond he just punched the engines. The massive enemy ship began firing on the tiny human vessel with everything it had. Shepard, Miranda and Jacob rushed to the cockpit as Joker strained to keep the ship from getting blasted out of the sky.

"I don't think I can get us to the Relay fast enough," Joker told them "those damn fighters practically shot our thrusters to pieces we haven't had time to repair!"

"Then we need to shoot for something we can make!" Shepard told him "Aim for the wormhole!"

"WHAT?" Was everyone's collective response

"If this thing and its buddy came from it then we can survive going through it too." Shepard told them "Besides, it's what we came here to do in the first place."

The ship rocked back and forth as a plasma blast exploded on the armoured hide of the ship.

"We could get our brains scrambled for all we know if go through there!" Joker frantically informed him

"If we don't do it, we're going to get blown up anyway!" Shepard replied in anger "DO IT!"

Joker couldn't argue with that and with a "Nuts" he punched the ship forward and sent it careening at top speed towards the wormhole, breaking into light speed as it headed into it. It entered the gravitational pull of the vortex and was quickly sucked in as plasma fire flew all around it. They all closed their eyes as the singularity just swallowed them whole.

A blinding flash came and went as the Normandy flew through the singularity. When it dissipated, the crew looked out onto their new surroundings. They were still in space, but they didn't know where. Commander Shepard got his bearings and shook off the rush of being swallowed up by a cosmic anomaly.

"EDI," Shepard finally spoke "where are we?"

EDI popped up and responded with something truly unexpected.

"I do not know." She said "Some of the stars from this vantage are not similar to anything in my database. I am unfamiliar with our location."

"So what are we like 'Lost in Space?' We another Galaxy or something?" Joker asked "Do we need Legion to start shouting 'Danger Jim Robinson' or something?"

"What about the Supercruiser?" Shepard asked "Where is it? Where's the wormhole?"

"I cannot locate either." EDI responded "When we entered light speed we may have been despotised several systems away from our current location. Time does not work the same way in wormholes, that much we know, I can only assume that we have left it far behind."

"Well at least the thing ain't going to follow us." Joker laughed optimistically

"And we can't get home." Miranda chided scornfully

"Hey, we gotta accept the little victories alright?" Joker replied

Once more an alarm sounded, and Joker just groaned in frustration.

"Not again!"

"More ships detected nearing our position." EDI proclaimed there was a slight beep as she finished "Odd, they are hailing us, and are using similar transmission codes to that of Human Naval vessels."

"The Alliance?" Joker perked up "Oh please tell me it's the Alliance!"

Three large bulky looking brown ships suddenly appeared in front of the Normandy. They were robust, huge, and definitely did not look anything the alliance had. That's when they hailed the ship.

"Attention spacecraft, this is the United Nation Space Command Heavy Carrier Nebraska, Flagship of the 47th Earth Defence Fleet. You have entered UNSC protected space, identify yourselves or you will be fired upon."

That announcement was pretty much word for word like Alliance protocol in a similar situation, but the names had been changed. UNSC? Nebraska? They didn't have a carrier named Nebraska, did they? Not since Shepard last checked. No, these weren't Alliance ships, but they were human.

"They say they're from Earth," Miranda began, coming to the same conclusions as Shepard was "but they can't be Alliance."

EDI finally piped up.

"Shepard, I believe I have an answer to all of this." She said "The wormhole did not send us to another part of the universe or galaxy it sent us through time and space to another universe altogether."

"You can't be serious." Shepard replied wide eyed

"Then perhaps there is another reason for why the Alliance changed its name." EDI responded.

There was a silent pause in the cockpit as everyone tried to gauge what EDI had just said.

"That was sarcasm," EDI finally answered "I believe you have heard it from Mr. Moreau dozens of times before."

Joker chuckled nervously, of all the things she had to pick up from him.

"Again this is UNSC Heavy Carrier Nebraska state you business or you will be fired upon."

Shepard clicked on the com-link to answer the hail.

"This is Commander Shepard of the starship SR2 Normandy, we are a human vessel." He began, opting not to use alliance as he didn't know what response that would get, and he wasn't going to call his ship a Cerberus vessel either because he knew that wasn't true anymore. "Our ship is badly damaged, we need assistance."

There was a pre-longed silence before the heard back from the ship.

"Copy that Normandy, we shall send out a towing party." The ship copied back "Please power down all weapon systems and prepare to be boarded if necessary."

They cut off there.

"Great, well at least its humans doing the boarding this time." Joker mused

This had certainly been one hell of a day. Shepard had a feeling though they were just getting started.

* * *

><p>AN: Well that was a long two chapters wasn't it? You may have noticed this ain't a Teen Titans story, well as suggested by the ending of Titans of War I have decided to branch out and start doing stories beyond the Titans fandom. It's been funny writing the Titans for years, but I've gained so many more fandoms since the end of the series and I've been itching to actually do something different. Maybe I'll go back to them sometime in the future, but for now I have other fandoms I want to explore.<p>

I wanted to combine two of my favourite science fiction games, Halo and Mass Effect. Two action packed franchises that share similar themes and concepts that I wanted to explore. I originally planned to make it so the universes existed together as one but I couldn't make a satisfactory storyline that suited me in such a world. So I went the worm hole route, but I will be avoiding the mistakes a lot of people have made when doing similar crossovers between these two universes before. For one, don't expect Master Chief and Shepard to meet up anytime soon and defiantly do not expect the Normandy crew to be so readily accepted by the UNSC. They have been fighting aliens after all and the Normandy has a lot of aliens on board.

This story takes place after the Shadow Broker DLC, as you saw, and before the Fall of Reach. So we'll be pretty much going through each of the games as this series progresses.

I'm trying to keep this as accurate to the Halo and Mass Effect universes as possible so I'm using the various fan wikis to give me data. They've been very helpful. Originally, for example, the Covenant ship that attacks the Normandy was going to be an ordinary cruiser. But apparently they don't have Seraph fighters of boarding craft, so that was tossed out and I put in the Battlecruiser instead. The Supercruiser was always in the cards of course since it was big enough and badass enough to force the Normandy to run for its life. If you have any questions pertaining to any aspect of this story, within reason, I ain't giving away spoilers, feel free to ask and I'll try to answer them as best I can.

One final note before closing comments, a lot of people in my opinion bash Halo unfairly for a lot of reasons, some of them because they see it as a very low-brow science fiction shooter. I feel that is inaccurate, the Halo Universe is incredibly deep and enthralling it's just some people look at its surface and no further. Halo is always praised for its Multiplayer but usually is ridiculed for its story. By combining it with Mass Effect, a space opera of epic proportions sporting the most awesome characters in existence, I hope to reveal how similar these two franchise can be and how truly great their stories both are in their own right. I love both games so any fears about me bashing one or the other can be put aside as I intend to do them both justice and showcase how great both their stories are in their own special way.

Feel free to review if you can, I appreciate all criticisms as long as they're constructive. It's been awhile since I've actually written a full on story, no script format period and I would appreciate any advice you can give to making this story better and for doing justice to both Halo and Mass Effect. I hope you enjoyed the first two chapters and I hope you'll stay with me through many more.

Thank you for reading.


	3. Trust but Verify

AN: Well another chapter of this little crossover experiment folks, but first we need to address some things. First let me just say that your feedback has been much appreciated and I'm happy even if you had some problems with things you still enjoyed the story. Thank you for your support and your kind words in setting me straight on a few matters. I appreciate them, seriously I do. I think its important for authors to listen to their fans within reason, sure it's your story and you should write it how you want, but some authors tend to forget what their story is and let it get away from them in their desire to tell that story.

I'm looking at you Kishimoto of the Naruto franchise. Anyway...

The Elites: I didn't want it to look like I nerfed them when I was writing them, but you showed me I kinda did. Really sorry to hear that folks and I feel that was a failure on my part. I think in my desire to showcase everyone being awesome I kinda forgot the Elites aren't total pushovers. I don't think I nerfed them that much, but I guess it's kinda hard not to see it from another perspective when you're writing. That and I usually play on Normal difficulty, so most of the time the Elites don't kill in ten seconds.

Here's my justification for it though, despite all that. Yes the Elites are the baddest warriors in the galaxy, next to the Spartans of course, but they weren't created that way like the Spartans, they were breed from day one to be that. They're badass but they weaknesses. And the Normandy crew has the tech to exploit those weaknesses. Anti-Shield technology, weapons that are designed to cut through shields and let's not forget biotics. I don't think the Elites ever had to worry about the human Marines picking them up and tossing them across the room with mind bullets. Hell, Jack plowed through three Ymir mechs right out of cryo. I'll admit, maybe matching strength to strength with an Elite in a fair fight would be impossible for her, but she is kinda cheating here. So the Elites do have an disadvantage when it comes to those things. Plus if anyone can measure to Master Chief in the ME universe, it's Shepard. I think we can at least agree to that.

As a small counter-argument in general, may I add that Sergeant Forge killed an Arbiter. Granted, tough fight, skin of his teeth, but he did kill him.

All that said though, trust me on this, this was just a first encounter, the Elites didn't know what they were in for and it was more of an introduction for the Normandy crew to the Halo universe. Our beloved battle cry screaming 8 foot tall (By the way I went back and edited that in, sorry for the mistake of making them human sized) alien warriors will not take this defeat lying down and will more than likely prove far more difficult to take down as things progress. From now on, the fights will prove more difficult for our heroes. I don't want things to get boring and make it look like Shep and his flock are invincible after all.

Normandy's Shields and Plasma: Ouch, this was um... yeah. Bit of a mistake on my part I think, although someone else made a claim otherwise that said the shields COULD in fact take plasma. Still, I was thinking in Star Trek terms, my biggest mistake I think. I should've been thinking along the lines of ME's tech. Silly GR, your love for cheesy sixties space battles has screwed you over a bit. To be fair besides Sovereign and the Collector ship I don't have much ship to ship combat in the ME universe to go off of. So I worked with what I knew.

Now despite the fact there's some dispute over how plasma would work with kinetic barriers (it's not a laser which I know CAN cut through Kinetic barriers with ease) I've devised an answer in the story that I think will satisfy everyone. Suffice to say, in the midst of battle, usually you underestimate your damage. (Edit: I have also recently gone back and added some extra scenes and dialogue to address the concerns of the plasma being nerfed. I think it should suffice for there.)

Ship names: One person brought up the problems of EDI knowing the ship names of the Covenant. I honestly thought that those names were universal. Again, me stupid. Don't worry, I have an answer for that as well. Ship registry, with a partial translation provided by the enemy AI as a way to test EDI's preliminary defences without her noticing. Yeah I know, I'm trying to cover my ass here. I'll explain it better in the story. Along with other questions you may have brought up of course.

Speaking of this chapter, don't expect much action. The great thing about Mass Effect and Halo is the pauses they gave ya to let ya look at the scenery and soak it all in. That and the Normandy is another dimension now, they need to adjust to things before they start a shooting again.

So last we left Shepard and Crew they were being picked up by the UNSC. The welcome... is not warm.

* * *

><p>Chapter 3: Trust but Verify<p>

**July, 20th, 2552**

The Normandy was being towed, more or less, across space. The UNSC didn't need to do much, after the initial towing into the center of their formation Tali got the engine working on full power again. FTL speeds took a lot out of them, especially after flying through a wormhole, but there was nothing the Quarian mechanic couldn't fix. They were able to fly under their own power, but the UNSC made it clear any attempt to deviate from formation would be seen as a hostile act.

They didn't say it out loud, but the black space fighters that looked like Twentieth Century Stealth Bombers flanking their ship showed their intent pretty transparently. Not even minutes after they showed up on every side of the Normandy were they hailed again, further proving their suspicions about being treated like POWs. They demanded that the Normandy's CO, Shepard, wilfully come aboard the Nebraska, alone and unarmed. He had one hour to do it, or they'd send a Marine detail to make them comply.

With little choice, Shepard accepted the terms. The Normandy was in no shape for a fight, even if they wanted to. They were guests in this universe, made sense to be respectful of the hosts. Considering the UNSC was perhaps their only ticket back home that was doubly so.

That was over two hours ago and Shepard was still on the Nebraska. He had contacted the Normandy periodically every thirty minutes since then to at least let them know he was okay, but the fact he'd been stuck here so long wasn't reassuring. He spent most of that time with the security chief of the ship, being interrogated. Shepard told him what he could, explaining who they were, where they came from and what happened. He left out the part about investigating the Reapers however, experience had taught him that was something he shouldn't throw out so quickly.

The Security Chief left him soon after and he was taken to a small room for a good while. It wasn't much, they stripped the quarters bare, probably to make sure he didn't grab a weapon. Pointless really, he had no intention of trying to escape with his crew under the gun of three massive carriers. It was a precaution he somewhat understood they came back, he was not released; instead he was taken to the Admiral's quarters. That's what they told him as they escorted him there.

If he had learned one thing about these ships they weren't built to be pretty. They were military to the core, like a two ton submarine in space. Definitely not like anything the Alliance had. Even the most basic of Alliance ships had a little color in them. Shepard couldn't help but feel the Normandy, with its sleek, smooth and elegant bird like design, stood out like a sore thumb in the middle of these titans. That's what the outside had told him, now the insides were proving it.

As Shepard was escorted through the winding halls of the ship, he caught glimpses of the crew now and then, but they mostly ignored him. By now, he noticed the rugged metal alloy armour covering their bodies. Shepard thought the outfits resembled that of 20th century combat gear, upgraded of course, but the design was familiar nonetheless. Most weren't in their battle armour though, just those on duty. Everyone else he saw was in casual dress wear, engineering jumpsuits, barracks fatigues, the things he remembered from boot camp back during basic.

While different dress, the similarities in codes of conduct as well as the subtle similarities in their casual wear off duty, gave Shepard some hope. Even if this was a different universe, this was still the Navy, these were still Marines and he knew how they behaved. He just had to hope the old saying, "Once a Marine always a Marine", held true in different dimensions.

Shepard found himself brought into a large office in the upper decks of the ship. Inside sat a man in readily apparent officers wear, similar to Alliance Admirals but of a different colour of course. The hat gave away the rank of course. He was an old man with a well groomed short beard surrounding his mouth. His eyes, cold and battle wearily, looked briefly at Shepard.

"Sit." The officer asked, although Shepard presumed it was more of an order.

Wade took his seat near the officer's desk as his guards kept watch on the door. Standard procedure, they weren't gonna leave a 'prisoner' alone with a high tier officer. They say he was a prisoner but that was how they were treating him.

"I am Admiral Gravelston, CO of the Nebraska and Head of the 47th Fleet." He introduced himself as he stared down at the file. "You are Commander Sherpard I presume."

Shepard quickly stood up and saluted at that, hoping to pay his respects.

"At ease," he told the Commander "you ain't in my Corps if your story is to be believed. There is no need for theatrics."

"I'm just paying proper respect, sir." Shepard assured.

The Admiral didn't seem to care how Shepard meant the gesture. He just watched Shepard sit down, his look never wavering, like he was trying to cut the poor commander in two with his eyes. The officer then looked back at the file in front of him.

"According to my Chief of Security you have quite the tale, Commander." He began. "A few of these claims are somewhat, outlandish. I'd like to go over them again."

"Forgive me, sir, but didn't we already do this?" Shepard asked. "If you wanted to ask questions, why didn't you instruct your Security Chief to ask them? He let me rattle on for a full thirty minutes only stopping me to clarify some things. Why keep me waiting so long on this ship just to bring this up now?"

Gravelston merely looked up briefly from the file, a serious, unamused look on his face.

"I think MY questions are of a more pressing matter, Commander." He rebutted "For example, why does your ship have several non-human life forms aboard it?"

Shepard suddenly realised exactly why he was brought here, his alien crew members. They needed to make sure who they were dealing with. Shepard wasn't that surprised about the reasoning, considering what brought them here. Gravelston picked up on it.

"You're not surprised," he noted. "I assume you suspected as much that's why you're here. I'm also glad you didn't hide this fact from the Chief Security officer. It wouldn't have mattered anyway, we already knew. Before you ask how, your ship was scanned as we pulled you in. Several life signs aboard did not match human DNA structure. None of them however matched any known Covenant races, so we were a bit concerned to say the least what exactly we were facing."

Shepard would've given him a direct answer if it weren't for that word he used. Covenant?

"Covenant? What is that?" Shepard Asked somewhat confused "It sounds religious. Some kind of alien cult?"

The Admiral seemed to smile at this, a smile that said 'nice job of keeping to your story kid.' Regardless, even with the suspicion this whole meeting felt a hell of a lot more personal than any time Shepard had talked to the Illusive Man. Granted, maybe that was because this was actually face to face.

"The Covenant are an alien religious empire made up of several alien races, three of which you supposedly battled aboard your vessel." Gravelston explained. "But you wouldn't know that cause you're not from around here correct?"

Shepard just nodded, he was about to ask more questions about this Covenant when the Admiral got the conversation back on track.

"Your crew, as I said, does not match any known Covenant species." He explained as he lay back in his chair "And since you surrendered peacefully we were concerned this was some kind of covert op to trick us into bringing you to a human planet for the Covies to ransack. We couldn't be sure. So far, however, you haven't denied you have aliens aboard your ship. That's good, otherwise we would've probably spaced the thing already, or at least boarded it to capture the potential human turncoats inside. Or rescue depending on their true nature."

Shepard decided to alleviate the fears of this Admiral, quickly. Shepard had a sinking feeling he was jsut waiting to give the order to storm the Normandy. He looked that suspicious of him.

"I'm in command of those aliens," Shepard assured, "they're loyal to me and my cause. They've saved plenty of human lives as well if you want to ask. Where I come from aliens and humans live in relative harmony."

The admiral just nodded and wrote down a small note on the paper in the file.

"Fair enough, that matches your story given to security." He said trying to stifle a chuckle. "A human leading aliens, strange, almost surreal to be honest."

"They're not so bad once you get to know them." Shepard assured. "They do tend to fly off the handle at times I'll admit. They're real fun to have around at parties too. They bring some serious hard liquor."

The Admiral returned to a less than amused look.

"I'll ignore the alien Crewmates for now," he said, "on to the subject of the reason you're here. You claim that while investigating a worm hole of unknown origin you encountered a CCS-Battlecruiser. You called it by name specifically. How exactly did you come by that name if this was your first encounter?"

"My ship's AI got into the registry somehow," Shepard answered simply, "I'm not sur ehow she got it so easily. I'd have to ask her to be honest."

The Admiral just nodded and shrugged, eliciting no reaction at all upon Shepard's mentioning of EDI.

"No questions about why I have an AI onboard?" He asked. "That's not a concern?"

"Why would it be?" The Admiral asked as he kept jotting down notes. "How do you think we scanned your ship? A Ouija Board?"

Well at least Shepard had learned something about this universe, the Admiral had just admitted they had AIs too. And there was no ban on them from the sound of it. The Admiral continued.

"Once the Battlecruiser fired on you, you claim your pilot performed several tricky evasion tactics and delivered a crippling blow to the ship's engines." He said reading off the file matter of factly, before flopping it down. "No pilot can avoid the full fire power of a battlecruiser without taking some damage. Let alone get close enough to deliver a crippling shot. How did your frigate manage this?"

"Joker is the best pilot there is." Shepard declared, fully defending his friend's prowess. "We took damage, but we survived because of his skills. As for the crippling blow, we may be a frigate, but we have some nasty teeth. We call it a Thanix Cannon, it fires super heated metal straight into the enemy ship. We brought down their shields so we cut through the thing like butter."

"And where did you get this powerful superweapon exactly?" the Admrial asked, somewhat mockingly.

Shepard wondered if he should spill that the gun was based on Reaper tech. He quickly dashed that thought.

"We have... contacts... and really good funding."

While not convinced the Admiral was willing to let that tip toe around the answer slide. He moved on to his next question.

"You then claim you took a small squad to board the vessel, while you did so you were boarded yourselves." The Admiral continued. "Your hull was breached in at least three places and you claim your ship was swarmed by hostiles while you and your away team were in the middle of a ship wide fire fight yourselves. With Elites to boot I might add, a lot of Elites."

Once again, Shepard was hearing words he didn't recognize. At least not in the context they were being given.

"Elites?" He asked.

"The creame of the Covenant crop, a warrior race of 8 foot monsters with mandibles and a serious penchant for extreme violence in the name of their gods," Gravelston explained, "those are what Elites are. And you claim to have killed almost a whole battalion of them."

"Heh, all in a day's work to be honest." Shepard shrugged, acting like it was no big deal. He fought off worse odds. Still it was good to know what to call the bad guys for next time. "It's what me and my crew do."

That statement only seemed to incense the Admrial, his brow furrowing as his shoulders hunched forward.

"I find it hard to believe that your little hodgepodge crew of humans and aliens somehow repelled one of the deadliest creatures in the galaxy, Commander." He told him unconvinced. "I've seen the handiwork of the Elites, both on the battlefields and what they leave behind. They've killed countless Marines, some of the best I might add. You're telling me on your first encounter you barely come out with a scratch? Do you write fiction for a living, Commander?"

Wade didn't give in to the jabs towards him. He knew what he and his team pulled off. He just crossed his arms and explained himself.

"My team isn't made up of green soldiers, sir," he said, "they're some of the best people in their fields. Half of them are pretty skilled fighters themselves. Plus we had some advantages, anti-shield technology, weapons designed to take down their shields, cut through them, and a number of our team had biotics."

The Admiral sat back down and picked up the file again.

"Yes, the psychic powers you claim you and a select few appear to have." Gravelston nodded. "You demonstrated them for security. They were impressed by the floating blue cup of water, and a chair... and a table... and a vending machine."

"I wanted a free candy bar." Shepard smiled sheepishly. "And they're technically not psychic powers. It's more complicated than that, but I can't really explain it all too well."

Gravelston sighed and shook his head.

"I still find it hard to believe you actually pulled this task off as you claim." Gravelston told him sternly. "Psychic abilities or no, its difficult for me to buy that you managed as well as you did. These odds you describe are almost impossible scenarios."

"I excel at proving the impossible odds are defeatable, sir." Shepard grinned. "At this point it's becoming a gift. Besides, how else do you explain the several dozen bodies of dead aliens on my ship? I provided your security chief pictures of them after one of my calls to the Normandy, I gave them to him. I assume you have them."

The Admrial stood up and walked over to a corner of the room, his arms at his backside.

"I don't know, Commander," he admitted, "but it is suspicious. Alien crew members, a worm hole and a victory against covenant forces of deadly magnitude, it's all something I could believe under the right circumstances but you... you I'm not so sure about. For all I know you and the rest of the humans on that ship have cut a deal with the Covenant for your lives to be spared or something and you've staged this whole thing to gain my trust. With recovered Covenant corpses and weapons along with battle damage you deliberately caused to your ship to better simulate the deception."

Shepard's current jovial wit vanished as soon as the accusations started flying.

"Paranoia does not become you, sir." Shepard told him "I am a proud member of the Alliance, a federation of nations and colonies determined to protect and advance the position of humanity. I joined up with the corps for that reason. I'd be damned if I'd betray my people."

The Admrial turned back briefly for a small second, before turning back around completely and returning to his chair.

"We all join for that reason," The Admiral relented, "and for what it's worth my Security Officer is a good judge of character and he says he doesn't think you're lying. But there are cracks in your story son, and I just can't overlook them. Like, where is this wormhole or this supercruiser that you claim chased you through it?"

"We went through at FTL speeds," Shepard replied. "we could've left it light-years behind us in any direction. We're not sure. As for the Supercruiser... no idea either."

That was not good enough for the Admiral. He shook his head in disappointment.

"I'm afraid I can't fully trust your story without some kind of proof." Gravelston told him despondantly. "It's too risky for us to just open our doors like that, especially now."

Story of his life, thought Shepard, the whole scene reminding him how the Alliance and Council stonewalled him on the issue of the Reapers. Now he was doubly certain it was a good idea not to talk about that. Still, Wade sensed an opportunity to learn more about this new world.

"Why Admiral?" Shepard asked. "What is happening? What's going on in this universe?"

The Admiral just snorted; still impressed it seemed on how Shepard was sticking to his guns on the 'from another dimension' thing.

"For the sake of argument we'll just say that you don't know." He began solemnly. "Humanity is facing extinction. We've been losing colony after colony, fleet after fleet, just trying to hold back what is starting to feel like a tsunami. Billions of lives have already been lost and billions more will probably die before this is all over."

Billions dead, the species being practically wiped out, that was certainly a valid reason to be a bit paranoid. Now Wade felt bad for making those snide comments from before. This dimension certainly seemed worse off than his own, at least his universe's humanity hadn't gotten into this scenario just yet.

Shepard could only assume this had to do with the Covenant the Admiral had mentioned. The scenario seemed, similar however, far too similar. The Commander wasn't sure just yet, but he felt like he needed more information before he tried to connect any dots here.

"I'm guessing this is why you're so worried about Aliens, unknown or otherwise." Said Shepard, his voice understanding and calm. "How long has this been going on? How'd it start?"

The Admiral crossed his arms and looked at the Commander rather astutely.

"Very well, I'll continue to play along with this." He responded coolly, in reference to Shepard's story. "It's been going on for 27 years now, but it seems like a lifetime ago. In 2525, our colony on the planet Harvest went dark. When we sent ships to find out what happened, only one came back. That was our first encounter with the Covenant. According to them we had disrespected their religion by merely existing, desecrating the works of their Gods. They decided our heretical existence needed to be purged and they've been trying to erase us from every corner of galaxy since."

The statement that Shepard had heard before, about instruments of the Gods, now made sense. This was a holy war, and somehow they had gotten stuck in the middle of it all. Again, it reminded him of something all too familiar.

"I'm guessing they never offered terms of surrender either?" Shepard asked, a rhetorical question of course.

"They never even gave our colonists a chance. Dozens of worlds have been turned to glass just to wipe out a small farming community." Gravelston continued, the anger boiling up a bit over the whole thing. "The Covenant attack places of no strategic value just because humans live there. Every fight we get involved in practically turns into the Alamo, if we're lucky. It took us five years to get Harvest back and when we did there wasn't much left to rebuild. We've won some battles, but the Covenant are relentless. They don't quit, even when they lose entire armies they just send another to replace it. Whereas we can't afford to lose a battle, they can lose dozens and not have to worry. It just annoys them. That's how bad this has gotten. The only thing that's been going in our favour, they haven't found Earth yet. But it won't stay that way forever."

This certainly did sound bad, an unfeeling enemy, humanity on the brink of destruction, entire worlds burning, this wasn't just this dimension's present it was Shepard's dimension's future. Considering the possible origin of the worm hole that brought them all here, Shepard wondered if this was at all a coincidence.

After a small stint of silence, Shepard finally spoke up.

"Admiral Gravelston," he said diligently, "if the situation is truly this bad, then me and the crew of the Normandy wish to offer our services to your war effort."

Gravelston tapped his fingers together, pondering the request.

"Really? Even though you're not from around here according to you?" he asked.

"I told you, I took an oath to protect humanity when I joined up with the Alliance." Shepard reminded him, his voice unwavering. "You're the closest equivalent to that in this galaxy and I see no reason to break my oath now."

For once an honest smile appeared on the face of the Admiral, but it only last a few moments before it turned into a less than desirable scowl.

"As honourable as that is, you don't get a free pass that easily." Gravelston told him. "You've complied with us so far, that's reason enough to trust you, within certain parameters of course. You'll need to prove yourself before we decide anything further."

As if that was somehow a new experience to Shepard. At least this was one of the times when he understood the reasoning, however annoying it was.

"So what do I have to do?" Shepard asked.

"We'll decide that soon enough." Gravelston replied. "Besides, it's not up to me anyway. For now we'll escort you to the nearest planet where we can help you make proper repairs to your ship. That will take a day or two."

"Why?" Shepard asked.

"Protocol," the Admiral answered rather quickly, "that supercruiser, real or imagined, has kind of messed up our cruise schedule. We're not allowed to make direct jumps to human colonies, or any place of strategic value, after engagements with the Covenant. They could lock on to our slipspace signature and follow us."

"Slipspace?" Shepard asked once more, again another word he didn't understand.

"It's our method of getting around the problems of ordinary FTL speeds, we slip out of normal space and into place between it propelling ourselves through the cosmos to our destination." Gravelston explained, somewhat annoyed at apparently repeating basic knowledge. "It's the only feasible way of getting around the galaxy without taking decades to do so."

It made Shepard feel a bit like a grade schooler to be honest. Listening to Gravelston condescendingly talk down to him like he was an idiot. Kinda like boot camp again, except the Sergeant tended to yell more than Gravelston. He was still trying to figure out if the Admiral's stoic demeanour was scarier.

"What do you use in your 'universe', commander?" Gravelston asked, almost daring Shepard to come up with an answer to that conundrum.

Shepard thought out his answer carefully.

"Ancient Space Satellites that propel us from one end of the Galaxy to the other in relatively no time at all via something we call Mass Effect." He stated somewhat simply.

This elicited a chuckle from the Admiral as he marked something else down in the file.

"Oh if it turns out you're just a crazy bastard at least I'll know you have a great imagination." Gravelston said as he regained his composure. "One final thing however, you'll need to turn over all Covenant weapons to us. It's nothing personal, it's just-"

"You can't trust us and you want your own people to study them." Shepard finished for him.

"Exactly," Gravelston smiled smugly "you're catching on. My men will escort you back to your shuttle and you may return to your ship. We'll give you a few hours to turn over the plasma guns and whatever else you have. Pack them in crates, not just in a big pile. You can keep the bodies, we have no use for dead Covies. You're free to go Commander, dismissed."

Shepard got up and the two Marines at the door saw him out. He certainly had a lot to talk about with his crew. At least Mordin would be happy that they wouldn't want the bodies. He'd get to perform more autopsies, if he hadn't cut up half of the corpses already by this time, of course.

One thing was certain, the UNSC was probably their best bet at getting back home. They needed to earn their trust, somehow.

* * *

><p>After the rather depressing couple of hours aboard the Nebraska, Shepard was glad to be back in his own ship and his own crew. Joker's warm greeting when he showed up back up top was also rather welcome. He explained the situation to the pilot first before anyone else, if only to keep him in the loop. That and Joker made him promise to do so before he left. What Shepard had to share didn't unsettle Joker from the offset much at first.<p>

"So in 2525," Joker began "man was not only still alive, but they found religious alien zealots that wanted to kill them all. Huh, I gotta tell ya, Commander, I would not have guessed that."

"An obscure 20th century folk song reference," Shepard noted with a bit of glee, "nice one."

"Hey, I like the classics too." Joker defended himself. "I just don't listen to them as much is all. Anyway let's not change the subject, what are we going to do now?"

"We can't exactly get home at the moment Joker," Shepard reminded him, "that wormhole could be anywhere for all we know."

EDI, observing the whole conversation from her usual position beside Joker, piped in.

"I have tried to determine the exact path of our FTL jump, Commander," she began "but when we flew through the wormhole at FTL speeds something must've damaged our navigation data log. I can only imagine the damage we sustained in battle played a role, along with the unique make-up of the wormhole itself."

Well that plan was out, worth a shot though. In any case, they wouldn't have been able to get back to that wormhole anyway, not with the UNSC watching over them. They made any kind of break for it they'd probably track down the ship and destroy it before they got far enough away.

"We'll have to worry about that wormhole later," Shepard told the AI "right now we should concern ourselves with finding out why these Covenant aliens were visiting our universe and how they knew about that wormhole. Not to mention preparing to fight them again, we need the UNSC to trust us if we're ever gonna get anywhere."

"That's gonna be harder than you think sir," Joker told him "I think you should know. EDI and I were doing a diagnostic of the ship's damage with Tali and Legion while you were out. Turns out we're even worse off than we thought. Those plasma weapons hit us pretty hard."

That was surprising, especially given what EDI said during the battle.

"I thought the shields held."

"They did, Commander," EDI assured, "they absorbed the initial impact of the plasma weapons, they did not absorb the transfer of energy. Kinetic barriers aren't the same as regular shields. They staved off some of the damage, but most of it got through. The Normandy's armour absorbed the attacks, but we're lucky we did not receive a direct hit. The ship would've been torn apart."

"Looks like we need new upgrades commander," Joker reckoned with a grin, "after we get this baby repaired maybe we can go strip mine some nearby planets for the materials."

Shepard groaned a bit at that thought.

"I hate strip mining," he said, "you'd think there would be a faster way to keep the ship stocked up on materials. It was so much easier when the Alliance gave you residual rights to claimed deposits you found."

"But then you had to drive the Mako to get them." Joker reminded him

Shepard remembered that, the cold planets that froze his ass off to plug in a beacon, the bumps in the road, the incredibly painful falls, the goddamn thresher maws that populated almost every planet. Maybe there was something to be said about staying in the ship and keeping comfortable.

"I'm sure the UNSC will supply what we need when they learn to trust us." Shepard told Joker

EDI once more interjected into the conversation.

"I did manage to procur data from the ship archives before it was destroyed." she mentioned "They were heavily encrypted, but it could have information on their shields and weapon systems. That could be of interest to the UNSC. "

Shepard nodded in delight at this.

"Go work, EDI." he congratulated her. "Let me know when you break the encryption. If we hand it over to our new friends they may be willing to share their own information with us. Maybe they'll even give us tips on how to stave off another AI attack."

"I think my experiences have taught me plenty, Commander." EDI assured, sounding a bit offended if that was possible for her

"I mean so you don't have to get up close and personal in order to kill the thing EDI." Shepard corrected himself. "Don't worry, I'm not doubting your abilities. You did say it was pretty advanced though, I'm just looking out for you."

"Yeah, how did you manage to kill something that advanced anyway?" Joker asked, carefully adding, "I don't want details, I'm just wondering if this is a David vs. Goliath situation here."

EDI had remained adamant about not revealing much about what she had to do, whatever it was it deeply disturbed her. In their time activated she had never needed to kill another synthetic being. Let alone needed to get close to it. This one time however she decided to explain a bit about it.

"The AI, while advanced, was flawed." She began. "It managed to probe my defences for a moment, translating its registry and allowing me access to it for a brief moment."

"That's how you knew the Battlecruiser's name?" Shepard asked.

"Correct," EDI replied. "and after I was in their systems I was able to translate a few more words by process of elimination and trial and error. That's how I got the Supercruiser's proper name. I learned of this plan after I entered the Covenant systems of course, what is relevant here is the fact is that it didn't try to immediately hack my defences or negate them with the probe. It did not use it's element of surprise to its full advantage."

"It made a mistake?" Shepard asked.

That was something not many AI did, or at least when it happened it was an error in their runtimes. EDI didn't make many mistakes for one, not unless it involved some kind of a glitch.

EDI quickly elaborated on the point.

"Not so much a mistake as it missed an opportunity." EDI clarified. "I realised after I discovered this that the AI could've been damaged or corrupt. Its core processor could in fact have been suffering a series of glitches and errors that made it overlook certain possibilities and strategies. When I got closer to it I realised the truth, it was more than just corrupted, it was fragmenting. It was full of exploitable holes in its programming which anyone could've used to destroy it. That is why it needed so many firewalls, it erected them itself because it didn't want someone getting close to it to do exactly what I did."

"Are you saying it was paranoid?" Shepard asked

That was unusual. Paranoia implied it was afraid, AI weren't supposed to have emotions like that. EDI however confirmed that assumption.

"This AI was clearly in the late stages of what you may call a psychotic mental breakdown." EDI explained "It appears the religious dogma of the Covenant extends to that of its AI protocols. This makes them susceptible to the computerized version of brain damage. They aren't capable of processing it and tear themselves apart."

"That explains why it was calling you a heretic," Joker said "but that doesn't explain why it would break apart. Aren't you guys like beings of pure logic or something?"

"True emotion is difficult to pin down Jeff," EDI responded "I can only assume that the AI in this universe do not operate on the same laws as the ones in ours do. They may have an entirely different way of creating AI from us."

Shepard knew of at least one group of people who they could ask about the process. The only other people who had AI in this universe.

"I could ask the UNSC," Shepard told her. "but I don't think they're in the sharing mood."

"See if you can Shepard," EDI asked him, "if we know how these AI are constructed perhaps it will better prepare us for another encounter with one."

Shepard had a feeling EDI's interest was more than just strategic. In this world, AI weren't illegal. She was probably curious to learn more about her synthetic brethren. Well he helped out everyone else on this ship with their issues and queries, why not EDI? Especially if it helped out their mission at large.

"I'll let the crew know to keep their ears open for a chance." Shepard assured her "Speaking of which, Joker you should call everyone up to the meeting room. We got a lot to talk about."

Joker nodded and turned to the intercom.

"Ten creds says Miranda ain't gonna be happy about you spilling that were from another dimension." He said.

* * *

><p>"I can't believe you told them that!"<p>

Shepard now owed Joker ten credits. He supposed it was a stupid bet to make in the first place.

Miranda had opted to keep her silence until most of the crew left the briefing room. They all seemed like they understood what had happened and didn't really question Shepard's decision to tell the UNSC the truth about their origins. Grunt just wanted to know when he would get to kill more of these Covenant aliens again, that was the extent of the deviations from the actual subject at hand during the meeting anyway. Miranda didn't want to look like she was questioning the Commander in front of everyone, so she opted to hold her concerns for awhile longer.

"Commander did you even consider the thought that they'd just think you were crazy?" Miranda asked.

"Yes, but I didn't have much of a choice." Shepard told her. "How else was I gonna explain why we had aliens on board. I couldn't exactly hide that either Miranda and if I tried they probably would've raided the ship by now."

Lawson sighed greatly at that and propped herself up against the table.

"Well at least you didn't mention the reapers." She relented "I just think we should've tried a more believable story than what really happened. Something they could actually buy."

"From the sounds of it Miranda it doesn't look like there were many options they'd believe." Jacob told her "They don't seem to trust us much."

"We are a bit of an anomaly." Shepard said with a shrug. "We've had peaceful relations with alien races for years, this place is like if the First Contact War with the Turians involved every single race in the Galaxy against us."

Truly a frightening scenario, in fact it was the very same scenario that their former employers in Cerberus had warned Miranda and Jacob about. What they warned all their cells about. In this world Cerberus' fears turned out to be right. Perhaps the Illusive Man was born in the wrong dimension.

"At least the Turians weren't motivated by religious fundamentalism." Miranda remarked "If we're going to fight this Covenant we need to be informed and prepared. We got lucky last time."

Shepard turned his attention to Tali who had stayed in the briefing room with the others to offer up her own say on precisely that matter.

"Any ideas on how we can prep the ship for another fight with these things?" Shepard asked her.

"For one better shields," Tali replied turning her head up from her data pad, "that and a gun with a little more power. The Thanix Cannon is impressive, but it's still just a smaller version of Sovereign's weapon systems. It works on the same principle, but doesn't have the same bite. We'll need something that can actually go toe to toe with these Covenant ships. Added armour wouldn't hurt either. I'm also interested in this slipspace technology you mentioned."

Shepard thought Tali might be, she was the spaceship guru. A device that negated the use of Mass Effect relays would definitely tickle her fancy.

"Once we get to a dry dock we'll see about asking the UNSC about it." Shepard assured her.

"That should probably be the first thing you ask about." Tali told him, sounding concerned. "If they laughed at the notion of Mass Effect Relays then that can only mean they don't exist here. We'll need a way to travel on our own through space in this dimension, instead of piggybacking a ride on these guys."

That was something that only just hit Shepard, according to the information Gravelston gave him it was 2552 in this universe. Back home that was still hundreds of years away. Human technology in this universe had no help from Prothean ruins on Mars or alien races sharing technology. It was more than likely completely self-sufficient. Free of any influence, from either the Reapers or Protheans. They could be advanced in some areas but behind in other areas. They needed to explore the full range of their technology. That would require gaining full trust.

"Looks like we got a big to-do list crew." Shepard told them all. "Best get to work, first things first we need to hand over those weapons the Covenant so kindly dropped when they boarded us."

"Too bad, I was interested in studying them further." Miranda said disappointed. "You don't suppose we could just keep one or two?"

Shepard turned up an eyebrow and crossed his arms.

"Miranda I really don't wanna hear that sort of talk," Shepard informed her casually "it could compromise my position of plausible deniability."

Miranda stood there confused for a second before it clicked in her head what the commander was insinuating. She just gave a nod and a wink in response.

"You are devious sometimes Wade." Tali giggled

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Shepard replied in a mock dismissive voice.

* * *

><p>As promised the Covenant weapons were handed over to the UNSC. Naturally, however, not everyone on the crew gave up the devices. The amount they did hand over was subsequently large enough to convince Admiral Gravelston that they had given away every weapon on board. Either that or he just accepted he wouldn't get every single one of them. He probably suspected they had kept some of the plasma weapons, but he didn't bring up the issue again. After all, why bother? They had given them more than enough for their scientists to work with. Let them keep a few, it wouldn't do them any good.<p>

That's at least what Shepard thought was going through his head. No doubt that when they got to where they were going they wouldn't be allowed to carry weapons outside the Normandy. It was standard security protocol for a vessel's crew that was technically under investigation.

An hour later the Normandy experienced its first slipspace jump. They ship had been towed into docking position alongside the Nebraska. This was for safety reasons it seemed, or at least that was what Gravelstone told them. The Normandy looked like a bug latched onto an Elephant side, what with the tow cables keeping it close to the carrier. Why Gravelstone didn't just put them inside one of the hangers was anyone's guess. He probably was trying to keep them from potentially getting onboarc his ship unsupervised. Shepard understood the reasoning. Knowing Kasumi she'd probably have snuck into the carrier, if only out of curiosity at first.

Nonetheless the jump wasn't too bad, although the ship did shake and shudder a bit when they entered the slipspace rupture itself they encountered no problems as they piggybacked on the carrier's jump so to speak. Still it was a different experience altogether. Mass Effect Relays felt more like a push, this felt like a shift followed by a push. Even stranger, outside went pitch black, no stars, no planets, nothing.

Shepard caught Tali just staring out the starboard side of the ship in Samara's room. There was nothing to look at but she was fascinated by the whole thing none the same. This was all so new, a miniature dimension between regular space, one that could be used for FTL travel, and could practically be done from anywhere. No relay required. Sure this version was slower than a Relay, but the ramifications were astonishing.

To say the Quarian was enthralled by it all was an understatement. Shepard could tell she was entranced by this. She didn't look away, even though there was nothing to see. She only stopped looking when the ship pulled out of slipspace and back into normal space.

"Next time I'll need to take down notes as we go in and out." She said excitedly. "Maybe even get a recording of the whole thing, this is amazing! My people back on the fleet won't believe their eyes!"

"Assuming any of us get back home." Samara added stoically.

Tali's high suddenly evaporated and her shoulders slunked down low. In the all the excitement she had forgotten, Her people were in another dimension and she was stuck here. The obvious questions of whether she'd ever see them again or if they'd assume the worst before long swam around in her head. Tali knew Samara didn't mean to bring that all up, but she had nonetheless. She thought she heard the Asari try to apologise for a moment, but Tali's thoughts were too tangled up now to hear.

She stared walking away, only noticing Shepard when she looked up from the floor. He placed a hand on her shoulder to comfort her, he didn't need to say "we'll find a way home", she understood the gesture and hugged him back for it.

"I can watch the next one with you if you want." He offered "Can probably help ya take down notes."

While he couldn't see it, Shepard could sense there was a smile under that mask of hers.

"I'd like that." She said "I really would."

* * *

><p>There wasn't much to do otherwise on the Normandy until they got to wherever it was the Nebraska was taking them. Everyone just had to go on with their daily routines, waiting for this little enforced road trip to end. Other than making substantial repairs to the ship there wasn't much work to be done. Unless of course you were Mordin it seemed as he had quite a bit of work going on in his lab, personal work from the sound of it concerning the Covenant.<p>

This wouldn't have interested Kasumi as much if that was all that was all the scuttlebutt circling around the ship. However that wasn't everything. Zaeed, Samara, Thane and Grunt had all been attracted to the Professor's lab for some reason. Now that was something that caught the young thief's attention. Especially concerning Grunt since he didn't care much for science related stuff in Kasumi's mind.

When she entered the lab she found the four crowded around a large holographic screen Mordin had set up at the back of the lab. Kasumi couldn't make out what was on it for the moment. Mordin was in his usual place at the lab desk, feverishly working away at some. This time it was one of the larger plasma guns, the ones the Elites used. Suddenly the Salarian noticed her.

"Ah Ms. Goto," He said upon noticing her preseance, "came to see studies correct? Need to wait. Others crowding my notes at the moment."

"Notes?" Kasumi asked "Notes on what, Prof?"

"Covenant species we encountered." Mordin began, in his usual speedy voice "Used mostly my own observations. UNSC unwilling to share. Best I could manage was admission of the names of the species. Both actual and slang term titles."

"You mean they aren't actually called Elites?" Kasumi asked a bit confused. "Why do they use nicknames?"

"Would imagine you would understand." Mordin said looking up from the plasma gun he was tinkering with briefly, his eyes seemingly never blinking as he talked. "Human history rife with slang terms for enemies during war. Rebs, Red Coats, Charlie, Krauts, derogatory terms relevant to enemy's origin or appearance. Helps dehumanize enemy, boosts morale, easier and faster to say during combat. No different among other species. Learned many derogatory slang terms for enemies during time in STG. Mostly Krogan of course, differentiated among the clans."

Kasumi had learned to usually just let the Professor yammer when he got in the middle of a rant. You didn't interrupt a teacher. Mordin had a point of course, she probably should've realised it before she asked the question. Then again it was always fun to see Mordin get into his work. If Kasumi had him during her days in College she probably would've stayed awake more in science class.

"So what are the other aliens we saw called?" she asked him

"Grunt and Jackal." Mordin explained "First one refers to the small methane breathing ones. Fascinating creatures, studied behaviour from security tapes during battle. Soon as superiors die they flee. Constant consistent pattern. Suggests inability to function without proper command structure. Perhaps pack related."

"And the second ones are called Jackals?" Kasumi asked confused "Okay that one I don't get, they looked more like evil parrots with arms than dogs."

"Agreed, strange title." Mordin nodded in response, his finger placed to his chin "Perhaps references behaviour patterns and position in Covenant military. Encountered one trying to kill Joker through stealth. Possibly more commonly used as assassins in field. Jackals usually used to reference such an occupation."

With the question answered, Mordin returned to the gun he was looking at. He had taken apart half the weapon and was staring at what appeared to be an energy cell.

"So when you're done with that can I have it?" Kasumi asked "I always wanted a real laser weapon like in those old science fiction vids."

"Proper term is plasma." Mordin corrected her "Different output, different kind of energy."

"Still looks science fictioney enough to me." Kasumi responded "Figure out how it works?"

"Weapon appears to be semi-automatic." Mordin explained "Different design then its green smaller counterpart. Has two plasma collimators on top of the other. Sufficient rate of high velocity fire. Very interesting design. Very advanced. Curious though."

"It's a gun that shoots plasma, what's the big mystery beyond that?" Kasumi asked

"Design is difficult to recharge. Each weapon has a self-contained battery supply. Possibly requires recharge or replacement, unsure." Mordin explained as he pointed out the battery of the weapon "Tested other weapons. Begins to misfire at ten percent power. Critical design flaw. Exploitable. Have some hypothesises that could explain this. No proof yet, need more data. Would appreciate UNSC sharing, but must work with what is available at present time."

Mordin pressed his finger to a small part of the weapon, it fizzled for a second and fired a weak shot from its plasma collimators.

"Hmm this one's power is starting to drain." He noted "Will need replacement soon."

Kasumi decided to let Mordin work for the moment and tip toed her way over to the others, still entranced by the Professors notes on the three creatures they encountered.

"Their name is stupid." Grunt grumbled "I don't like it."

"You're just pissed off cause their nickname is the same as yours lizard?" Zaeed asked

"That part is just annoying, I'm not calling them Grunts." The Krogan responded "No it's their actual name. Unggoys, what does that even mean?"

"I preferred calling them Gas Guzzlers me self." Zaeed said "Why don't you call'em Gassies? Hell, maybe Uglies, sounds like their real name."

Grunt pondered it for a second and nodded, that would do. Better than getting his name confused with them.

"The small ones are hardly any threat." said Thane, adding to the conversation. "Their inherent weaknesses are readily apparent. They carry large flammable back packs they need to survive and I can pinpoint several key spots where they can be killed in hand to hand combat."

"Just punch their little heads in." Grunt told him "They ain't so tough. Nothing to get all fancy about anyway."

"Yeah, them big ones with the mandibles are the real threat." Zaeed assured, his head turning towards Samara "What I hear, one put up quite a fight against Samara. Ain't that right girl?"

Samara, didn't take her eyes off the screen as she answered Zaeed.

"I do not dwell on the particulars of my kills." She replied "He stood against me and he was destroyed. There is no need to glorify or recount it in detail."

Zaeed shook his head and snorted out the side of his mouth.

"Pft, that's half the fun of the fight, remembering it for later." He said to himself "Anyway, I'm surprised we did as well against them as we did. Let me tell ya, we may have slaughtered them, but them giant aliens sure were bloody intimidating."

"They are of a warrior race from what we've heard." Thane reminded the mercenary "We should be more cautious next we fight them."

"Ha, they didn't seem so tough." Grunt boasted "I splattered their leader's guts all over their bridge."

"Yeah you're a half ton mini-Tyrannosaurus Rex," Zaeed shouted up at him "I hardly think it was a fair fight."

Grunt merely snorted at Zaeed and grumbled under his throat.

"They are not invincible." Thane assured "As we saw. Cracking their shields is the first step to any long range attack. Personally I would like to avoid melee combat if possible. Stealth kills however, such as a quick snap of their necks, is doable."

"I snapped on with my own teeth." Grunt claimed triumphantly again "I find these claims of their superior combat skills over exaggerated. None of them have faced the might of a pure Krogan, but they all soon shall."

Thane peered up at the giant reptile incredulously.

"I would not be so over confident," Thane warned "these creatures almost took our ship from us."

"And they failed, even without me aboard." Grunt argued back "What does that say of them?"

"I think our smaller Reptillian friend has a point Grunt."

Everyone except Samara looked back to see Kasumi peering over at them. She offered a kindly wave before proceeding.

"According to Shepard, the UNSC's best men have been killed in droves by just handfuls of these guys." Kasumi warned "I don't think Jack or Shepard could've managed in a one on one fight with them were it not for their biotics."

Grunt was not moved by this argument either.

"Then I have accomplished what countless others have failed to do." Grunt declared "Proof of my superior Krogan prowess."

Kasumi rolled her eyes, it was like talking to some jerk in a damn Extranet chat room. Even Zaeed seemed to be getting his last nerve worked.

"Look here Killer," the old merc said pointing his finger and leaning in to the krogan "take it from me. I've survived a hell of a lot of shit, and I don't have the luxury of your bloody redundant nervous system. Fact is, half the time I've gotten bloody lucky, or I'm just too damn stubborn to die. All my close shaves have taught me a lesson though, the cocksure bastards don't last very long. Trust me, I've seen a hell lot of them die with your kind of thinkin'."

"You'd do best to heed his advice," Thane added "take it from me. No one is invincible. Not even you."

Grunt merely snorted and stomped away, pushing past Kasumi as he walked out. No response except a feeble "we'll see about that" under his throat. Zaeed shook his head.

"Dumb bastard is gonna get himself killed one of these days doing something stupid." Zaeed assured "Watches too many of them damn Krogan super hero cartoons down in his room. Introduced him to some 20th century action flicks as well. I blame myself a bit in a way."

"So do I." Kasumi smirked sarcastically.

Thane turned back to the holographic screen. He looked at it for a moment, studying the points on the alien known as the Jackal as to where the best places to strike him were. The legs seemed relatively fragile, as did the arms. It wouldn't take much force to snap one, as long as he hit the proper joint.

As Thane scanned the board, his eyes caught the corner of Samara's head. He found himself turning to her almost immediately, a question on his mind.

"You've remained relatively quiet." He told her

Samara didn't take her eyes off the pictures of the covenant aliens. Thane was no mind reader, but he could practically sense a feeling of rage boiling up under Samara's skin.

"These creatures follow a religious dogma that compels them to murder innocents." She finally said aloud "If what the UNSC says is true, they have committed genocide on a massive scale. They are the polar opposite of the Justicar order."

Samara's fists clenched for a moment before relinquishing them.

"For this they must be punished." She finally spoke, and while her tone did not change her intent did. This just wasn't a declaration, this felt more like a promise. "The code must always be obeyed, no matter the dimension."

Thane turned back to the holographic board.

"I think you will have more than enough chances to obey your code." Thane responded, his eyes now transfixed once more on the holographic Elite's.

* * *

><p><strong>July, 23rd, 2552<strong>

UNSC Carrier Nebraska exited Slipspace relatively close to its final destination. It had been days since the Normandy had been picked up and while tensions had cooled between the frigate and the giant ships flanking it the suspicions remained. Not that the limited communication had helped ease those suspicions.

As the Nebraska made its final approach its top brass as well as the other members of the battle group kept reviewing the situation. Specifically, what did they do with the Normandy's and its crew after repairs were finished? That was the question everyone was currently struggling with.

"I honestly don't know what to make of these people." Gravelston grumbled as he dropped the file on his desk "This wormhole story is ridiculous, it explains everything far to simply. Yet I can't seem to think of any other possibility to account for these aliens we can't classify as Covenant."

With him in his office at the moment was Gravelston's Office of Naval Intelligence liaison, Agent Lyndon. That was at least the name he was given when he first came onboard. ONI's operatives tended to be secretive about everything. The other was Gravelston's chief of security, Captain Fowler. He was the only other person who had spoken one on one with Shepard.

"It has been suggested the Covenant have beaten other races into submission to join their cause." Explained Lyndon "The species we classify as Grunts is one example of that. It's not far off to suggest that these unknown species could in fact be from races that resisted and were, subsequently driven from their homeworlds."

"And this Shepard just happens to have every last member of their respective species on his little ark?" Gravelston scoffed "Even if that made sense, why would he make this story up and not just out and out tell us that?"

"Then perhaps we should consider he is telling the truth." Lyndon replied "Your AI so far suggests that is the case. Scans of the vessel indicate the ship's design and makeup is drastically different from our own. It even lacks a slipspace engine, something common for all starships. This coupled with that impressive forward gun we detected suggests we are dealing with something different from our ships or the Covenant."

This caused the admiral to slide into a fit of disbelief, shaking his head while rubbing his right temple.

"If you're so willing to accept this story why bother bringing up another possibility?" he asked

"Hopefully to make you answer your own questions and resolve your own doubts." Lyndon replied "So far this Commander Shepard has been incredibly compliant. I think we shouldn't be so quick to dismiss his story."

Gravelston grumbled under his breath, he hated it when they all fell back on this answer. They had no proof to support it, why did Lyndon keep saying they should give this wormhole tale the benefit of the doubt?

"We're about to arrive at one of our last strongholds between us and earth," Gravelston told him "I'm not going to trust these people on the mere possibility that they're telling the truth."

"For what it is worth sir," Fowler interrupted "I have stated I don't think the Commander is lying about his origins. He acted and responded to each of our questions clearly and appropriately. He even understood the proper naval protocol. In my opinion sir, he was at some time a Marine, at the very least a member of a military organization similar to our own."

"So what are you suggesting we take him up on his offer to help out?" Gravelston asked "That we suggest the brass put his ship on the frontline? How can we be sure he'll be loyal, or he won't just bug out? Let's even say his story is true, what's to stop him from taking off to find this wormhole?"

"He did tell you he was sworn to protect humanity." Lyndon reminded him

"Of his dimension, I don't think-"

Gravelston was interrupted by the beeping of his communication link to the bridge. He pressed the beeping button and a new voice entered the room.

"Sir, we have established communication with Reach Station Gamma." It said "They are requesting contact."

Gravelston sighed.

"Looks like we'll have to cut this short gentlemen." He told the others "I trust Agent Lyndon will make a full report about this to ONI himself."

"You have your protocol to follow, so do I." Lyndon assured "That isn't a problem is it?"

Gravelston didn't reply, he rose up from his desk and marched out the door, making sure to grab his hat as he left.

"Dismissed gentlemen." He said as he left

Perhaps it was a bit rude, but Gravelston didn't really like spooks from ONI. He had little time for spy games. All he needed to know was that they "supposedly" had a plan in the works, one that would win them this war if they were lucky. Beyond that, he just wanted them to stay out of the way. Let the real soldiers fight these battles. Things were too desperate right now to consider trusting a group of unknown elements. What was worse, ONI would probably have the final say on that matter, not him.

"God damn spooks." He grumbled. "Gonna be the death of me."

* * *

><p>The planet Reach, the birthplace of many a ship in the UNSC fleet, along with other military projects. Some not meant to be disclosed to the public. For the UNSC it was one of their last strongholds left in the Inner Colonies. However, it was completely alien to the crew of the Normandy.<p>

The Nebraska broke off from them, but the Longsword fighters stayed close on their approach to a large space station. They were ordered to stay along a set vector, they didn't have to be told what would happen if they didn't.

Reach Station Gamma was not to dissimilar from many a station Shepard had seen in his life. He was a military brat after all, his mom and dad more often than not dragged him to any and every station they got posted at. Gamma wasn't too different from Jump Zero, unless you were going by the shape. Gamma was circular in nature, and loaded with more communication arrays than one could imagine. It was also pretty big, he guessed three kilometres in diameter.

Shepard stayed on deck beside Joker as they closed in to dock with the station. He wanted to get the best view of this as they came in. Wasn't every day you got to dock with another dimension's space station.

"Vessel designated Normandy," said a cold calculating voice over the com-link "you are cleared for dock seven. Be advised your vessel is still under lock down, as per orders of Admiral Gravelston. Any request to leave your ship must be cleared through the proper channels. You will not be permitted carry weapons aboard the station, any attempt to conceal weapons or resist any search for concealed weapons will be dealt with severely."

"Ja Vol mein commandant." Joker replied rather annoyed.

Shepard eyed him as they pulled into dock.

"What? These people are worse than the suits on Noveria so far." Joker complained.

"They are in the middle of a war." EDI reminded him. "Their suspicion is understandable."

"It's also god damn annoying." Joker responded. "Commander, when are we gonna work on solving this trust issue already?"

"I have an idea in the works, don't worry." Shepard told him "We just need to wait."

"This doesn't involve anything like them 'catch me' exercises does it?" Joker asked, continuing his sarcastically glib attitude "Cause I don't think my brittle liddle bones could handle that."

"Relax Joker, I'm relying on something a little more substantial." Shepard told him slyly. "You know how we usually get people to trust us?"

Joker laughed a bit as he turned back to the controls.

"Usually it involves you doing something incredibly suicidal like fighting a Thresher Maw or storming a god damn skyscraper guarded by its own personal army." The pilot joked "You counting on these guys having a similar issue?"

"Pretty much." Shepard responded, a small smile across his face from Joker's quip "If the galaxy has taught me anything it's that everyone wants me to do something for them. Just gotta find out what the UNSC wants. Luckily we have a way of figuring that out. EDI, keep tabs on their unencrypted communications."

"As you wish, Commander," EDI replied. "I have been doing so for the past few days with the Nebraska. I am keeping as low a profile as I can. So far they have not detected me, hopefully that will continue."

Shepard hoped too, he didn't want to explain why he was having his AI scan their unencrypted channels. At least not until he was ready to offer assistance to them as an apology for spying on them a bit, and for that he would need information. Information the UNSC was probably not interested in telling him directly.

* * *

><p>Gravelston entered the command and control centre of Reach Station Gamma. Nebraska was heading down to the shipyards planetside for refitting. He had other matters to attend to, specifically he needed to be briefed on exactly what plan ONI had come up with to end this war and exactly what his role in it was. This was a big operation from what he understood and it required a good deal of manpower to pull off. At least that was what he was told.<p>

"Gravelston!" shouted a voice nearby with sickeningly fake joyful tune.

The Admiral turned, as if he needed another spook. It was Colonel Ackerson, both a member of the UNSC army and ONI, not to mention a person he really didn't like. He was hoping he wouldn't have to deal with another damn ONI agent so soon after Lyndon got off his ship. He had been kidding himself, these people made the mission up, he'd have to listen to them explain it.

"You're a bit late you know that?" Ackerson told him as he walked up "I thought you would want to get this mission underway already."

"You know why I was delayed." said Gravelston annoyed "Unless of course ONI isn't as well informed as I thought."

"I'm aware of your guests." Ackerson replied smugly "They're at docking bay seven. Lyndon has already passed along a copy of the case file to me. But that's not why we're here, we can discuss them in greater detail later."

The Admiral was escorted by Ackerson to a nearby briefing room where other members of the UNSC military were already assembled. They all sat around a large table with a glowing circular holographic projector in the middle. On one of the screens set up at the end of the briefing room was another man Gravelston recognized, Colonel Urban Holland. It seemed almost everyone was here.

The doors suddenly opened wide once more however, revealing another officer partaking in the meeting.

"Sorry I'm late." He said "Problems down below I'm sure Holland has filled you in on that."

This was Lieutenant Colonel Dempsky, a member of the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers, or ODST. Why he was here, Gravelston wasn't sure. Before long everyone was seated and Ackerson opened up the meeting.

"I had hoped to wait till Captian Jacob Keyes arrived but we are short on time and we all have much to do. That and he has already been sufficiently briefed." He began "It's disappointing that Colonel Holland couldn't be bothered to come up here in person..."

"In case you didn't realise just yet we're having issues with off world communications that I've been assigned to deal with." Holland retort rather surly "I'm trying to gather up the necessary forces to investigate. I could be up there immediately if ONI would just let me use Noble-"

Ackerson cut him off before he continued.

"Using Spartans for such a minor inconvenience of off planetary communications is a gross misallocation of resources." Ackerson replied, far too disinterested in the argument to get into detail "ONI has told you this Holland, Army Personell are more than capable of handling the situation, let us continue."

Ackerson pressed a button on the control panel and immediately a representation of a covenant ship appeared. Under the hologram floated several lines of texts and data points referring to the vessel.

"Information suggests we may have a break in this war." Ackerson continued, the brass in the room remaining quiet "This ship reportedly is carrying several covenant leaders, enemy VIPs crucial to their hierarchy. The alien species we designate as Prophets."

The ship's picture was replaced with a holographic representation of one of these Prophets. Its elongated neck and frail frame masked only slightly by its ornate head dress and hover-chair. Looking at the creature it was hard to imagine this species was leading a coordinated effort among disparate alien cultures to eradicate humanity.

"Gentlemen if we can board this vessel and capture these key targets we may in fact turn the tide of this war." Ackerson explained "The plan is a simple one as represented here."

The holographic shifted again, and outlined the exact phases of the attack as Ackerson explained them.

"One ship will engage the vessel." He said as a simulated ship began firing on the covenant ship in the hologram "After which an elite group of Spartans, the version II ones of course, will board it, recover information on the Covenant, capture the ship, and take the leaders as hostages. We will force the Covenant to the negotiation table and at the very least temporary halt their genocidal war. At least until we can properly rebuild our forces to engage them. If not, then we more than likely uncover information pertaining to their homeworld. We can attack and force the Covenant to retreat back home, relieving pressure on us."

One the admirals sitting at the table spoke up as soon as the plans details were given.

"What ship exactly are we sending on this errand?" he asked

"A ship has been selected, the Pillar of Autumn." Ackerson answered simply "It will be commanded by Captain Jacob Keyes. We're still compiling final data points, but that is why he is being recalled to Reach. So he can oversee final preparations."

"Who are the Spartans we will be sending on this mission?" asked another officer

"That is need-to-know information," Ackerson responded "you do not need to know it."

Typical, thought Gravelston, everything was practically "need to know" with ONI. Still he had to admit the plan was pretty good, ambitious but good. And if anyone could pull it off it was the Spartans. They had been trained for these sorts of missions after all.

"What we need from all of you is some of your resources." Ackerson explained "your battle groups we be assigned to draw off the escort for the vessel as well as keep potential nearby Covenant battle groups at bay. Gravelston the Nebraska we be one of the key pieces of this plan, the information is laid out in your dossier in front of you. Suffice to say your fleet is getting a much needed boost in manpower."

Gravelston opened the dossier and began reading it. According to this, his battle group was going to be in charge of several others. They'd be merged into one large fleet with his carrier at the head of it. They'd be assigned to engaging a nearby planet that reportedly had a Covenant docking facility. An important strategic target, members of the covenant escort would more than likely draw off to defend it. That was the hope anyway.

Definitely an important task, perhaps even suicidal, but if it helped the Autumn get close to the Covenant ship...

"Next we're considering transferring a battalion of ODSTs to the Autumn as added support." Ackerson continued, his head turning to the only ODST officer in the room "That is why Dempsky is here. We're hoping you have some men you can spare."

"Major Antonio Silva is available," Dempsky shrugged "I suppose he wouldn't mind be assigned under Captain Keyes after that stunt he pulled at Sigma Octanus IV. Talk about a close shave eh?"

That elicited a chuckle from everyone in the room. They all heard by now about the Keyes' Loop as it were called. Grazing the shields of a Covenant ship, incredibly risky, but it worked. Keyes was known for pulling such stunts, it came as no surprise he was assigned to this mission.

That was when someone brought something up, the topic both Gravelston had been hoping he'd get some time away from and that Ackerson had been hoping to hold off until later.

"This is all well and good gentlemen but I'm interested in these new people aboard the station." An UNSC general interjected "The ones my Marine liaison were asked to help guard for the day. What is this Normandy?"

Ackerson grumbled and cleared his throat as the rest of room mumbled among themselves.

"They are of no importance to this meeting." Ackerson responded. "The Normandy, as it is called is an anomaly, as far we're concerned, a curiosity that will be looked at it in time. For the moment it-"

"Maybe we'd like to know more about it now." Asked another Admiral "I'm not exactly comfortable with the knowledge there's a ship under quarantine on this station, near this planet, that harbours a crew of both aliens and humans. That's at least what the rumours are claiming and what I've heard."

Ackerson, annoyed at this turned to Gravelston, his look saying it all He was asking the Admiral to help him shut them up. Gravelston sighed; he might as well if only to find a way to drop this subject.

"It is true, there are aliens aboard, but they are not Covenant." Gravelston assured "In fact they claim to have actually engaged and fought the Covenant. We cannot confirm that exactly but they did have an enormous supply of Covenant weapons and their previous owners stacked up in corners on board the ship from what we understand."

"So are they allies or not?" Dempsky asked

Gravelston thought the question over in his head a bit before answering. It was difficult to convey his precise feelings.

"They are cooperative," he explained "or at least their Commander is. And yes, he is human. He calls himself Wade Shepard, and claims to have been a Marine."

Everyone turned to Ackerson, wondering in their heads if that was confirmed. Their faces gave away the question before any of them asked.

"There are no records of a Commander Shepard matching his description." Ackerson replied. "But admittedly, he has shown he recognizes Marine protocol. So, perhaps there is truth to his story."

Finally Holland spoke up again, intrigued by this new line of conversation.

"How exactly did they engage the Covenant?" he asked Gravelston.

"Supposedly they were attacked by a battlecruiser and were boarded by the Covenant." Gravelston replied, a bit bored as he reiterated the tale "They boarded the enemy ship in kind and destroyed it from within."

Everyone at the table looked at each other with a mixed reaction that suggested they were both impressed yet sceptical as well.

"I don't suppose they are available for this little suicidal mission we have planned?" Dempsky asked jokingly.

Gravelston didn't realise the Lieutenant Colonel was only jesting.

"I said they've been compliant, not that they can be trusted." He replied as he stood up from his chair. "This mission is too important to trust in the hands of un-"

"Calm yourself Admiral," Ackerson told him. "we are not going to trust a ragtag bunch of aliens mixed with humans to end this war. We'll decide what to do with them after repairs to their ship have been made."

"You mean you're going to repair it, kick them out and take it apart aren't you?" Holland asked in kind, a bit of venom in his throat. Like Gravelston he understood ONI spook double speak.

"We'll see if it comes to that." Ackerson answered aloofly "Now that that matter is properly answered let us return to the briefing..."

Everyone got back to talking about the upcoming mission. Gravelston was grateful. Now he could relax for a few more hours without talking about hat damn ship. He was just happy nobody asked where the Normandy had come from. He was not in the mood to talk about wormholes and other dimensions. He was going to have to deal with it eventually though. It was becoming evident that Shepard and his crew of space oddities were fast turning into elephants in the room. The rumours about the ship were spreading and soon enough they'd have to give everyone that was asking about the Normandy answers.

He hoped they'd have something soon, as much as he distrusted Shepard he didn't want to see the Commander executed for treason or something. However, Gravelston had a feeling that Commander's fate wasn't in his hands anymore. It all relied on Shepard earning his trust and the trust of the UNSC.

* * *

><p>Looking out the port side observation deck window was so far the only way anyone on the Normandy could catch a glimpse of their surroundings. The station's docking hanger was huge, with tons of soldiers and personnel parading around. What caught both Garuss and Jacob's eyes though, were the guns they were carrying.<p>

"They don't look like your standard issue assault rifle." Jacob noted "Hell I think I can see a magazine from this angle."

They were staring at one of the Marines standing watch on the docking platform, he had this helmet that seemed to have a holographic eye display similar to Garrus, but they were all more interested in the gun. Mainly because they realized it was not your typical gun that they regularly encountered. Their guns used Thermal clips, not actual ammunition. Their weapons overheated from expending energy, they didn't run out of bullets. But that magazine was more than enough indication that these guns, the UNSC's guns were projectile based.

"Turian military phased out bullet based weaponry centuries ago." Garrus noted as he looked on "Surprised they're still using it."

"Our guns use mass accelerator tech, remember?" Jacob reminded Turian "It shaves a bit of metal the size of a grain of sand and ejects it at high velocity. But we only eliminated the need for actual lead bullets-"

"Because of mass effect technology that we have and they don't have." Garrus finished for him. "Gotta admit I never thought of it before."

"Thought of what?" Jacob asked.

"How we would've had to adapt if we never found those Mass Effect relays," Garrus answered, somewhat distant sounding his voice "how we all probably wouldn't have met at the time we actually did because we didn't have Mass Effect technology to propel us forward into the stars. These people had to solve that problem on their own, they didn't get it handed to them like we did."

Jacob nodded lightly, Turian did have a point there. They were pretty lucky in that regard. Of course there was a small elephant in the room.

"The relays were also made by the Reapers as part of a trap." He reminded the Turian. "So these people didn't have to worry about getting wiped out by a race of evil machines that kept their development on a set path."

"Yeah they just have to worry about a race of alien zealots." Garrus added with a sarcastic response. "Still, I see your point, neither of us have it easy. It's just I'm kinda reminded of what Legion once said."

Jacob's attention was caught, he didn't know Garrus had been talking to the Geth. Then again the machine was a curiosity aboard, and a chance to learn. Jacob hadn't spoken much to it outside of work when Shepard brought him along on jobs. Perhaps his past experiences with the Geth during the attack on Eden Prime had coloured his perception a bit, he thought. Still, he was glad Shepard hadn't spaced it, or them more accurately, when he originally suggested it.

"He said the Geth, its Geth, wanted to build their own future, for themselves, without outside influence." Garrus explained. "That was why they rejected Sovereign's request to join him, unlike the heretic Geth of course. Thing is I never really thought much about it other than how it related to the Geth, until now of course."

Legion did seem to have a way of making sense quite a lot, for a machine that didn't understand jack about organic emotions that was. The heavy questions were a bit troubling though, specifically because of how they connected back to the Reapers. So Jacob tried to lighten the mood.

"Well let's just be glad we have a lot of spare thermal clips on board." Jacob told Garrus "We may be here awhile and I'm not sure about dropping my gun for these weapons during battle."

Interrupting Jacob's thought was a craggy laugh next to them. Zaeed was leaning up against the wall, a cup of some kind of alcoholic beverage in his hand.

"Just because it ain't as complicated and advanced as our guns doesn't mean you should count it out mate." He told them both "Trust me, there's a lot that can be said of simplicity in terms of weapon design."

"What do you mean?" Jacob asked

"Years back when I was doing a job on earth, working in one of the DMZs in the Middle East, I learned the hard way that it don't take a top of the line rifle to tear a man apart." Zaeed explained, taking a big sip from his glass "We were rooting out some insurgents, couple of dumb bastards who still don't accept we're all supposed to be one big happy human family now. We stopped our patrol for a lunch break, we hadn't seen any action yet so we didn't have our shields turned on. Figured what was the point, nothing had happened so far in the past seven days. Then one of my buddies gets his head torn open from the side and all hell breaks loose. I actually take a bullet, a real bullet, to my leg. Even after I turned my shield on it penetrated somehow, must've hit a weakspot or my shields took too much damage. Whatever point is I took a bad hit."

"I don't see the point, you got ambushed it happens." Jacob said shrugging it off

"The ambusher was using a gun from the bloody 20th century." Zaeed replied, pointing his finger at Jacob aggressively "Damn AK-47, you believe that? Still working centuries later, dumb bastard probably just dug it up out of his great great grand daddy's grave. You bury one of today's rifles in a bunch of sand for a few days it's gonna be malfunctioning and everything. We did kill the asshole though, but he got one of us in the process and could've killed me and maybe more of us, if he hadn't got cocky and thought he could dash to closer cover. Hell if there was more than one of him they could've done more damage. From then on, we kept our shields up at all times."

Jacob relented that it was quite a story, but so far his guns hadn't failed him yet. He'd stick with what he knew best, leave the projectile weapons to these UNSC Marines. He just wasn't comfortable trusting his life to a weapon based on antiquated technology.

Garrus had a different opinion.

"Personally I would like to check out their sniper rifles." He said "I'm a bit interested in seeing and learning how they operate. Curiosity I guess."

"Say you know what I'd like?"

All eyes turned to the person who actually lived in the port observation room, Kasumi, who was sitting on her sofa with a book in hand.

"Peace and quiet, can't you boys go talk about guns in your armoury upstairs?" she asked rather annoyed

"Well the best view of the docking bay was from here so-"

Jacob stood there for awhile before he just sighed.

"Sorry, Kasumi." He apologized

"It's alright," the thief replied, seemingly more calm "I think we're all getting a bit stir crazy cooped up in here with no control over where we can go for the past few days since we got picked up."

"Don't worry," Garrus told her with a grin "Shepard's gonna think of something. He always does."

Kasumi returned to her book, eyes slightly sullen over the whole thing.

"Guess we don't have much of a choice but to trust that he can." She responded.

* * *

><p>EDI had pulled through. It took at least a day before she got anything significant, but she had caught something off some of the unencrypted channels. Many of the Marines aboard the station said they were having difficulty contacting other ports of call outside planet Reach. From what she could gather, there were rumours an important communication relay was down planet side. Details were sketchy as to why and if the problem was being fixed, but Shepard saw this as an opportunity. An easy mission, possibly non-combative, that he could assist in. After all, he had some of the best engineers and technology experts aboard. Specifically two, who he felt would be perfect for this task, Tali and Legion.<p>

They weren't allowed to take weapons aboard the station, but they could make a request to see the people in charge. So long as they were escorted of course. If there was one thing Shepard hated it was going somewhere without his gun. An old habit he got from dad, but for once he couldn't argue. Not if he wanted to be friends with these people.

The team stood in the decontamination cycle of the airlock, waiting for the door to the station to open wide. Their escort was already outside waiting for them.

"You sure you don't think Kasumi would be a better choice to come with you?" Tali asked nervously. "Legion is fine, he's not an alien in the same sense I am. But they don't like my kind as much."

"Tali, they need to see you guys aren't a threat and I need to show them who I want down on the ground in person." Shepard straightforwardly told her "Kasumi's good at breaking into things, but I need someone who's good at fixing them. That's you and Legion. Besides, I know you want to find out what's inside this station as much as anyone else."

Before Tali could speak the doors of the Normandy's airlock opened wide. Four Marines stood in front of them and parted slightly. They allowed the group inside their formation, all three of them taking careful steps outside the Normandy and into the small squad of people. Before long they were walking down the ramp into the hanger bay the Normandy was docked at.

Beyond more of the longsword fighters that escorted them in storage here, along with other equipment there wasn't much to look at that they hadn't had the opportunity to stare out at from inside the Normandy. They didn't even have much time to look at they were escorted straight to the other end of the hanger towards what appeared to be some kind of tram system.

"Commander Shepard, would you and Crewmates please step inside." Came a voice from overhead as the doors to the tram opened wide "This tram will take you directly to our Communications Centre where Colonel Ackerson and Admiral Gravelston are waiting for you in person."

"Um , thanks." Shepard cautiously replied "Whole place is new to us, nice to have a guide Mister..."

"Doppler," the male voice answered "I am this station's Artificial Intelligence, more accurately though I am considered its Dockmaster."

While they were led in rather quickly, Shepard couldn't help but turn back to Tali. He immediately noticed her steely gaze transfixed on the speaker system as they entered. The Marines kept close, so close they didn't even let Shepard or the others take a seat in the tram.

"I apologise for not being able to manifest in person," Doppler said. "but there is no properly functioning display unit in the tram and I must continue to take care of several other important tasks aboard the station."

The tram moved forward at a brisk speed, but Tali's interest in seeing more of the station had been replaced with her apparent old distastes. Her eyes never left the speakers.

"I don't see why this station would need an AI Dockmaster." She said, not really hiding her dislike of the idea.

"This station houses many hanger bays. It is difficult for any human to properly manage the functions of every single one." Doppler explained "It is more efficient this way, and frees up personnel for more important tasks around the station."

"You sure you don't think its menial?" Tali asked, sounding a bit hostile in her questioning.

Shepard caught her attention with a cough, and shook his head to say 'not now.' But the damage had already been done.

"I don't see why not, this is what I was programmed to do, to serve the UNSC." Doppler replied, it then directed itself towards the Commander. "I detect a sense of hostility in your companion, Commander Shepard, directed towards me specifically it seems. Have I offended her in some manner?"

"No, no," Shepard told the AI, opting not to mention Tali's dislike of synthetic life forms. That was something he did not want to have revealed just yet. "It's just we encountered an AI that attacked us before and-"

"Ah yes," Doppler answered "I read the report filed by Admiral Gravelston when your ship was docked. You encountered a Covenant AI. Reports have been filed on similar events. I cannot tell you much, the information is classified. Rest assured however that those AIs have been corrupted and are less stable versions of UNSC AIs the Covenant have repurposed."

Shepard was reminded of his earlier conversation with EDI about the AI, but while she made guesses as to why it was acting that way, this AI seemed to be confirming them. And adding new pieces to the puzzle.

"Repurposed?" Tali asked surprised. "They do not make their own?"

"Rumour suggests that Covenant religious dogma prevents them from fully using AI to its potential." Doppler replied "Their technology in this area is severely lacking because of it. So they repurpose AI and usually alter them to suit their theocratic society. Because of this many are fractured making them increasingly hostile and unstable. Still I am confused, the report stated that the AI you encountered was destroyed by your ship's own artificial intelligence."

"Well yeah but-" Shepard began, trying to come up with an excuse

"And, if I'm not mistaken," Doppler noted "your other companion is in fact a synthetic life form himself."

Legion's head turned up to the speaker at long last, it's one big blue eye opened and closed for a brief second before fully focusing on the speaker system. The plates on it's head lifted up slight and dropped back down.

"Correct." Legion replied simply

Shepard quickly took back hold of the conversation. Before Legion made the mistake of explaining for him why Tali was in a mood, Legion didn't understand the concept of lying. Geth didn't do that, especially not among their own people.

"Tali is just a bit flabbergasted at all this." Shepard assured "Not many AI where we come from."

Doppler seemed to accept this, as he didn't press the issue. That and apparently the tram had arrived.

"Please follow the hallway with your escort." Doppler told them "The Command Centre is at the end. I must return to my other tasks. Good day."

As they were being led out, Shepard took the chance to whisper over to Tali.

"He seemed nice." He told her, "There was no need to be snippy with it Tali."

"Force of habit, I'm sorry." She said apologetically. "It's just... an AI dockmaster. It's unheard of, unthinkable among my people."

"I know your feelings about AI, Tali," Shepard said understandingly, "but these people use them every day it seems. We just have to accept that and not make a big deal about it."

"But don't they see the danger?" Tali asked "AI isn't something you can just placate with a cushy job. They'll get bored, lash out, re-"

"Creator Tali'Zorah appears disturbed." Legion cut in. "She clearly recognizes situation similar to Pre-Morning War in relation to her people."

Tali sighed and drooped her head.

"Thank you Legion," she groaned a bit "you're as tact as always."

"You are welcome." Legion replied, not understanding fully that Tali was being sarcastic a bit. Or perhaps it did and it was having fun with her. "However, we had thought this was no longer an issue straining unit cohesion."

Tali looked back over her shoulder at the synthetic.

"Look, I've come to trust you and EDI," she said as she struggled to explain this properly, "but it's complicated. We don't know anything about these AIs. How they're made, what their limits are, if they have any limits, how they work. Maybe nothing has gone wrong yet, but these people could be sitting on a powder keg. I don't mean to make assumptions but-"

Shepard put a hand on her shoulder.

"Tali relax," he told her calmly "these people have been working with AI for who knows how long. It's the 26th century here, remember? They've had years to work with these things."

Tali just nodded and breathed in deep.

"Sorry Shepard," she said, "I didn't mean to get hysterical."

"Forget about it," he responded, "we got bigger things to deal with right now."

They team was led into the command center, its window staring down at the planet below. In a small corner of the room, past a large tactical map, and several blinking panels with technicians working diligently at each, was the familiar face of Admiral Gravelston. Alongside him was another person, Shepard could only assume this was Ackerson. On a nearby screen was another man in military uniform, who Shepard couldn't exactly place. Doppler made no mention of him, perhaps he wasn't aware.

"Excuse me for a moment Holland," Ackerson said as he turned around "I believe our other appointment has arrived."

Shepard stopped in front of Ackerson and saluted, he figured he might as well make a good first impression.

"Colonel Ackerson I presume, I'm glad that you've agreed to meet with me." He began "These are my crewmates, my Chief Engineering officer, Tali'Zorah Vas Normandy."

Tali nodded in Ackerson's direction.

"And this is Legion, our synthetic crewmate and representative of his own people, the Geth."

Shepard only now just realised he should probably get a better title for Legion. For its part Legion just clicked its head plates up in a pleasing manner.

"Greetings." It said

Ackerson did not seem to be too pleased to see them, however. Especially Tali from the way he was giving her a once over with his eyes.

"Why is your Engineering Officer named after your ship?" he asked

"It's a custom among my people." Tali explained, cheerfully at first. "The ship is our home and we-"

"Save it, that will suffice." Ackerson told her abruptly. Two seconds in and he wasn't endearing himself to Tali at all. Ackerson was all business and he wasn't hiding his distaste for aliens. "What is the purpose of this meeting, Commander? we are in the middle of a very important discussion between myself and Colonel Holland down on the surface."

"That's precisely why we're here." Shepard replied, a bit peeved over how he was so far treating them, but it kept it hidden "We've heard about your problem from scuttlebutt and we wish to offer our services."

Ackerson was taken aback by this offer. He looked over at Gravelston, steely eyed. The Admiral just shrugged lightly, hoping that was enough to exonerate him of leaking any information. Ackerson turned back to Shepard, still seemingly unhappy with the Commander. Perhaps even more so.

"What do you know?" he demanded.

Wade realised he'd need tread carefully in the next few sentences.

"All we know is that there is some difficulty with their communication systems down on the planet." Shepard explained "That's really it, and we figured we could help out."

Ackerson turned abruptly away and headed towards a nearby window, obviously steaming.

"I'm not gonna ask further about how you know about that, Commander," he said in gravely threatening tone, "just understand that we have the situation in hand."

"That is certainly not why I'm calling you." Colonel Holland retorted "We could be dealing with a serious problem and you're stalling me from using the best option we have to solve it."

Ackerson turned back to Holland, his anger becoming even more visible.

"This does not concern you Holland." He grumbled

"On contrary, this is my mission." Holland replied, "If Commander Shepard here wants to help I think we should hear him out."

Ackerson sighed and turned back to Shepard, only calming his growing fury slightly.

"What exactly is it that you want Shepard?" he asked

"I want to earn your trust." The Commander explained "My crew doesn't like being treated like enemies of the state, and they definitely don't like being confined to the ship."

"They'll stay there until I hear back from ONI command on Earth on exactly what course of action to take." Ackerson explained, on the edge of growling "Your case file falls under my jurisdiction now. My head is as much on the line here as yours commander and I'm not going to trust you out of a blind leap of faith risking that."

Legion was quick to speak up, noticing a flaw in that argument almost immediately. Shepard did as well, but Legion had a way with logical fallacies and the like.

"The communication relay is for all intents and purposes down, you cannot contact Earth and they cannot contact you." Legion explained in its usual monotone, "If you are waiting for a response from them, it will be delayed by this malfunction. Allowing us to help would speed this process up considerably."

"That and how exactly are we gonna earn the trust of your people if you don't give us a chance?" Tali asked, enjoying the chance to bite back at Ackerson a bit.

Ackerson grumbled in his throat and walked closer to the commander.

"Alright, honest truth then." Ackerson began "You're an unknown element, all of you. You killed a Covenant ship, maybe, we're not sure. The only evidence is a bunch of dead aliens on your ship. I'll grant you none of the ones that are still alive aboard your vessel match the covenant we have encountered. But it's a big galaxy, don't blame me for being sceptical of their origins. Or yours."

"You can brow beat me all you want, Colonel," Shepard told him "but I'm not changing my story. It's the truth, you don't want to accept it that's your problem. But I'm offering you a helping hand and I have a good team I can lend to your cause. My crew may be aliens, but they ain't the religious zealots you've been fighting for twenty seven years. They're good people, and if you gave them the chance they'd prove it to you."

Ackerson stood there silent for a long time, before he looked back at Gravelston. He wanted a reply, potentially some back-up. Gravelston was a bit torn, he wasn't sure what to make of Shepard. But Ackerson didn't seem to like him, that had to say something about his character.

"Maybe we should at least tell them what the problem is." Gravelston finally relented "I mean they already know about the basics, no sense in hiding it."

Ackerson sighed defeated, but only partially. He returned to where he originally stood.

"Our relay in Visegrad, down on Reach has been... disrupted." He began "We have reason to believe, it could be an insurrectionist cell."

"Insurrectionist?" Shepard asked confused, wondering if that was another Covenant faction or specil ops team.

"Anti-UNSC human rebels, hold outs from the civil war era." Holland fielded "They'd rather let Earth burn in their minds, they don't really understand what we're up against and they probably don't care."

This was a bit confusing now. Humans attacking humans? Now that bit about them not trusting Shepard made some sense, they probably were wondering if he was one of these insurrectionists teaming up with the Covenant or something.

"You can't be serious." Tali spoke up, sounding rather taken aback by the information. "You're fighting an alien menace that wants to wipe you out, and these people don't care if you and their home planet is destroyed?"

"A lot of colonists don't think they have a connection to Earth anymore, they feel more attached to where they were actually born." Gravelston explained "Not even an alien threat could shake that feeling it seems."

Tali was infuriated at the idea. Quarians were a social people, they struggled together against their collective hardships. They didn't split up because of petty ship to ship rivalries. It would take something much bigger than that. The fact these humans didn't care about their species home planet clashed even worse with her, considering what her people had lost.

"Well now I want to help even more." She declared. "Especially if these insurrectionists are involved."

"We concur." Legion added suddenly "They pose a threat to unit cohesion and must be dealt with."

Tali was a bit surprised, even now, to see how often Legion was agreeing with her. It made her feel bad for going on about AI again. She didn't say anything outward, but she did inwardly acknowledge that she was finding more similarities between their people by the day. Perhaps creator and created couldn't be compeltely seperated. At the moment though, Legion and Tali's resolved statements gave Shepard a bit of leverage.

"See they're more than willing to help." He quickly spoke up.

"What about their qualifications?" Ackerson asked. "They need to offer something more than just extra firepower."

Tali smirked under her mask, he wanted qualifications huh? She'd give him a whole list.

"I have studied machinery all my life." She began eagerly. "If its electronic, runs on a power supply, involves ships, computers, communications, I can take it apart, put it back together and have it working more efficiently than it was before it broke down."

Legion was quick to add his own qualifications.

"This platform has over several hundred terrabytes devoted to communications and repair functions." Legion stated. "We are more than qualified to aid in this manner."

Ackerson crossed his arms, clearly annoyed at how fast he was losing ground here.

"Well in the end it's not up to me, it's up to-"

"I'll accept their invitation to assist." Holland immediately spoke up.

Ackerson whirled around, obviously not happy.

"Excuse me?"

"You're denying my request to use Noble Team. I have not heard from the men I sent to investigate it since they left for the relay and I'm wasting time getting stonewalled by you." Holland explained. "If Shepard is volunteering I say let him."

"You can't just let unauthorized personnel into a UNSC facility!" Ackerson screamed back, completely livid at Holland's tactic "It goes against all regulations!"

"Perhaps a compromise then?" Holland asked "Let me turn Noble loose so they can keep an eye on them. You get them out of your hair, I stop pestering you and I get my team to fix my relay so I can find out what happened there. Everyone wins."

Ackerson exhaled a huge groan and rubbed his forehead.

"Fine, I was going to give you Noble anyway if only so I could get back to work." Ackerson grumbled "You want Shepard's Xeno crew too, fine. But it's on your head, anyone asks the buck stops with you."

"I'll accept full responsibility for their actions." Holland complied "They fix this relay it will be worth it."

Shepard grinned a bit, trying his best to hide the whole thing. They were in. All they seemingly needed to do now was get properly prepped and briefed for the mission.

"We'll get ready then." Shepard told Ackerson and Holland "Thanks for the opportunity."

"One moment. Commander," Ackerson stopped him "you may be going on this mission, but the Spartans will be in charge. You will be there to assist, nothing more."

Shepard just shrugged.

"I have no problems with that." Shepard assured, he then continued to walk away with his team.

"Then I would prefer you choose someone besides yourself to lead your team, someone who will be subordinate to the Spartans."

Ackerson's request, while troublesome, made Shepard pause for a moment and think. He sounded more like a certain ambassador just now than an military man.

"What your real game Ackerson?" he asked steadfastly as he turned around "I'd be more than willing to turn over my command to-"

"I believe a man's crew speaks volumes of their own character." Ackerson explained "If your alien compatriots, who are under your command I may add, can perform this task and prove themselves allies I will be more inclined to simply allow your team to participate in any Anti-Covenant actions in the coming weeks. Without hearing back from ONI HQ on Earth. We'd be able to let you out of lockdown quicker, the repairs will go faster and the question of loyalty surrounding you and your xeno subordinates will be put to rest."

Shepard had been around the Galaxy enough by now to smell a catch in the fine print.

"And if something goes wrong?" he asked

"Then you will be held directly responsible for their actions." Ackerson replied, rather emotionlessly.

Legion was quicker to put it together and say what everyone was now thinking.

"If we do something that does not satisfy your requirements, you desire Shepard Commander to be within your reach and power to carry out sufficient punishment." It deduced "You are holding him as a hostage. We find this course of action troubling."

Ackerson just sneered at the machine.

"I could care less what your automaton thinks. Shepard," Ackerson said grimacing "I'm not prepared to risk letting you slip away somehow down there. If your friends run off they'll be sentencing their supposed commander to the brig, probably worse."

Tali looked at Shepard shaking her head.

"I don't like it, Shepard." she told him in a hushed worried tone. "We're putting ourselves on the line and he's asking to hold you as collateral. I don't trust him."

"That is a problem we all seem to have." He whispered back. "But if I stay behind he'll be more willing to trust us."

"Or he could just find a reason to have you killed regardless." Tali told him, her voice becoming more pleading. "I'm not saying don't take the deal, but think about it first."

Shepard nodded, Tali had a point. He needed to have assurances. Too many ways he could backslide on his promises.

"I want my squad's performance to be graded by this Noble Team, these Spartans you're so high on." Shepard demanded. "Not you. They complete this mission, they get your relay up, they do what the Noble Team leader tells them and you stick to your promise. And I want it writing."

The blank look on Ackerson's face met with Shepard iron gaze, for a moment there was just silence. Then Ackerson smiled.

"Well played, Shepard," Ackerson finally said. "you'll get your binding contract. Until then your little squad is listed as civilian contractors and will follow the orders of Noble Team's commander. They get the relay back online, don't pull anything in the process and Noble Team says they're square... you're a free man and your ship gets out of lockdown. Along with everything else I promised."

"Good." Shepard said "I'll expect that contract soon then. I'll be here personally to sign it. With my substitute team leader of course."

With that Shepard saluted one last time and walked back to the tram with Legion and Tali.

"That could've gone better." She said sardonically.

"We'll make do with what we have Tali," Shepard assured "we need to earn their trust if we're ever gonna find out what the Covenant was doing in our dimension."

"I guess you'll need to pick someone to replace you on this mission." Tali added "Anyone in mind?"

"Just one."

Shepard put his finger up to his ear, activating his communicator.

"EDI, inform Garrus I need to see him on the command deck." He said "We need to have a talk."

* * *

><p>AN: Well this chapter was meant to be, mmm, longer, but I think it's gotten a bit bloated at the moment. I honestly thought this wasn't gonna be that long but I really felt like I had to properly establish the feelings of both UNSC and the Normandy crew proper. After all, brand new universe and they need to get acquainted with it.<p>

Doppler and Ackerson, I figured I need to put them in here because Ackerson to my knowledge is the closest actual high ranking official that Shepard would have to encounter. Ackerson being ONI and his case being so strange, he definitely would want to keep tabs on Shepard. Doppler, I need an AI from the UNSC for the crew to meet early on and I couldn't use either Auntie Dot or Cortana for various reasons. Luckily there was an AI dockmaster aboard Gamma station. As anyone who read the novel should know though he's not gonna last long and I don't think we'll be seeing or hearing much of him after this. Dot will take over the role of the main AI of this story of course.

If that briefing about the mission Master Chief is supposed to be on has got you wondering "When is John showing up?" Well again, we won't be seeing him for awhile. He's still approaching Reach with Keyes at this moment. I'm going by Dr. Halsey's journal on these details, along with the timeline given to me by Halo Nation. I think it fits relatively decently into what I have planned.

We'll be seeing Noble Team next and the next chapter will certainly be far more action packed than this one. So if you were a bit disappointed there was no killing or shooting, don't you worry once the Covenant show up there will be no shortage of it. We'll have frequent breaks between the action like this, but for the most part we will try to remember how this story ends.

As for why Garrus is leading things, it's part of his character arc for this story. That and I haven't given him as great amount of screen time as he deserves. Don't Miranda and Jacob lovers, I'm not forgetting them. They'll have their moments to shine too. I don't like leaving characters pissing in the wind. It's just a problem of having to juggle them all. I'm working with two rather large casts of characters here. A significant challenge because you tend to lose connections with certain ones or have them get lost in the shuffle as their arcs bounce around. With any luck I can keep them all straight. It helps I have an outline worked out for this. Who will be where, what will they be doing, how do they accomplish it, that sort of thing.

Well that's my author tip for today. Hope you didn't find this all boring or anything and if you did I'll make it up to you, promise. Leave a review if ya want, I appreciate the feedback and I enjoy reading every single one of your comments. Thank you again for reading.


	4. Discontent

Chapter 4: Discontent

Carter didn't like being woken up this early, but Auntie Dot said it was urgent. If it was from Colonel Holland it had to be. He just hoped it was more news on the new member they were getting tomorrow. He had been hoping the Colonel had found a file without black ink covering it before he welcomed this guy into the squad. He needed to know what kind of skill set this man had.

He trudged out of his bunk, and plopped down in front of the view screen. Flicking on the flashing light for the com-link he was greeted with Holland's face. A static unmoving profile picture of course because this outpost was using an older operating system. Military cut backs were becoming a bitch on basic equipment.

"Commander, good to see you awake." Holland greeted."Hope I didn't interrupt anything."

"Never sir," Carter replied simply, "what you got for me?"

"A mission," Holland informed him matter of factly, "ONI is letting me take off your leash. Took a bit of brow beating though, Ackerson was stubborn as always. Get your team up soon, full briefing at 0730 hours, give or take."

The news was great, that meant he wouldn't have to waste time on base evaluating the new guy. He could do it in the field. That always seemed to be the best way about going about these things anyway. Besides, he'd been itching for a real mission ever since they got to this planet.

"Good to hear sir," he replied, "the others will be happy to hear it. Especially Emile, he's been antsy for weeks. Anything else?"

"Actually yes," Holland began, taking a breath "I got this sooner than I did cause I pressured Ackerson. Have you heard the rumours about the ship the Nebraska picked up?"

Carter tried to think back, he could've sworn he had heard about it. That's when he remembered, how the Nebraska came back with something extra and it was under lockdown because of a potential threat. But it was all hush-hush and ONI wasn't letting anything important leak.

"Just that it's in lockdown. I don't have a name or anything on it." Carter explained. "What about it?"

"Well I guess full disclosure is in order then." Holland began. "The ship is called the Normandy, it's captained by a man named Commander Shepard who is human, but his crew isn't. They're aliens, but not covenant from what we understand."

That immediately snapped Carter to attention. A mission? That was great news. Aliens being led by a human? That was unheard of. Not Covenant aliens? That needed a better explanation.

"Aliens who ain't Covenant?" Carter asked slightly perplexed. "Why? They don't buy into the religious fanatical bullshit?"

"They claim they aren't from around here." Holland explained a bit wearily. "As from, not from around this dimension."

Carter just looked at the communication screen blank faced for a bit. Trying to be sure he had heard his Commanding Officer aright. This could not be real, it just couldn't.

"Sir, is this a joke?" he finally asked, sounding annoyed

"No son, it's this Commander Shepard's story." Holland replied assuringly. "As you probably guessed ONI is sceptical to say the least."

"That sounds like an understatement sir." Carter replied, trying to keep himself from sounding too sarcastic.

"He wants to prove his crew is trustworthy." Holland continued. "He heard about the mission in question and that it requires some technological savvy. He's offered three of his people to assist in this task. Two of them are aliens, one is some kind of robot."

With an exacerbated and drawn out sigh Carter put his hands to his face. Of all the things he thought Holland was going to bring up, this wasn't one of them. He put his hands down and looked at the Colonel once more.

"Permission to speak freely on this, sir?" he asked grumbling.

"Granted."

Pretty soon, with the question of whether or not he could let out his concerns with no reprecussions, the frustration was flowing out of the Spartan Commander's mouth.

"This is not what I need, sir." he told Holland as professional aqs he could muster. "I already have one new guy coming into the squad in a few hours. The team isn't happy about that. Now you tell me you're sending me three people, a robot and two damn aliens who claim to be from outside our dimension and you expect me to just accept that?"

"They're offering assistance, son, and they have combat experience according to their cCommander." Holland replied, trying to calm the Spartan. "They fought several waves of Elites and survived to tell the tale. Their ship engaged a Covenant Battlecruiser, those things are huge and this ship... its small Carter. Dwarfed by our standards."

"And you believe them?" Carter asked once again, anger now present in his voice. "How do we know they aren't lying?"

"I've seen their Commander," Holland answered earnestly, "he looks respectable enough. He's stuck to his story from day one and his team appear to revear him."

Carter just rubbed his temples at that response. He was needless to say shocked at how hard Holland seemed to be pushing for this. The Colonel seemed to pick up on it.

"Look I'm not saying I believe his story," Holland said with a tired sigh, "but I believe him when he says his team wants to help."

"I'm not one to turn away help either, sir," Carter assured Holland obediently, "but you must realise that Noble Team has been killing aliens since day one of our service. Now you want us to work with them, that's gonna create some major whiplash among the group, more so than I wanted with the new guy coming in."

"They'll have to deal with it then." Holland informed him adamantly. "Shepard stuck his neck out on this one. Ackerson grounded him aboard his ship. Otherwise he'd be coming himself. If his team screws up he takes the blame and the consequences. I don't think a potential traitor would take that big a risk, do you?"

"No sir, but I gotta say you honestly seem so gun-ho on all this." Carter noted, his tone one of curiousity "Why? And don't feed me bullshit here."

Holland didn't take long to answer. He knew what to say and he was honest about it, as he always was. That much Carter could appreciate from his Commanding Officer. That and he didn't take crap from ONI, always a plus.

"Becauseif there's a chance their story and intentions are true we're looking at a much needed boost to our arsenal." Holland answered with a firm demeanor and straightforward face. "We're losing this war son, we need an edge. Maybe this Shepard and his flock of xenos are that edge. If that's the case I don't want to alienate them. I don't know what it is, but there's something about this Shepard. I've seen it in him, he's a leader. Like you. Other than that and pissing off Ackerson, hell I don't know. I'm trusting my instincts here Carter, that's all I can say."

Holland's instincts never were wrong before. So that was reason enough to accept this whole deal. Carter still had his doubts though.

"Sir, this is all just a bit much for me to take in." He explained, struggling to come up with the right words and not sound like he was refusing an order. "Dimensions, aliens that wanna help, it's hard to get a firm grasp around it. I don't like unknown elements, sir. These guys, they sound like major unknown elements."

"At least see them before you prejudge them." Holland tolf him sternly. "The Normandy's XO has already passed files on to me concerning them. I've sent them to your comp now. You should go over them and properly explain the situation to your squadmates. I also have your uncensored file for the new guy so to speak. Should be enlightening."

At least there was some comforting news.

"I'm not sure about how this is gonna fo over, sir." Carter reiterated once more. "First a replacement for Thom, now aliens, you're putting a lot on my plate here. I'm not so sure the squad will handle this with as much grace as I am."

That was when Holland struck a chord. The mention of Thom was what set him off.

"Don't start bringing up your doubts, Noble One," he told him with a stern look, "we've been over this a hundred damn times. Thom got himself killed, it wasn't your fault."

Thom, that name had been on Carter's mind for who knew how long now. Thom was their last number six, before he got aced. It was on mission, on a planet whose name Carter couldn't remember. Some shit-hole rock, not worth much now. They were supposed to take down a Covenant Battlcruiser, stop it from glassing them all. Kat was going to get the bomb to its grav-lift take it out, no squad casualties, no risk. They didn't count on the enemy air support. Kat got hit and Thom took the bomb himself into the Battlecruiser via jetpack, he didn't come out. Kat lost an arm to that fight, Thom lost more.

Everyone kept telling him and Kat that Thom was just stupid, that he got himself killed. They didn't get it. They didn't have that timer in the corner of their HUDs telling them how few seconds they had left. They weren't boots on the ground, knee deep in Covenant and Marine blood, too slow to get there in time. In Carter's mind, Thom was making the only call he could've made in that situation. Kat was down. Time was running out. He blew up that Battlecruiser and saved them all. The only problem was, it shouldn't have been Thom who had to make that call.

If he had just been faster. If had just stuck with Kat better. If he just put Thom in the rear. If he had just been there.

"Respectfully sir," Carter began solemnly, "I disagree with that."

He could hear Holland groaning at that even before he actually did.

"If this whole alien thing is about your doubts as a leader-"

"It isn't." Carter quickly answered in a very final tone.

"Good," Holland said in a stiff voice, "then we have nothing else to discuss. They'll be arriving at 0500. That's 3 hours from now. Wake up your team, get them prepped and briefed on the situation. I don't want you shooting these people on sight when they arrive."

"Does that go for everyone or just Emile?" Carter asked half-jokingly.

"Everyone." Holland calrified. "I ain't playing favourites. Keep their guns pointed at the real enemy Commander, Holland out."

The console flashed off as Holland's picture disappeared. In its place on the screen were four files. One for a Spartan, the rest for the Normandy crew. This would make for some excellent early morning reading. At the very least it would be different from his usual briefings. First things first though, he needed to wake the team. And then find a way to explain this to them all.

"Noble!" He called out. "Rise and shine! We got work!"

* * *

><p>If there was anyone not enthusiastic about Shepard's plan, it was Garrus. Usually he was fine with crazy as hell ideas coming out of Wade's head. This was not one of them. Sure, he should have been used to this by now, but damn it if Shepard didn't always find ways to raise the bar on crazy ass stunts.<p>

"You know I trust you, right?" He asked the Commander. "Like, no matter how many insane as all hell situations you stick me in, I actually DO think you're gonna get me out of it right? You know that."

"Yes Garrus and I appreciate it." Shepard told him with a smile.

"Well with that said just let me say that this is a stupid plan." Garrus told him wholeheartedly. "Probably your dumbest yet in fact. You're gonna stick me in charge of the squad while you sit up here with your neck on the chopping block. And if I screw up, you pay for it. Gotta say, that is a lot of pressure to just up and drop on me, Shepard."

"How is that different from any other day?" Shepard asked. "That's what every squad leader faces. Their teammates' lives are in their hands."

"Yeah, but at least I can somewhat control the situation on the ground." Garrus informed him. "You're stuck up here in space with an arbitrary judge."

"I have a contract." Shepard reminded him. "You read it, I read it, fine print and everything and we all signed it. We have our insurance."

"With a spook! A damn shady looking agent for some secret organization!" Garrus reminded him. "What's to keep him from breaking his word?"

The two exited out of the cramped elevator they had been arguing in, arriving on the command deck and quickly heading towards the armoury.

"I just don't get it, why me?" Garrus continued, his beffudlement apparent. "Miranda and Jacob are more capable of handling this. And they're human, that could ease the tension."

"I'd trust Miranda and Jacob to lead any mission under normal circumstances," Shepard assured Garrus as they entered the armoury. "but it's not them they have the issue with it's you and the other aliens. They need to realise they can trust you and the best way to accomplish that is by proving it to them in person."

Sheprd led Garrus over to the heavy weapons table. The commander began overseeing each of the large guns one by one.

"That and I need someone on the ground who is a bit more reactive than Miranda and Jacob." Shepard continued as he picked up the missile launcher. "A lot less stiff than Miranda and a bit less of a boy scout like Jacob. You fit the bill."

"Why? Because of what I did on Omega?" Garrus asked plainly, sounding somewhat downtrodden. "That-"

"Was impressive." Shepard finished for him as he put the missile launcher down. "You took what you learned from me to heart and you used it to do a lot of good. If the people that took out the Visegrad relay are insurrectionists, then they're using similar hit and run tactics that you used on the Omega gangs. You'll know what to do"

Shepard grabbed another heavy weapon off the table and lofted it up in his arms. It was the arc projector, their little thunderstorm sealed in a metal tube so to speak.

"Take it." Shepard said, passing it to Garrus. "You're gonna need it."

Garrus was a bit taken a back by the gesture.

"Why are you giving me the arc projector?" He asked a bit surprised. "You always hog the heavy guns."

"Only because they're cool." Shepard replied snarking. "Seriously, I never meant to hog them, it's just no one ever seemed to ask if they wanted it. You'll need it cause I won't be down there and someone needs to carry the big gun. I want you to show these Spartans we have more to offer the UNSC than just our support. They'll see our weapons tech, be impressed and they'll want us to share it with them. In return we could get some much needed upgrades to our weapons stock as well. That and you never know what will go down on the ground."

Garrus eyed the huge weapon before he picked it up into its portable form and slipped it onto his back.

"Well, I'm never one to refuse a badass gun." He admitted. "Speaking of these Spartans, we know much about them?"

"Besides they're named after a group of ancient earth warriors, no." Shepard responded glumly. "Ackerson is tight lipped about it. That's another thing I want you to do, figure out who these guys are. Don't ask questions that will just be suspicious to them. Observe them for now, ask casual questions, don't look like you're interrogating them."

Shepard motioned Garrus to continue following him, as they exited the armoury and headed along the hallway past the briefing room to Mordin's lab.

"I still think this leader thing is a mistake." Garrus reiterated to him. "Despite what you think Omega ended badly for me when it was all said and done."

Shepard stopped in the hall and whirled around towards Garrus, a confused look on his face.

"You haven't gotten over it have you?" Shepard asked with concern. "Not even after you led the squad through the Collector Station."

"I attribute that more to your leadership skills than mine." Garrus replied a bit unenthusiastically. "You were still in command. It was your plan, not mine. My plans got my team on Omega killed. I know you have confidence in my abilities, and I'm grateful for it, but I'm not so sure I see it anymore."

Shepard crossed his arms, shaking his head displeased.

"Christ Garrus, stop selling yourself short already." He told the Turian sternly. "I know how you feel more than anyone else on this ship. I lost people on Elysium, just like you on Omega. You made mistakes, I made mistakes. You couldn't have known what was gonna happen, neither of us could. You're a damn good leader Garrus, one screw up ain't changing that."

Garrus didn't seem convinced much, but his usual smile did seem to return after a second.

"Well, I did learn from the best." He admitted with a bit of his usual smile.

Shepard grinned back.

"There's the old Garrus wit," he smirked happily, "try and keep that attitude. You're gonna need it to keep the squad's spirits up. Not that Legion needs that, but they appreciate confidence in their leaders. Now come on, Mordin is waiting on us."

The doors to Mordin's lab slid open and the two walked in. They found the Salarian professor, busy as always, at his lab table. He was fiddling with a small electronic box full of circuitry in his hand when he looked up and saw the two walking in.

"Ah Shepard, just in time." He said as quick as ever "Was wondering when you'd show up. Making final adjustments now. Difficult without Tali'Zorah's help at the moment. Enjoy challenge however, learning on own."

Shepard just nodded at the professor to continue his work.

"Mordin's been working on the Elite's armour for a bit with Tali since we arrived at the station." Shepard explained. "We were hoping we could modify its shields to work with ours. From what we can tell they can take a bit more of a beating against plasma than our shields, absorb the heat better too. That would give us an added boost to our systems."

At that Mordin jerked up from his work.

"No need to hope. Have accomplished task." Mordin informed him at a lighting pace. "Tali'Zorah's shield expertise was most appreciated. Took tech class in school as minor. Needed someone versed in shields proper to make headway. Now have working upgrade. Tali'Zorah already installing hers."

Garrus was happy about that. Their makeshift heat shielding was great and all, but a shield that could take more punishment from Plasma was a lot better. Added protection that wasn't gonna weigh him down.

"Well, I'd be stupid to say no to something that will save my ass." Garrus said with a grin. "How's it work?"

"Like many shield upgrades." Mordin began to explain. "You only have to install system into your regular shield power supply. Will create extra layer of shielding. Fascinating design, does not utilize same kinetic barrier fields most shields do. Suggests system more similar to shields encountered by the Geth ship on Aite. Advise caution though, not invincible. Can be overpowered like any other shield. Remain in cover when you can."

Mordin handed the electronic device he was working on at last to Garrus. He eyed it a bit before he attached it to his shield's power supply. It took a few minutes but another shield quickly blinked into existence around Garrus and was gone the next.

"We expecting Covenant down there or something?" Garrus asked. "I don't think insurrectionists would have Plasma weapons would they?"

"I still prefer to be safe about this, Garrus." Shepard told him "Who knows, they may have swiped some from some Covenant. And stronger shields never hurt anyone."

Shepard turned to Mordin, who was now back to work on yet another of the shield upgrades.

"How long before you have enough of these up and running?" Shepard asked the good Professor. "I want the whole squad outfitted with these upgrades."

"Already created sufficient amount of prototypes." Mordin assured, rambling off a list of requirements. "Have proper design blueprints and assembly instructions on computer. Will require the help of engineers Donelly and Daniels as extra hands. Should have enough for all squad members within the day."

It was always good to see Mordin in his "zone" so to speak.

"Carry on then Professor." Shepard told him.

"Will do, Shepard." Mordin replied with zeal. "If finished early will resume work on pet project. Varren specific STDs have been surprisingly prolific in methane breathing species nicknamed Grunts biological functions. Could be potential bio-weapon. Don't tell Joker. Still concerned about last project of similar calibre. Claims waking nightmares at random."

"I'll try and keep it on the down low, Mordin." Shepard smirked as he left with Garrus back through the main door to the command deck.

"I've already uploaded a Turian language program to Commander Holland along with the team's files." Shepard explained as they walked. "Tali already has her helmet set to translate for humans through its speaker system, so that's covered too. And Legion doesn't require that because he automatically translates for everyone."

"Well no language barrier, that's good." Garrus reckoned.

As they were exiting out onto the command deck the elevator opened wide and Tali stepped out. She was just checking her heavy pistol when Shepard caught her attention.

"Ah Tali, good you're here." Shepard greeted as he walked over "You ready?"

"As I'll ever be." She said with a slight shrug, her voice a bit lower than usual as she holstered her pistol "New shields installed properly and seem to be holding. I'd be feeling better if you were still coming along. And if you weren't risking getting thrown in the brig for this."

"Which I won't be because I know you," Shepard told her admiringly. "if anyone can get this done it's you and the others. I have faith in you."

Tali's face seemed to light up a bit at that.

"Well, I guess we'll just call this payback for all the times you had to save me then, huh?" Tali asked.

Shepard gave a single snigger at that.

"Before I forget," he said, reaching to his back and pulling out something off it. "I want you to take this along with you."

Shepard handed Tali the Geth Plasma Shotgun, a weapon they were lucky to even have in the first place and had ended up somewhat preparing them for this situation.

"Thinking of impressing the locals?" Tali asked cheekily.

"Best shotgun we have right now." Shepard responded in a matter of fact manner. "If I can't be down there to keep you safe I might as well give you something that I know can. And yeah, maybe I'm trying to impress the locals, just a bit."

"He gave me the arc projector for the same reason." Garrus added.

Tali attached the shotgun to her back holster.

"Thanks Shepard," she said, "I'll drop a few bad guys for you with it. Just to see how much it impresses these Spartans."

Garrus interrupted the two with a cough.

"I'm gonna wait over by the airlock till we're ready go." He said simply. "Just let me know when Legion is set."

As Garrus walked away, Shepard turned to Tali.

"Frankly I'm not really worried about you." Shepard explained to her with a whisper. "You could have the crappiest shotgun in the world and find out a way to make it work for you. That and I've seen you when you're pissed off, it's scary."

Tali giggled a bit at the compliment, but Shepard was quick to interrupt it.

"I'm more worried about Garrus." He continued to explain. "I want you to keep an eye on him. I thought he was over what happened at Omega but..."

They both instinctively looked over Garrus as he stood by the airlock, he didn't notice them. Even at this distance they could tell he was miles away, thinking about something else as he leaned against the wall. He stared out the front window of the cockpit, not moving.

"Guess those scars run deeper than we thought." Tali commented sadly.

"Make sure he keeps his head on straight." Shepard told her. "Lord knows you've done the same for me."

"Of course Shepard." Tali said resolutely. "You don't need to tell me. He's my friend too, remember?"

As Shepard nodded, the elevator opened once again. Inside was Legion, its Widow sniper rifle in it's arms.

"Targeting systems are now optimal." It declared. "Shall we begin?"

* * *

><p>Carter had gathered up the team, told them what was going on and predictably they were not happy about the news. Especially Emile, but that was expected. Strangely he was the only one who was more concerned about the fact they were gonna have to let aliens tag along with them. Everyone else, they were pissed off at how command seemed to sticking them with new guys left and right now. Thom hadn't died too long ago and now, and on top of some new guy they knew nothing about they were getting aliens they knew even less about.<p>

He had Jorge, Jun and Emile all lined up in standard formation near their little outpost to see the aliens as they were flown in. He'd greet them along with Kat and evaluate them. He didn't want them meeting the others until he was sure they could handle it. He'd let them see these xenos first hand, let the thought sink in a bit more and then introduce them. Carter just wondered how he'd explain this to the new Noble Six when he got here.

No time to think about it now, they could see the aliens now flying in on one of the Falcons. As it slowly approached the landing zone Kat took off her helmet to get a better view.

"I still don't see why Holland thinks we need help on anything tech based." Kat blurted outin frustration. "That's my department, that's why I'm here. I'm capable of handling anything and I would know these systems better than they would."

"Don't think of it as the Colonel doubting your abilities." Carter told her, trying to calm him down. "He made this call, it's a high value target and fixing it needs to be done fast. We may need more manpower for that. He had his reasons, just deal with it."

Kat didn't respond to him, either she saw his point or it was because the Falcon was starting to land and she wanted a good look at what these aliens looked liked. First one that stepped out, nearest approximation was that of an Elite. But it certainly didn't look like one. For one its face was bony, and flat. Also, it wasn't as tall and it had some kind of large ring circling its neck. Could've been just its armour configuration, which was blue with a serious slice across its upper torso. Like someone had put a round through it and him if his scarred face was any indication.

A second alien followed him, this one was female from the looks of it. She appeared to be wearing some kind of spacesuit, one with a purple veil and yellow straps around her waist and around her neck the suit followed up to her helmet with similarily styled yellowish material. The helmet itself had a purple tint to the visor and what looked like a bright circle of light where her mouth should be. Her legs had the same structure as the first on, sort of like a bird in the way they bent one way before moving back. Even from here, Carter could see her silver glowing eyes through her helmet. She definitely didn't look like any Covie they had seen. It lent credence to the supposed inter-dimensional story.

Last one wasn't an alien, it was a robot, with a big blue eye, what appeared to be plate sections on its head and a hole in its torso. From what Carter could see, its body type was similar to the female alien in the spacesuit, it even had three fingers like her and the first one. Things just got weirder and weirder with this bunch it seemed and they hadn't even talked to them yet.

The blue armoured alien with the scar face stuck out his hand as he approached Carter.

"Garrus Vakarian," he said, "gunnery officer of the Normandy SR2, pleasure to meet you!"

Carter stared at the hand for a good long twenty seconds before he finally received it.

"Commander Carter," he began very shrewdly, "Spartan A529, you may call me, sir, Noble One or Noble Lead. That is all. This is Kat, you may call her Noble Two or Lieutenant Commander. Follow me."

He and Kat began walking back to the outpost, leaving Garrus there a bit perplexed at what had just happened and wondering if he had said or done something wrong. He expected to be treated a bit nicer, at least from what he had experienced with most humans. He smiled, he was polite, he did everything he was taught in C-Sec on meeting humans he was sure. Was the fact that he was an alien really pushing this guy's buttons that bad?

"He seems happy to see us." Tali piped up sarcastically.

With that, they followed the two Spartans inside. Garrus decided to suck it up, this wasn't an unexpected outcome. Hell it was the most likely. This dimension hadn't exactly been fond of their arrival so far, why start now? Especially with the whole "Aliens are murdering our wholes species" thing going on. This was probably about as well as they were going to take it.

As they began walking towards the small building Carter was leading them to, all three of the Normandy crew members peered to the side and caught a glimpse of the three other Spartans on the team. Tali noticed the one with the skull painted on his helmet's visor. Then she got a better look at the skull, it wasn't painted... it was carved into the visor. She also noticed how he seemed to follow her as she walked, his hand gripped on the big knife in its scabbard on his shoulder. Tali quickly turned away.

"I don't like the look of the one in the middle." Tali whispered to Garrus.

"To be fair they probably don't like the look of us." He reminded her. "Just relax Tali, they're on our side remember? They're not gonna bite."

"Oh I'm sure about that, the one with the skull face looks more like he wants to hack me up first." Tali replied in a deadpan yet slightly nervous tone.

They all entered the outpost and stood beside each other in single file while Carter and Kat looked over them for a minute. Garrus was instantly reminded about his service in the military for a brief second as Carter looked him over.

"I read your personnel files," he began "so did the Lieutenant Commander. It was interesting reading, you've had distinguished careers from what I can understand. Naturally though I have questions, I hope you understand why and I don't need to explain."

Garrus just nodded, he knew what he was talking about. Carter wanted to be sure they were going to cooperate, if they were worth the trouble of bringing them along.

"First you, Mr. Vakarian." The Spartan leader began "Among the three of you, you're the one with the most military experience, and when you left you became something called Citadel Security. I'm assuming that's some kind of important installation or mercenary corporation..."

"Actually, it means I was a cop." Garrus explained "The Citadel is a giant space station housing millions of people from all over the Galaxy from all different races and it's C-SECs job to keep the citizens aboard it safe."

The two Spartans eyed each other briefly before Kat interjected.

"It also says you left," she mentioned, "so forgive us if we ask you why, if you have such a high opinion of it, did you you quit?"

Tali snickered a bit.

"High opinion," she chuckled briefly under her breath. "Ha."

Carter looked over to her, his glare silencing her instantly, although Garrus could tell she was still harbouring a smile under that faceplate.

"I felt like I was getting stonewalled with red tape." Garrus answered shrugging. "So I left and joined Shepard."

"And then, somewhere in between that point and now it says you became a vigilante gang leader killing criminals under the name Archangel." Carter added with a grimace. "How was that career move?"

Garrus gulped, that was certainly a very probing question. Carter was no doubt wondering if he was gonna listen to his authority because of all this. Vigilante and disgruntled ex-cop were titles that reeked of trouble maker. Which was kinda true, but he wasn't that much of a trouble maker.

"That's somewhat personal," Garrus explained hesitantly at first before stiffening up, "but I won't deny we did good work. We helped people, stopped crime, gave regular folks some power back. Not unlike you I imagine."

Carter raised an eyebrow, and nodded for a moment.

"Taking down drug dealers and smugglers isn't the same as Covies, but I suppose you have a point." He admitted. "Can I trust you to follow my lead and obey my orders?"

Finally, he wasn't batting around the bush anymore. Garrus could answer that easy.

"Commander Shepard told me that's what I have to do, and I defer to his leadership now. So that's what I'm gonna do." He swore. "That's what Turians pride themselves on, being good soldiers."

Even if Garrus didn't think he was always a good one, maybe he could at least act like he was. On that note, Carter looked to Kat for input.

"Well, it's nice to have a alien from warrior culture that isn't swinging a plasma sword at us for once I guess." She said begrudgingly "But he should wear a helmet for the duration of our mission. It should help hide the fact he isn't human from any civies in the area, if only a little."

Garrus just nodded in agreement, he could do that no problem.

Carter moved on to Tali, who was trying to avoid eye contact a bit. She was not comfortable with how methodical this whole procedure was. That and the skull faced Spartan was still fresh in her mind. Carter walked away after finally catching her eye and clicked on his computer, bringing up her dossier.

"Tali'Zorah Vas Normandy." Carter began to read off the screen plainly. "Chief Engineer of the Normandy, says your species is called a quarian and you're an expert in technology and electronics. Out of curiosity, why are you named after the ship you came off of?"

Tali wondered exactly what she should say. Last time she tried to explain she got shot down by Ackerson. How would she approach Commander Carter on the subject? Should she blabber on about the complicated events that got her name changed from Vas Neema to Vas Normandy? That she kept the latter because of her relationship with the ship's Commander? No, she wasn't going to let that slip. She opted for the easier answer.

"Quarian last names are derived from the ships they serve on, they're our home. It reminds us where we come from." She explained timidly, trying not to fumble her words.

Kat's curiosity was now peeked.

"You live on ships?" she asked seemingly intrigued.

Normally Tali would love to tell the whole story, but Legion was here and she didn't want to make this team look like it was divided in its loyalties. She gave the short version.

"We lost our home world." She answered as she rubbed her forearm "We, um, are considered vagrants so we can't so easily relocate and then there's the problem of our... suits."

"I've been meaning to ask about that." Kat added. "Why are you wearing it? What's it's purpose?"

Garrus interjected at this point.

"It has to do with her immune system." He said, a tinge of mockery in his throat as he looked over to her. "Why don't you tell us about it?"

Tali grimaced under her face mask in embarrassment. She wanted to smack Garrus over the head for that comment right at that moment. Why did he have to make such a big deal about how she rambled on about how immune systems when they first met? Why'd he find it so funny? She wasn't used to interarcting with other species at the time for one. That, and maybe she had been afraid they would forget about her need for the suit and not be on guard to help her if she got sick from a suit puncture. Either way she didn't find her predicament funny and it annoyed her how terrible Garrus had to be about it every time.

"It's a bio-suit." Tali replied trying to hide her embarrassment, not especially hard to do when you wore a mask "Quarian immune systems are weak. We can't handle contamination from foreign cotangents and being in sterile ship environments has ruined it further. So-"

"So you get a rip in that thing and you die?" Carter asked, obviously concerned about how effective she'd be.

This was what Tali had been afraid of, being looked at as weak because of her condition. That the Spartans would see her as a liability, as most other species saw quarians back home. Well she wasn't going to be stereotyped in this dimension, especially when she was probably the only quarian around. She was the representative of her people, an ambassador of sorts. She needed to act the part and make a good impression on the part of her species.

"I won't die from a simple puncture, sir." She proclaimed more confidently than before. "I've been in combat and I know the proper procedure for potential suit containment loss. I also have anti-biotics and immuno-boosters on hand. I'll be more than capable of handling myself should the need arise."

Once the alien engineer had said her piece, Tali settled down a bit. She wasn't sure, but Tali could've sworn Carter almost cracked a smile at her resolve, but he remained professional nonetheless. Kat, however, had her own questions for Tali and they were more pressing.

"What about your technical qualifications?" She asked, a bit condescendingly. "Our equipment isn't the same as yours. Will you be able to do field repairs when we need them?"

"I'm getting familiar with your systems actually." Tali replied pleasantly, not grasping fully how threatened Kat felt about being saddled with another tech-head in the squad. "We just made ourselves some shield enhancements from the tech we recovered from the Elites that stormed our ship. Give me a few minutes with anything technical and I can get it working again. Of course if you're offering to help me learn I'd be happy to accept."

Kat eased back, the last line was enough for her to know she was still dominant here it seemed. That was reassuring enough to get her approval of the quarian's presence here.

Finally, Carter looked over to Legion and eyed him for a moment.

"So what are you?" He asked simply. "Exactly, I mean. Android? Cyborg? Military drone?"

"We are Geth." Legion answered.

Carter didn't seem satisfied with that answer.

"Yeah I know. That's what the dossier called you." Carter responded, a bit annoyed. "It didn't explain much else other than you were good with sniper rifles and tech. What does GETH stand for?"

"It stands for nothing," Legion responded "We are Geth."

Carter sighed and rubbed his forehead. The dossier said this thing was supposed to have an AI, a smart one, why was it not answering like one.

"Let's try this again, who made you?" Carter asked once more, thinking rephrasing things would help. "Where were you manufactured? What is your function?"

"Geth were constructed by the Creators, this platform was specifically designed in one of our manufacturing stations." Legion explained in its monotone. "Our original function was to observe. Our new function is integrated with that of Normandy and Shepard Commander's functions."

Well that answered a whole lot of nothing, as far as Carter was concerned. Annoyed at the machine's inability to give a straight answer, he turned to Garrus and Tali.

"Can you tell me where you picked this thing up and what it does?" he asked on the verge of growling.

"We picked him up on a mission on a derelict ship." Garrus said, not mentioning exactly WHAT the ship was of course "It's a Geth, it doesn't stand for anything. That's what it is. That's its species, so to speak. It's a synthetic life form. Or more accurately they are."

Carter raised an eyebrow.

"They?" he asked, looking back at the singular machine behind him. Come to think of it, the thing did keep referring to itself as "We." Tali filled in the gaps for him.

"What you're seeing is just a platform, or hardware, for Legion." She began. "Legion is actually thousands of software programs neural linked together to create a full functioning consciousness."

"Creator Tali'Zorah is correct," Legion interjected, "there are currently 1,183 active programs in this platform."

Carter turned to Tali again, Legion's words sparking an interest.

"Creator?" he noted curious "Your people made them?"

Tali nodded, no denying that now. It answered Carter's next question as to why their body structures looked similar. At least he didn't ask if this had anything to do with them not having a home world. Carter went back to Legion instead, prepared to try conversing again.

"So, Legion," he began once more speaking poignantly, "I guess it makes sense now. I thought it was code or something personal."

"Not code." Legion corrected "Term derived from Christian Bible, New Testament, Mark 5:9. We deemed it an appropriate metaphor."

"I am familiar." Carter responded, somewhat irritated with the trivia tidbit.

Kat walked behind the Geth construct and looked through the gaping hole in its torso.

"Funny how you keep working despite this." She noted.

"We notice you are missing an arm," Legion said bluntly. "it has been replaced with a cybernetic prosthetic. The condition of our hardware is a similar matter as we have replaced what was lost to continue to function."

Kat briefly looked to her cybernetic replacement arm and back to Legion, feeling a bit uncomfortable with the invasive statement. Especially considering how she lost it.

"No critical systems were damaged as a result of the rifle shot impact that left this hole." Legion explained astutely as its eye adjusted. "Relevant and necessary repairs have already been made. We are functioning at full capacity. Runtimes and performance are not affected."

"Yes, performance." She said curiously, as she peered closer at the mechanics of the machine.

Kat stood straight once more, getting a look at thee bos like object on Legion's back.

"Is this equipment?" she asked.

Legion took box off and let it automatically stretch itself out, revealing it was the Widow sniper rifle.

"Compact, saves space, nice." Carter noted as he eyed the weapon.

Jun would probably love one of those. Considering it was a machine, Kat and Carter assumed that meant Legion was good with it, probably even more steady and accurate. No need to breath, no twitching, no need to be concerned with the weight. It would be interesting to see what Legion could do with the rifle.

"We don't usually have many AI working in robotic construct forms." Kat mentioned as she returned to Carter's side. "In fact we have none. Let alone over a thousand of them in one body. I'm assuming that increases your capabilities."

"Correct." Legion replied quickly, the plates on its head clicking up and down. "Geth think at far faster rates than organics. In our time here we have already reviewed every second of this meeting several hundred times. In light of what we have seen, we would wish to ask our own question."

Carter looked over at Kat for a second, they didn't say anything but she simply nodded. Almost as if Carter knew what she meant he responded back to Legion.

"Go ahead."

"We have noticed your line of questioning towards both Creator Tali'Zorah and Officer Vakarian were more stringent and suspicious than those directed towards us." Legion stated. "We have also noticed your AI are given relatively free range aboard your stations and are less constrained. Yet Normandy's crew has been confined to lockdown, despite it mostly consisting of organic beings. You appear more trusting of synthetic life forms, why?"

Carter was a bit puzzled at this question, he figured that the machine would have figured it out.

"We have been at war with aliens, but we've had AI for several centuries now." He explained, as he tried to choose his words right "They've never been an issue before and they have not glassed planets to kill humans. So we're more readily trusting of them I guess because they help us. We're used to them I suppose."

Legion, however, did not seem satisfied with this answer.

"This is troubling. While we understand your familiarity with AI being more comfortable, we do not understand your dislike of our crewmates." Legion replied. "None share similar appearances or bahavioural traits to the Covenant you have encountered, yet you treat them with suspicion. They have done no harm to you yet you act hostile towards them. By your own logic they, like your AI, have also never been problematic towards your species either. Meaning they should in fact be treated in the same manner as your AI."

Both Tali and Garrus were a bit stunned, of all the people who could be speaking up on their behalf it was Legion who was confronting the Spartans directly on this issue.

"It's not that simple." Carter replied. "You must know by now that the Covenant species are the only alien races we've ever encountered. Our suspicious nature can't be unsurprising."

"It is not," Legion answered, "we have recognized how organics fear that which is new to them. It is an error in your software. The nature of this unique reversal of roles from what we have experienced thus far is simply something we wish to understand further. More data will be needed to answer this. We can only suggest for the moment that you attempt to overcome this error to facilitate unit cohesion."

Tali would have to remind herself to thank Legion for sticking up for them later. Something she was finding herself doing more and more. As she looked to Carter along with Garrus she saw the Spartan Commander's stance loosen a bit at long last.

"I think I can at least attempt that." Carter assured. "I can't speak for everyone though."

Kat chimed in as Carter looked to her.

"As long as they listen I'm fine." She answered readily.

Carter, pleased by this closed off his evaluation at last.

"You'll have to convince the others through your actions." He told them. "Just do your jobs, follow my lead and I can guarantee you your Commander will be off the hook."

"That's all we want, sir." Tali told him.

"I guess you should go meet the rest of the team." Carter finished off as he walked back to his computer terminal. "Make it quick though, Holland will be calling us up any minute now. Dismissed."

The three filed out into the only other place they could go in this tiny outpost, outside. Tali took Legion aside with a hand on its shoulder.

"You didn't need to stick your neck out for us there." She told it. "Thanks."

"We saw potential cracks in unit cohesion that could endanger ourselves, you and the mission at large." Legion explained. "We were obligated to voice concerns."

"Still doesn't make it any less commendable I think." Tali told him.

"Agreed." Garrus added. "Wish they could've heard it."

The group looked over to the three other Spartans that were congregated a little aways from them. At the moment the largest one was cleaning his huge bulky machine gun, the one with the rifle was checking his rounds and the skull faced one was sharpening his blade. He looked over to the three briefly and made sure the next time he slid the sharpener over the machete he slowed it down so they could see the sparks.

"Body language suggests potentially aggressive nature." Legion noted.

"The word 'suggests' is putting it mildly." Tali added in a deadpan tone.

"We can't avoid them forever." Garrus told them. "We should at least try to introduce ourselves."

"Recommendation, largest Spartan more docile. He has barely exhibited any sense of dislike or discomfort." Legion told them as its eye expanded and closed. "Contact with him most likely to produce positive results."

Garrus shrugged, wasn't the worst idea they heard today. Considering he was the squad leader that meant he would have to be the one to try and talk things out with him. Taking a deep breath, Garrus began to walk over to the big Spartan, the others in tow. It was only when he was in an arm's reach of him that the Spartan acknowledged he was even there.

"Garrus Vakarian," he said saluting briefly, "I'm the acting squad leader of the Normandy Ground team assigned to your Commander for the duration of this mission. This is Tali and Legion, they're our best technical officers on the ship. We're looking forward to working with you all."

The large Spartan took a few seconds to actually get up off the large container he was sitting on.

"Jorge-052, Noble Five." He began slowly in a light Hungarian accent and a very calm voice. "Gotta say this is a bit weird, working with aliens. But hey, you're not shooting at us so it's a plus. Hope you didn't feel like Noble Lead was putting you under the microscope there. We're all a bit on edge lately."

"We understand," Tali told him considerately, "it's a bit disheartening but we understand. We just hope we can change your minds in the end."

Jorge just nodded and pointed to his team mates.

"That there's Jun and over there is Emile." He said, sounding more relaxed already "I wouldn't talk to them right now, they're kinda busy. Gearing up and everything, they need to be ready for the mission. By the way, from what Noble One said you seem to know more about this mission already. Anything you can tell us?"

"Just that it's about one of your relays and insurrectionists might be involved." Garrus responded.

"Doesn't sound like anything to get too worried about." Tali added hopefully. "We should be able to get in, find out what happened and get out without much trouble."

"I hope so." Jorge told them with an assertive tone. "Coms being down for the rest of the colonies, that's not good. Specially not now. Sooner we get things running the better."

Garrus was glad this initial conversation was working out so far. With any luck they'd be able to turn the other Noble Squad members around before this mission was over with. The only thing that worried him was between now and then, was if the skull faced Spartan named Emile was gonna try to gut one of them before they got that far.

* * *

><p>The Warthog's four wheel drive made these trips less bumpy, but that didn't make the unpaved roads any smoother. In any case, he was just glad to be getting back into active duty. As he finished checking the last of his helmet's critical diagnostic functions, along with his HUD's personal power supply, he reattached it to his head. He then looked at the early morning overcast of clouds. Not the best day on Reach, but there had been worse. For one thing it wasn't raining and it was starting to clear up as well. Besides, you couldn't really complain. The countryside was always breathtaking, no matter the weather, which made things easy on the eyes at least.<p>

His driver was a young faced marine, probably fresh out of boot camp. That was becoming more and more common now, all the veterans in this fight were old grizzled men, dead or crippled. You didn't get out of the Marine Corps after a tour, not anymore. Battling for the survival of your species kinda curtailed certain rights like that. He wondered how long the poor kid had till he got his leg burned off by a plasma bolt. Morbid thought, but it was crossing everyone's minds more and more. No one was invincible, not even Spartans. The fact he was replacing one made that fact clear enough.

The Warthog finally pulled in to it's final stop in the middle of the outpost. At least three Falcons were landed near one of the small buildings that made up the fire base. From the looks of it, it was the barracks for the Spartan team he'd been assigned to. He could tell by the one leaning on the Falcon checking his sniper rifle. As he began walking out of the vehicle towards the entrance, he heard a voice over on a comm channel.

"Contact with Visegrad relay was lost last night. All signals flat lined at 2600 hours. I responded with trooper fire teams, but they have since been declared MIA."

He walked past the Spartan with his gun and into the building where the voice was coming from. In the doorway he spotted another Spartan. His armor was silver-grey with a skull on his visor. He was sharpening a huge machete against his arm, his armor sparking as he did. He looked up from him into a corner of the room to see three other figures he couldn't recognize, but was distracted by another voice.

"And now you're sending us."

"The Office of Naval Intelligence believes the use of a Spartan ground team in this matter is a gross misallocation of resources." The first voice said slightly, annoyed at remembering the words it seemed. "I respectfully disagree."

As he looked over at the Spartan in dark blue staring at his console with a static picture of Colonel Holland, a metal arm blocked his path. He looked over to his left to see a woman staring back at him. She called over to the dark blue one and got everyone in the room's attention. Especially the three people at the back of the room. They all stared directly at the new Spartan now standing in the doorway, in dark green assault armor, with an ODST helmet on, a yellow stripe going down the front of the helmet.

"So that's our new number six." Said the big Spartan in the orange and tan armor in the middle of the room.

"Kat, you read his file?" Asked the skull faced Spartan to the lighter blue one in front of him.

"Only the parts not covered in black ink." She responded.

While the Commander in dark blue looked at him for a moment, he went back to his comm channel without so much as batting an eye. The three unknowns kept looking at him a tad longer before returning to look at the Commander's screen. Now that he had a chance to look at them a bit more, he realized they weren't Spartans. They didn't even look UNSC. Especially the one that looked like he had a flashlight head and the girl beside him who possessed what appeared to be chicken feet. He didn't have time to ponder on that revelation much though.

"Anyone claim responsibility, sir?" the Commander asked

"ONI thinks it might be the local insurrection." Colonel Holland replied. "Five months ago they pulled a similar job on Harmony, took down the relay to take out our eyes and ears and made off with two freighters from dry dock. That cannot happen here. Reach is too damn important. I want that relay back online Noble One. Today."

"Sir, consider it done." Noble One responded quickly.

"Then I'll see you on the other side, Holland out."

The console went blank and the Commander now turned to him as he got his helmet off the desk. He quickly stood at attention as Noble One did so.

"Lieutenant."

"Commander, sir." he responded immediately.

"No time for evaluation right now, we'll make this quick." The Commander began. "I'm Carter, Noble team's leader."

The other Spartans were already filing out of the building. They didn't even give Carter the chance to introduce them to him. He already felt unwelcome here, which he could understand. FNGs weren't respected on the first day, even if they weren't green. Strangely enough, the three unknowns didn't move. They were just mingling.

"That's Kat, Noble Two, Emile and Jorge, Four and Five." Carter told him as the other Spartans left. "Got a name or do you prefer just Six?"

"I think I'll stick to Six for now." He answered, then he motioned over to the three in the corner. "You didn't give their names."

Carter looked behind him only briefly before he turned back, he put his helmet on as he did.

"I'll explain it in full on the way." Carter replied. "You know anything about the ship called the Normandy?"

Six had heard of the ship, it was a tiny little frigate that the Nebraska had picked up. That was the extent of what he knew.

"Just what ONI leaked." He admitted.

That told Carter all he needed to know.

"All you need to know for now is they're from it and they're friendly." Carter explained. "That and they'll be coming with us. So keep your crosshairs off them. They're taking the third Falcon, you're riding with me and Noble Three, Jun."

Carter looked over to the three unknowns in the corner and whistled.

"Garrus, move it out."

The one in blue armor began marching towards the door, his friends in tow. Carter and Six exited the building before them.

"Not gonna lie to you Lieutenant," Carter began as they walked side by side, "you're stepping into some shoes the rest of the squad would rather see unfilled. The new guys aren't exactly helping the matter."

"You mean the aliens?" Six asked bluntly, a bit tired of beating around the bush.

Carter looked back abruptly, but kept walking.

"Two Xenos and a Robot actually." Carter replied. "That's all I'm authorized to tell you at the moment. Back to you though. I read your file, even the parts ONI didn't want me to. Impressive stuff, I'll admit it. But we're a team here."

Carter and Six stepped aboard the Falcon. Carter stood upright in the aircraft as Six took his seat beside Jun. The two aliens and their robot walked past them to the Falcon behind them and climbed in. When they were set Carter waved their pilot off the tarmac.

"That lone wolf stuff doesn't cut it." Carter continued to inform Six. "Can I trust you to understand that?"

"Yes sir," Six answered resolutely, "with or without aliens."

Six assumed that satisfied Carter enough cause he sat down and let the Falcon finally take off. The aircraft lifted off the ground and made its way into the now parting clouds of the early morning. The clouds and snow topped mountains were turning orange as the sun hit them. Six let it soak in awhile, probably his last chance to enjoy it before the fighting started. Meanwhile, Jun who was beside him clicked his final bullet into its magazine and put the clip in his rifle.

"Welcome to Reach." He greeted Six.

It was the friendliest and only welcome Six had got all day.

* * *

><p>The flight into the Visegrad Relay was mostly quiet, except for a few comm checks and reviewing of the mission parameters. Tali was also looking over the detailed plans Kat had provided her of the relay itself as they flew behind the first two Falcons carrying Noble Team. Legion had already finished the second the plans were transmitted. Tali needed more time to look it over of course. Smart as she was she was only an organic after all and lacked Legion's super fast processor of a brain.<p>

"With any luck it's just some blown generators and a disabled receiving and transmitting unit." Tali expressed as she eyed the schematics on her omni tool. "We should be in and out."

"What about the missing soldiers?" Garrus asked.

"I'm just remarking on the possible extent of the damage to the structure, I didn't say how it got there." Tali responded. "Best case scenario, their radio is damaged."

Garrus turned to Legion as their Falcon began to rise higher up a mountain range.

"Anything you can tell us about our new friends?" He asked. "Your systems must've been able to detect something."

"Only preliminary scans." Legion replied. "Strength and physical prowess are increased above average for human lifeform. Possible cybernetic enhancements as well. More data needed for consensus."

"Maybe they'll be a bit more open when we earn their trust." Garrus said with hope.

"Let's not get our hopes up for any classified information." Tali quickly added. "Personally, I just want to know why they are called Spartans."

Legion's head shook a bit, it's eye blinking once before its head plates rose up.

"Sparta, ancient Earth city-state, location Greece, prominently known for its warrior culture and powerful military, remains legendary among Alliance military to this day."

Sometimes it was good to have a living computer with them. Legion had spent so much time on the Extranet studying organic cultures that it seemed to know them better than they knew themselves by this point. It was especially helpful for Garrus and Tali, as they couldn't always ask Shepard about his species' culture, like now.

"Well it's interesting to know their fame crosses dimensions." Garrus noted with a smirk. "I'm sure they'd be happy to know that if they were still alive."

As they began to round the mountainside Garrus and Tali looked up to the skyline. It was a breathtaking sight, through the early morning mist that was just beginning to settle they watched as a large mountain the distance passed them by. Below them the green sloped mountain they were hovering over passed by even quicker, its winding paths, rocky cliffs and lush vegetation that blanketed the massive natural formation were a welcome change from most of their excursions on a planet. This one wasn`t a giant desert or freezing cold for one and there was no apparent devastation to the landscape either, it was simply pristine.

"Too bad Shepard couldn't see this." Tali said with saddened look.

"He will once we get this done." Garrus told her in a comforting voice. "We just have to hope that Ackerson keeps his word and that it is just a bunch of pissed off human traitors that did a number on this relay."

Tali looked back to the Turian, offering her own comforting words.

"If anyone can get us through this it's you Garrus." Tali assured with a friendly look. "Shepard couldn't have picked a better stand-in."

Garrus looked to the side, not looking at all comforted by the compliment.

"Let's just hope it doesn't end up a permanent position." He told her, sounding rather inward and reserved.

Tali's posture saddened as Garrus' head lurched downward. Shepard was right to voice his concerns about him before. She would've said something, had Carter not interrupted them over the comm-channel.

"Listen up people," he said, "we have a downed relay 50 clicks from Visegrad. We introduce ourselves to whoever took it out and get it back online. And remember we have additional bodies with us today along with civilians in the area, so watch your targets."

"You know, we're on the same channel you are." Tali spoke over the comm, sounding a bit disgruntled. "Could you refer to us as something besides bodies? It's a bit morbid."

"Fine, you're Team Xeno." Carter replied dismissively. "Now if that makes you feel better, stow it. This isn't your Op, you don't call the shots."

Smooth Tali, she thought to herself immediately after Carter shut her down. Now he was pissed at her, just what they didn't need right now. Thankfully Jorge managed to change the subject and get Carter's mind off them.

"Sir, why would the rebels want to cut off Reach from the rest of the colonies?" He asked concerned as he looked over Carter in the second Falcon "Wouldn't just downing a smaller internal communications hub be better? If they just want to grab a frigate or something it would be easier than shutting down a big installation like this."

"Ask them when you see them, Jorge," Carter replied sarcastically, "maybe they'll tell you."

"If Emile is in charge of the interview they will." Jun joked.

Emile only grumbled over the comm as Jorge snickered somewhat.

"Commander," Kat spoke up suddenly, "I've lost our feed back to HQ."

Carter snapped his head towards her, looking over at Kat's Falcon as she fiddled with her communication uplink device.

"Back up channels?" he asked.

Kat looked up after a second and shook her head.

"Nada, can't say what's jamming us." She replied.

"Whoever took out the relay may have put up a communication scrambling device." Tali suggested to the Spartans. "Some kind of dead zone generator. That's probably why the troopers couldn't report in. We'll need to get the relay back online or take it out if we're going to contact your superiors."

"Agreed." Kat said in response, surprising everyone it seemed given her discomfort with Tali. "I don't see any other reason for us to lose our signal. A downed relay wouldn't cut off our groundside communication channels, they're on a separate network."

"Dead zone confirmed then." Carter concluded. "Noble, command will not be keeping us company this trip."

"I feel lonely already." Emile snarked.

As the Falcons rounded the next bend, the team began to approach their landing site. What looked like a small farming area on the side of the mountain. Nearby were some large spinning structures. They were long pole with ribbon like strips of metal whirling down around them, the wind pushing them around.

"I assume those are wind turbines?" Garrus asked over the comms.

"Best way to get power all the way up here." Jorge commented back. "Wind current is exceptional on this mountain range. One of those turbines can power a small three story house by itself. There are several of them scattered over this range alone."

As the ground closed up on them they all got a better view of both the relay station and the farmland below.

"Strange that there's enough fertile land up here for these fields." Tali said she readied herself for landing by putting her feet over the side of the aircraft.

"You'd be surprised." Jorge added "Whole place was fertile for a long time. There are a lot of valleys up here, small ones but they have enough soil to keep these farms running. Times have gotten tough though I hear, a lot of people are relocating to the cities nowadays."

"You seem to know a lot about this planet." Garrus commented.

"I should," Jorge laughed, "I grew up on Reach. It's my home. Good to be back, sad to hear these insurrectionist assholes are here stirring up trouble."

Carter quickly interrupted the small bonding session between Jorge and the Normandy team.

"Stay focused people," he told them, "you see that comms outpost from here?"

The Normandy team all looked up towards the large satellite dish in the distance. Considering the facility needed to send information across the galaxy to other planets it was understandably huge.

"That's our objective. Worry about that for now, not a dying farming community." Carter sternly told them.

"Yes sir. Sorry, got sentimental just a bit." Jorge apologized.

Kat was once more quick to interrupt their conversation.

"I'm picking up a distress beacon from down below." She said. "Marking it on your Head-Up Displays."

Everyone's heads quickly turned to the small clump of buildings below and tiny blue dot that appeared in the center of it. That is to say, it was blue for the Spartans, different colors for the different HUDs of the Normandy team and their helmets. Tali's was light purple of course like most of the stuff she owned.

The Falcons set down on a bluff up and away from the buildings and everyone but Jun and Jorge got off. Carter told Jun to stay behind and act as their eyes in the sky and let off Jorge at the next set of buildings. Then he directed everyone to head towards the distress beacon. He told everyone to keep an eye out for the troopers near the beacon and to keep their heads on a swivel for hostiles.

Now with feet on the ground once more, the Normandy team eyed the alien landscape of twisting trees that dotted the hillside and the large rocks that jutted up out of the ground. They had little time to properly admire it though as they were directed down towards the bottom of the slope and where the beacon was coming from. Emile clambered to the top of a large rock to get a look at the clump of buildings it was coming from.

"Everything clear from this angle." He commented as he jumped down from the tall rocky formation to the ground below.

Garrus wondered if he just witnessed one of those cybernetic enhancements Legion mentioned before. As he watched Emile, however, he noticed the Spartan stared back at him for a brief moment before continuing on to the beacon's signal. His face was covered by that visor, but the skull painted on it seemed to say everything for him regardless. Thankfully the Spartan hadn't acted on his "uncomfortable" feelings towards the Normandy crew so far. So Garrus thought it best they all continue to simply keep their distance. He didn't want to risk provoking him, for whatever miniscule reason.

"No other human life signs detected in the immediate area." Legion announced as it closed in on the clump of buildings. "It is unlikely the trooper team is still here."

"They gotta be nearby somewhere." Jorge said over the radio. "Standard procedure is to stay near the emergency beacon as close as possible."

Six approached the clump of buildings now, he entered one doorway, gun drawn and whirled around to the next. Not a soul to be seen.

"Looks like the robot is right." He said. "No one home."

The clump of buildings was now revealed to be a small storage and generator area. The mini-concrete bunkers hid farm equipment from prying eyes and surrounded a small but intact generator, fueled by gas. The buildings themselves looked a bit torn up, as if there had been a firefight here. What was most curious were the burn marks on the sides of the building. Most telling was the burnt out vehicle near the site. It was still on fire, so it couldn't have been too long ago that it met its untimely end. For all they knew they probably just missed the party.

Everyone gathered around the beacon's signal at the edge of concrete slab that made up center of the buildings. Kat and Emile dug through a pile of debris to reveal the distress beacon, a small red little object.

"Can't make out any ID," Kat said as she eyed it, "but it's military."

"Least we know they were here." Tali said optimistically

"Yeah, but where are the troopers now?" Jorge asked worried as he and Jun flew over. "They'd have to be in real trouble to abandon the distress beacon like that and not take it with them."

Six looked once again to the battle damaged buildings and car.

"From the looks of it," he began morbidly, "they either had to fall back cause they were being overrun, or they were captured. Only other option I can see is they got killed and someone dragged their bodies away afterwards."

No one seemed to comment on Six's remarks, they were the most logical conclusions and there was no disputing there had been a fight here. The real question was the nature of the fighting itself. Something seemed wrong, particularly the scorch marks around the area.

"Not seeing much in the way of explosive residue." Kat said confused. "In fact I don't see any at all."

Garrus eyed one of the scorch marks with his finger.

"So what blew up our jeep here and scorched the earth around it?" he asked.

"Maybe we just can't see it." Tali suggested. "Visible traces could be gone by now."

Carter was on the same wave length as he Tali. He quickly contacted Jun asking for any signs of Explosives residue, but he came up with nothing all the same.

"Plasma maybe?" Emile suggested.

"Can't be." Jorge was quick to shoot down over the radio. "Not on Reach. Rebels don't leave plasma burns, they use our weapons."

But those marks had to be caused by something, and plasma looked to be the most likely suspect. Garrus looked to Carter.

"Is it possible that insurrectionists got their hands on plasma weapons?" He asked the Spartan commander inquisitively.

"They'd either have to get them from our lock up or research labs, which are heavily guarded, or they'd have to attack the Covenant to nab them, which is suicidal." Carter explained adamantly. "Besides if they tried anything like the latter they'd realize what we're up against and join up instead of thinking about their radical separatist agenda."

"You're not giving radical ideologies enough credit." Tali told him. "Even after facing the Covenant, I doubt they'd change their minds. Thousands of colonies have been destroyed already, if they haven't joined up now…"

Carter sighed, Tali made a lot of sense as much as he hated to admit it. They had fought separatists before, they weren't exactly big on thinking their rebellion plans through.

"Yeah you have a point. They haven't jumped at the bit to help us yet why now." Carter relented "Still, if it is plasma that only leaves two options, one of which is unthinkable."

"But not impossible?" Garrus asked, knowing what Carter meant.

"Let's hope it is just insurrectionists with stolen plasma guns." Carter answered him gravely. "For everyone's sake, and I do mean everyone."

Emile bent down on one knee over a pool of blood on the concrete floor of the small storage and power area.

"Lot of blood on the ground," he said seemingly unfazed, "If they got away some of them are seriously wounded. If they died, like Six said, someone took the bodies."

"Troopers don't usually leave their men behind, even dead ones." Carter explained. "They could have fought off the attackers and made a break for it with whoever they could carry. Course they could all just be captured cause they couldn't fight anymore."

"Then we should go after them." Garrus said, a look of urgency in his eyes as he approached Carter. "Who knows what kind of condition they're in. They could be dying for all we know or worse, being tortured."

"That is not our priority," Carter responded adamantly, "we're here for the relay. We can't waste time looking for a bunch of men who may already be dead."

Carter turned to continue the mission, but Garrus wasn't willing to drop the subject it seemed. This scenario of missing soldiers reminded him too much of Omega.

"You don't know that," Garrus told him defiantly, "you said it yourself, they wouldn't have left the beacon if they weren't in trouble. We can't just abandon them like that."

Carter turned around quickly, not at all happy to have Garrus arguing with on this.

"As I recall I told you this wasn't your Op." Carter reminded him. "You don't make the calls, I do."

"I'm giving a suggestion, that's it." Garrus responded in his defense. "That relay isn't going anywhere. These people may not have much time left."

"They knew the risks," Carter replied nonchalantly, "we'll encounter who they went up against eventually and take them down. They'll rest easy."

Garrus stepped forward as Carter started to head further up the path. As per usually he didn't know when to drop something.

"If it was one of your own men would your opinion be different?" He asked simply.

Carter stopped in his tracks at that. For a second it looked like he was completely frozen. Without even responding to Garrus he opened a channel to Jun.

"Noble 3, keep an eye out for any UNSC trooper life signs or transponder signals. Inform us as soon as you confirm."

"Roger, Commander." Jun replied "You should probably head down to the slope to the next set of structures. They more than likely would've retreated through there and it's on the way to the Relay anyway."

Carter nodded and turned to Garrus.

"We keep moving in the meantime. Satisfactory?" He asked.

"More than enough." The Turian answered.

Carter moved out, the other Spartans slowly joining him, Kat being the first and making sure to keep in step beside him. Emile of course shoulder bumped Garrus as he walked by, the turian didn't say anything. Just more of steam the surly soldier was blowing off no doubt. Six just eyed them briefly, then seemed to nod approvingly as he kept walking. Garrus followed behind, Tali and Legion joining him.

"Well, that was certainly tenuous." Tali commented

"I told you, I'm not a very good turian when it comes to orders." Garrus replied a bit flustered. "Bad orders just don't sit as well with me as they would with most."

"Point is you stood firm. That tells them a lot about your conviction." Tali reassured him. "I'd like to have their respect as well as their trust. That and we did just stick up for saving human lives."

"Let's not ask for too much just yet." Garrus warned her. "One step at a time and everything."

As they began to approach the path to the next group of buildings, they saw a large flightless bird that looked like a Moa run across the path and into the bushes across them. It was shrieking as it did so, cawing up into the sky.

"He looked scared out of his little bird brain." Six noted.

Kat looked up towards the direction the bird had run from and noticed a possible explanation, smoke.

"Possible fire at the next set of structures." She suggested.

"Alright then," Carter concurred, "let's check it out. Everyone circle west, permission to fire but be selective. I don't want us telegraphing our presence."

With that Emile took off, leading the charge and prompting the rest to keep the pace. He seemed to be getting antsy, but Carter was quick to rein him in.

"Noble Four stay with the group." He told him. "We haven't engaged the enemy yet, there's no reason to be looking for a fight."

"I'm on your HUD sir, relax." Emile responded. "If something goes wrong I'll shout and you'll probably know it before then anyway. Won`t matter though, whatever it is gonna be dead by the time you get to me. Let's just get this done quick, alright?"

Carter shook his head in frustration. Another one of Emile's days he thought. Tali was the first to ask the obvious question.

"He always like this?" She asked.

"Emile never has liked the `calm before the storm` so to speak." Carter explained.

They approached a cliffside house; whoever lived here had a fantastic view for sure. Carter told Six to enter first with most of the team following behind. All except, of course, Emile who was already half way through the house. Inside they found the place in shambles, clutter everywhere and tables and chairs strewn across the floor along with papers and broken plates.

"Seeing heat sigs in the structure ahead, Commander." Jun announced over the radio. "Watch your corners down there."

They exited out of the dark little building via a giant hole that had been blasted through the wall. While they kept their eyes on the building next to them that Jun had warned them about they were still curious about the battle damage surrounding them.

"Somebody hit these people hard." Six observed as he looked at the small crater in the pavement that was blasted apart in front of the door. He then looked over his shoulder at the source of the smoke, a fire on the roof above. "Not like it was an orbital bombardment, but it seems a bit excessive for a bunch civies."

"Damage to structures is similar to previous firefight site." Legion added

The discussion was interrupted by the sound of whirling blades. The Falcon was letting off Jorge in a nearby field. It took off again soon after, as it was vanishing in the distance another sound caught the team's attention, that of a slowly opening door from the structure next to the building they left. Emile was the first to point his weapon at the entrance way, everyone else followed for a brief moment.

They soon all saw, however, the people inside were unarmed, huddled and scared. All except Emile, who somehow still saw a threat in the frightened civies. As one man rushed out, speaking in a different language the Spartan didn't understand, the skull faced commando went into kill mode. He clicked his shotgun once and pointed the weapon at the man's head, forcing him to put his hands up.

"On your knees!" he demanded viciously. "Now!"

Garrus wasn't a cop on the Citadel anymore, but he still had the reflexes and quick reaction time that was afforded to one. Instinct took over quickly, an unhinged man was pointing a gun at an unarmed civilian. He trained for stuff like this in C-SEC academy, but he couldn't shoot him, so he had to do the next best thing. He was the closest to Emile, so he stepped in and knocked the gun upwards, holding onto it with his claws.

"What the hell are you doing?" He shouted at Emile as the Spartan tried to rip the gun back. "They're unarmed!"

"Fuck off alien," Emile shouted back as he pushed Garrus away with his free hand, "and get your mitts off my weapon."

Garrus knew that was probably a stupid move, given the situation and the subject. Luckily, Jorge was quick to step in and keep things from escalating.

"They're not Rebels," he said pushing Emile's gun down and taking Emile`s eyes off the turian, "they're farmers. Look at them, they're harmless."

Jorge peered over to the frightened civies as he let Emile's gun go. Carter added his own two cents.

"Stand back Emile," he said calmly, "we don't need you scaring them more."

Emile, reluctantly, backed off, staring back at Garrus with slumping shoulders as he walked up beside Kat. Six took the place where he stood instead. Carter, however, wasn't letting Garrus off the hook either.

"I appreciate your consideration for their safety, but I can handle my own men." He told him sternly.

Garrus bobbed his head.

"Sorry Commander, my instinct took over." He replied humbly, "It won't happen again."

"Just save it for the enemy." Carter told him plainly. "We're gonna need it when we encounter them."

The Spartan Commander now turned to Jorge.

"Ask them what they're doing here, what they saw." Carter requested. "We need answers."

Jorge spoke to the man in his language, as he responded Jorge filled them in.

"They're hiding," Jorge began, "neighbors were attacked last night. They heard fighting, shooting, stopped around sunrise. He says that… something in the fields… killed his son."

That was interesting choice of words to everyone.

"Something?" Carter asked in return.

"Pronoun choice suggests non-human organic entity." Legion added. "Noble Commander, we suggest there is a strong possibility this incident was not caused by human insurrectionists."

"The alternative to them is unlikely." Carter responded abrasively. "It could've jsut as easily been an animal, unrelated."

"We suggested you consider the possibility." Legion replied. "Nothing more. You may choose to ignore it at your leisure."

No one voiced exactly who Legion was suggesting because everyone knew who it was suggesting. They just didn't want to really think about it. The idea of rebels still being responsible, despite all the evidence starting to point the other way, was less disturbing, more comforting, preferable.

"Set a perimeter." Carter told the others. "Jorge, Kat, with me, we need to talk. Team Xeno, Emile, Six, keep the civs company. We'll contact you if something comes up."

Six began to lead the man back inside, before Jorge left he told the civies in their language to follow him back into their hiding place. While Garrus and the other Normandy team members just looked on. When Carter, Kat and Jorge were out of ear shot however, Emile grabbed the Turian by the large plated ring around his neck and pulled him down so that the Spartan was looking down on him now. He couldn't see the look on the Spartan's face, but his voice was all Garrus needed to understand how pissed off he was.

"Listen up, plate head," he said in a hushed angry tone. "I don't like or your two tag along buddies. I especially don't like you touching my shit either. You pull something like that again, I don't care what the Commander says. I'm gonna pull them giant ass scales off your face one by one and let you bleed ta death in the road. Ya hear me?"

Garrus was not fazed by the disturbed Spartan's little threat, he stood there staring back at the skull faced visor through his own helmet.

"You're welcome to try." Garrus told him. "I hear from a friend of mine you have to work the blade a bit when it comes to us turians."

Garrus could hear Emile snarling under his throat. He started to grip at his machete with his free hand. Thankfully for both their sakes, someone was there to play mediator.

"Is this behavior considered favorable towards unit cohesion?" Legion asked simply, its geth assault rifle pointed casually at Emile from a distance.

The Spartan backed off, pushing Garrus back up. He walked away towards Carter and the others. Garrus breathed a sigh of relief. As did Tali who watched the whole spectacle, rather frightened as to whether it would really come to blows

"Thanks Legion," he said, "I had a feeling for a second he was gonna actually do something."

"His actions were distracting from the task at hand." Legion explained. "We surmised he would yield once reminded of his numerical disadvantage and how his superior would disapprove."

"At least we know who Noble Team's Grunt is." Tali joked, trying to relieve the built up tension.

Garrus gestured his neck around, trying to get it to snap back correctly as Emile's Spartan strength had left a crink in it.

"Grunt is a kitten compared to that guy." He argued. "At least he knows who's on his side. Plus he doesn't make idle death threats because we touch his guns. Well, as long as he's not using them."

"What about the action figures he bought on the extranet?" Tali countered. "He's defensive about those."

"Touché." Garrus conceded.

As they had their conversation they soon noticed that Six was still watching them, quietly, from near the door the civies were hiding behind.

"Grunt is another alien I guess?" he finally asked.

While surprised one of the Spartans was trying to spark up a friendly conversation for once, the Normandy team didn't want to be rude and not answer. So Garrus did so.

"Yeah, he's a giant hulking lizard." He answered as if it wasn't anything special. "Has a major temper."

"Well if he's anything like Emile your Commander must be pretty damn good at keeping him in line." Six noted as he stepped down towards them. "Especially if he's a giant lizard."

He looked to the three Normandy crew members as they began to huddle around Garrus.

"Garrus, Tali and Legion right?" Six asked. "Noble Lead told me all about you on the flight in."

"Hopefully it was only good things." Tali expressed in a deadpan joking sort of way. "Then again you're talking to us so I assume it was."

"Just that you all volunteered to help out because it's the only way to get your CO of the hook with command." Six explained. "So if you want to count that as a favorable remark, you can. I decided I wanted to make my own judgments."

At least that meant he was open-minded, that much Tali could appreciate.

"So what do you think of us so far?" Garrus asked.

"Well, you know what you're doing and you care about innocents, but you don't take crap and speak your mind." Six listed off. "Good qualities so far, can't complain. Not sure what to make of you beyond that."

Garrus supposed he could take that for now, better than blind xenophobia.

"We appreciate the compliment anyway… um," Garrus stopped in the middle of his sentence because he wasn't sure exactly what to call the Spartan, "Six, I guess?"

"Its fine, I'm mostly known by my number anyway." Six replied. "Even before I got transferred. I prefer it that way. I don't need to be labeled."

Legion's head plates made a gesture of curiosity at this point.

"That belief is similar to that of the geth." The machine observed "Numbers and broad based terms are more common than proper names."

Six just nodded his head.

"Interesting to know," He responded, "considering that you let people call you Legion."

"We accepted it to better communicate amongst and integrate into Normandy." Legion replied.

"Huh, how's that working out for ya?" Six asked.

Legion looked briefly to Tali, when she noticed she only briefly stared back. Then she went back to avoiding eye contact, slightly embarassed at the gesture.

"We are still building a consensus on that subject." The geth responded.

Six just nodded again and looked back towards the other Noble team members.

"Me? I get the feeling they don't really want me around." Six explained. "It's understandable. I'm replacing their last Number Six. Poor guy, hear he bought it in a big way. Soldiers never really enjoy having to accept an FNG."

Tali cocked her head a bit bewildered at the term. She was never very good at military terms, she was an engineer after all and she hadn't been with the Migrant Fleet Marines or Shepard long enough to sort out all the jargon. While she had heard plenty in her life, she had never heard that term before.

"FNG?" She asked.

"Fucking New Guy." Both Garrus and Six responded at the same time.

Tali just widened her eyes in understanding as she got the term. She suddenly realized why she hadn't heard it before. Among the Migrant Fleet there was no concept of the "New Guy" joining up. You were all family, when you went to another ship you were just acclimating into another part of it. She hadn't heard the term on Shepard's team before because no one had ever replaced or filled in for an absent or dead comrade on the first or second Normandy. Not in the way Six was describing things at least.

"I suppose that's common ground between us all right now, huh?" Tali asked, slightly hopeful as she did so.

"In a way I guess." Six answered "Breaks the ice a bit at least. Still weird working with aliens though."

Their conversation was cut short, however, when Jun shouted something over the radio.

"Noble Lead, I've detected heat signatures in the structure up the road from you! Could be the troopers or rebels!"

"Noble, Xeno, double time it! Now!" Carter ordered.

Without hesitation the group took off heading towards the small structure jutting out of the rocks up ahead. They rushed across a bridge, guns at the ready as they rushed to the doorway, Six and Emile pressed up against it while Jorge stared down it into the darkness.

"You got night vision on you, use it now." Carter told the group at large.

Both the Normandy crew and Noble Team flicked on the night vision in their helmets as they entered the darkened building. Inside, they found no heat signatures, only bodies. Both troopers and civilians, piled into one corner, they looked like they were in a bad way. The one who had it worst was the poor soldier pinned by his back to the wall. The soldier beneath was propped up against a barrel, a pool of blood surrounding him. Everyone else was a civilian, farmers, tossed in a pile to the side.

"Keelah." Tali said as she brought her hand to where her mouth was underneath her face plate, trying her best to remain composed. "They've slaughtered them. Like animals. Why?"

"Let's just hope it was quick... in the end." Garrus said to her hopefully.

Carter eyed the two soldiers who had obviously been tortured, for what exactly he wasn't sure but the evidence was clear. He called Jun.

"Noble 3, heat sigs no go." He told him. "We found two of the missing troopers, they're been interrogated. It's messy."

Carter shook his head as he stood up and let Six get a closer look for himself.

"Looks like they were beaten," he told the others as he surveyed the one on the ground's face, "then executed. Cut them up with some kind of blade. Then let them drain out for a bit."

He looked up at the one stuck to the wall via a series of hooks in the wall. Once used to hold miscellaneous farming equipment, now it was holding his corpse. Six moved the poor guy's head around to get a better view.

"Someone forced him on here, punctured his back, held him and, eventually, it seems they snapped his neck." He observed.

He let the man's head go before turning to the civilians.

"They were beaten to death," he determined, "you can see it all over them, blood looks consistent with that."

"What are you? Sherlock Holmes now?" Emile derided with a smirk.

"I took a class on anatomy back in my salad days if it will make you trust my judgment any better." Six responded a bit bitterly. "I've seen how dead bodies look Noble Four, on the battlefield and off, I know what I'm talking about."

"I agree with the analysis," Garrus said quickly rising to Six's defense as he closed in on the bodies. "I was a cop once. I've seen stuff like this. Never this bad though."

All the while this was going on Legion was observing the entire scene, making a consensus of all the clues and evidence.

"We have always been perplexed by organic tendencies to drift towards torture." The Geth said it eyed the slumped over soldier on the ground. "The subject is more than likely will invent fiction that they believe the interrogator desires. It is an inefficient way of gathering data."

"Maybe after a point it wasn't to get information at all." Tali added, staring at the corpses in disgust. "Maybe they were just on some sick power trip."

Legion seemed off put by this information.

"Organics who enjoy the procedure are more puzzling." The Geth added. "They accept the action is pointless, yet commit it only for emotional self-indulgence. It will gather invalid information nonetheless and only makes themselves satisfied. Again, nothing is achieved."

"I wouldn't try to understand it, Legion." Garrus told the machine sadly. "Hell, I was in C-SEC for years taking down some pretty sick bastards and I still didn't get them."

Six stared at the bodies for a moment more.

"I think Tali may have a point," he said, "rebels are ruthless but if they were gonna interrogate and kill people they'd be cleaner. Bullet to thebrain is quicker than stomping a poor guy's head in."

"Maybe they're just messed up little fuckers." Emile suggested.

"That's not the only thing that's making me question all this." Six quickly added. "Check out the floor."

Everyone did at once and saw exactly what Six was pointing out for them. Bloody footprints, three toed, defiantly not human and they were all over the place.

"Could just be more of the Moa." Carter suggested.

"I doubt it, sir." Six told him.

Legion spoke up once more as it examined the footprints.

"Evidence of plasma weaponry, account of farmers and the footprints heavily suggests the insurrectionists were not involved." It said.

"That only leaves one option," Jorge said abruptly, "one I don't like thinking about."

"They've taken almost every other planet why not this one?" Tali asked him sincerely.

"Because Reach is too damn important for that to happen." Jorge shot back.

"We merely stated our judgment on available data," Legion said plainly in its defense "It is your choice whether to act upon it."

Carter shook his head in frustration, this circle jerk wasn't getting them anywhere. While everyone was thinking what Legion was suggesting, no one wanted to say it aloud. Neither did he, he preferred still thinking they were secure, if only for a moment more.

"Were not getting answers here." Carter told them sternly "Heat sigs were here ten seconds ago, now they're not. We just missed whoever was here by seconds, they can't have gone far. We find them, we get our answers and we'll deal with it when we do. Now move, everyone."

No one argued against Carter and they all moved forward through the building, past another poor dead soul. Tali looked at the dead civilian for a moment, shaking her head.

"Whoever did this to these people needs to die, badly." She said, whispering unbridled rage under her throat.

"No argument here." Jorge agreed.

As they got to the exit they started hearing sound above them. Something was rattling around up there. All the while there was something on the Spartan's motion trackers.

"Rats?" Garrus asked.

"Those are some pretty big rats." Tali noted, slightly unhinged.

Carter asked Jun if he had anything, he said no. As quickly as it came the sounds were gone. The team started to make its way through the courtyard past a burnt out tree towards the next building, a large storage facility from the looks of it. As they entered, the memory of the sounds was brought up once again as the Spartans' motion trackers spiked again.

"Something is moving around the corner." Kat told them. "Very erratically, like it's jumping around."

Six was on point, Garrus close by. They rounded the corner, passing some large circular containers covered in mesh. When they got to the other side they saw a window. Outside they could see the main courtyard for the building and how the two wings of the structure surrounded it. And on the wing to right, they saw it.

A bird like creature again, but it was certainly not an moa. It clutched a weapon in its bony arms as it turned to look back at Garrus and Six. The two stood there, not entirely shocked by what they were seeing at this point, but certainly horrified. That horror quickly amplified as the Jackal screeched into the heaven, calling on its friends. Six reacted and fired his pistol through the window. Two rounds penetrated the alien's skull and fell off the building to the ground. Carter and the others caught the tail end of it all.

"Contact! Contact!" Six shouted.

Carter immediately called Jun on the radio.

"Jun, Covenant! Our position!" He shouted, he then heard alien screeching heading to their position. He ran to the window with Garrus and Six and watched several Jackals rush into the floor below them. "Reinforcements engaging, we need close air support!"

"Copy that, Commander."

Suddenly their unvoiced concerns were all voiced for them. The only one among them who didn't seem to hate the truth now staring them in the face was Emile who merely remarked "Here we go" as if he had been hoping things would turn out this way. Carter didn't have much time to be horrified, however briefly. He need to deal with the current threat dogging them.

"They're downstairs. Six, get a grenade in there. Garrus, cover him. Everyone else, follow after them!"

Six rushed down the nearby flight of stairs, Garrus right behind him and his Vindicator Battle Rifle at the ready. Turning the corner of the stairwell they saw the massing group of Jackals at the doorway. None of them had shields, but they were all heavily armed. Six quickly pulled the pin on his grenade and tossed it underhand into the mass of aliens. They heard the thing start bounding towards them and turned. They only caught a glimpse of Six and Garrus before the grenade exploded. Four Jackal bodies, full of shrapnel, were tossed into the walls of the building. Their limbs flying as their crumpled forms collapsed to the ground.

The survivors of the explosion gathered their bearings and began firing their needle weapons at the two. Garrus was quick to respond taking headshots at both of them in quick succession. They fell to the ground, but they could hear more just outside.

"I thought these guys had shields most of the time, what gives?" Garrus asked as he pressed himself against the doorway.

"Sub-species with different tactics," Six explained as he got behind Garrus, "we call them Skirmishers. Keep an eye on them, they like to jump around like damn grasshoppers."

Garrus nodded and poked his head out the doorway. He saw a large contingent of Grunts onrushing them, their Skirmisher pals taking up the rear. As one of the skirmishers leapt to the side, landing on top of the right wing of the facility, Garrus began firing at him. As Six said, he was slippery bastard, dodging the vindicator's fire as it crept towards him. He fired back at Garrus, who dodged the needle rounds coming out of the large rifle the creature held in its arms. It was even harder to get a bead on it because Garrus was distracted by the plasma bolts rushing at him and Six. He had to go back to cover before too long.

Its flight did not last long, Kat was next down the stairwell and cut off the Skirmisher's escape path by firing ahead of it. It backtracked towards it's doom. For Tali was down on the ground next and took aim with her heavy pistol at the creature's head. The alien's head twisted around from the impact and it fell on its stomach, its ass sticking up in the air.

"Good shot." Kat commented quickly.

"Thanks," Tali replied as the two got to cover, "I told you and Noble Lead I knew how to handle myself."

"Gangway!"

The voice shouting that was Jorge bounding down the stairs, his chain gun at the ready. He fired a stream of bullets into the onrushing crowd of Grunts and Skirmishers. The Skirmishers jumped away, the Grunts had to flee backwards. One of them had its back filled with lead before it got to relative safety. Jorge's suppressing fire allowed most of the others a bit of breather room to maneuver. They didn't have to worry about plasma bolts for a few precious seconds. Of course it didn't last long as the Grunts, showing uncanny courage unnatural to them, started coming back to resume the assault. The Skirmishers returned as well, hoping onto the wings of the structure once more in an effort to take the high ground.

As one grunt hobbled and strafed across the doorway, Six opened fire on his methane tank. As predicted with the volatile gas, the tank exploded and sent the poor hunchbacked alien into the air, flipping ass over tea kettle as he did, screaming all the way. It should've been ample warning for the Skirmisher taking aim at the doorway. Instead the Grunt flew smack into him and the remaining methane within the tank exploded.

The team headed out of the doorway and into the courtyard, Tali had swapped her pistol for her Geth shotgun. She made use of it at once. A skirmisher jumped atop the left wing's roof and began firing needles down at Carter and Kat as they made their way for cover, the center of the courtyard to be precise, where a large tractor was parked. Tali charged the weapon and fired it at the Skirmisher. The Geth shotgun's plasma bolt, travelled across the length of the courtyard and smacked straight into the body of Skirmisher. The alien was melting into a fine molten paste before it even hit the ground.

Carter and Kat caught the whole thing as they were trying to decide what to do about the skirmisher that had them pinned. Tali quickly took cover at a nearby corner as the shotgun cooled down from the expenditure.

"That gun standard issue where you come from?" Kat said asked over the comm.

"No," Tali admitted as she swapped out the thermal clip of the gun as fire started smacking against her cover, "not unless you're a robot I think. Pretty good range for a shotgun, huh?"

"Emile would love it, that's for sure." Carter added to the conversation. "Focus now, we got Covies on all sides."

Six kept behind Jorge as they moved up the right path, trying to clear out or chase of the Grunts on their end with continuous automatic fire. Six covered Jorge's flanks as the large Spartan used that bullet hose of his to clear them a path. As one Grunt tried to jump Jorge from the side, Six kicked the gas guzzler in the face and fired point blank into it's now tumbling form. It then switched to the other side where a Grunt was standing firing plasma bolts at him and Jorge.

So busy Six was with protecting Jorge, he didn't notice the Skirmisher creeping up on top of the wing towards him. It's Needle rifle at the ready the alien assassin prepared to make a head shot at the Spartan, perhaps even land enough needles to create a catastrophic enough explosion to kill both him and Jorge. However the Covie wasn't counting on another sniper in area. A large shot rang out and where the Skirmisher's brain once was only a large gaping hole remained. Six heard the bang over the gunfire and looked up to see the Skirmisher tumble to the ground. He traced where the shot must've come from and found it had been fired from the second floor. Legion was still up there in the window they first saw the Covenant through. His widow sniper rifle was still smoking a bit from the shot. As Legion expended a thermal clip it spoke to Six through the comm.

"You are clear, proceed with objective, we shall cover you."

Six just nodded in the Geth's direction and kept covering Jorge. Back with Legion, it set its sights on keeping the wings of the structure clear and the Skirmisher's off the high ground. The Geth's sensors were working overtime to keep up with how quickly and how often the Skirmisher's kept jumping up to the roof. Luckily Legion could keep up with them, for Geth reflexes were faster than that of most Organics. As another Skirmisher leapt on top of the left side wing, Legion switched around and fired another round into the creature's eye socket before it even saw any of the Spartans. Another Skirmisher came jumping up to where his comrade fell. It was only distracted by the dead body for a millisecond, but that was all it took for Legion to get the alien in its sights. A single shot ripped apart the Covenant assassin's throat.

Back to the right, Legion saw another Skirmisher using the right wing as a stepping stone to jump on the tractor and try to take Carter and Kat from close range. As the skirmisher jumped, Legion calculated how far it would have to lead its target to make a clean kill. One round penetrated the Skirmisher's chest and the creature screamed it's last as it's lifeless form collapsed onto of the tractor and then slid off.

Back to the left side of the courtyard a group of Grunts were amassing for another rush. They met with Garrus and Emile who stared them down., the two seemed to nod at each other before they opened fire at the group. Vidcator and shotgun rounds filled the air with deafening bangs. The Gunts cowered for what they surely thought was their end. Instead they opened their eyes once more to find their will all still alive. The enemy had missed.

Then they heard a strange whooshing sound like hot air and flames escaping something compact and small. They turned to see a volatile red gas container, it's top spewing fire. Their eyes widened in fear and they tried to run. It was too late. An explosion of flames erupted next to them, sending others flying, igniting unluckier Grunts closer to the container. The other grunts tried to flee.

"Impressive." Garrus complimented towards Emile on their combined effort.

Emile responded as Garrus should've suspected.

"Yeah," he said rather cocksure, "I was."

Garrus grimaced under his helmet, but there was no time to argue. A large green explosion erupted in front of them. They looked to where it had come from to see a small purple oblong shaped craft with two large sticks jutting out of its bottom.

"Banshees!" Carter cried out. "Get to cover! Jun we need support now!"

Everyone heeded the command as the banshee, now joined by its wingman continued to strafe the area. Luckily Jun's Falcon flew in to engage the second craft, peppering it with machine gun fire. Tali, still in her corner stepped out to get a view of the first one rushing her. She didn't budge.

"You want me ya bosh'tet? Huh?" she asked in defiance "Well I got something for you! So come on! Come and get me!"

She powered up her Plasma Shotgun once more as the aircraft began slowly strafing it's plasma cannons towards her. Luckily her weapon charged up first. She fired a huge blast at Banshee, hitting it dead center. It began to burn and tumble in the air. She saw where it was headed and looked to Legion's position.

"Legion!" She shouted with urgent concern. "It's headed your way! Get out of there! Now!"

Legion looked up at the flaming Banshee as it closed in. Heeding Tali's advice it threw itself out of the open window as the small purple craft smashed into the part of the building the Geth had been using as a perch. Once it hit the ground, Legion rushed over and tackled Tali to the ground as the ship's remains crashed to the dirt nearby.

The two pulled themselves up once the dust cleared.

"Are you undamaged, Creator Tali'Zorah?" Legion asked

"I'm fine, more or less," Tali said as she shook off how winded she was at the moment, "how about you?"

"No damage to this platform detected." It responded. "We surmise had you not warned us of the impending danger-"

"Hey, we're a team, remember?" Tali told it. "You just did the same for me after all."

Legion's eye opened and closed for a moment before responding.

"Nonetheless, we are grateful." It said sincerely.

The bonding moment was interrupted as they heard the fight in the skies above them intensify. Jun's Falcon was strafing the banshee as pitched and yawed in the air. Finally it got parallel to the alien ship exactly. Jun took aim with his scope, his armor piercing rounds loaded and aimed for where the pilot would be. With the banshee already damaged enough the round penetrated the vehicle with ease and blasted the Elite driving the ship's head apart. The Aircraft tumbled out of the sky and exploded as it slammed into the ground.

What few grunts remained now began to make a hasty retreat down a hill and towards a nearby bridge. Their air support was gone, they had no one left to save them.

"Noble, Xeno," Carter commanded, "pursue! We can't risk them bringing more reinforcements this way!"

The teams did so and began gunning down the fleeing Grunts as they made their way to the bridge. As they proceeded with this task though they saw something else approach them, a large U shaped craft coming out of the sky.

"Covenant dropship team!" Carter told them all. "Coming in fast and hard! Watch the plasma turret on its underside!"

As if on cue, the turret began opening up, prompting everyone to run for the cover of the nearby roofed bridge. The searing heat of the plasma turret licked at their heels as they ran and allowed the large doors on either side of the dropship to open wide and allow the Covenant inside to leap down to the ground. It was mostly Grunts and Skirmishers from the look of it. There was however one Elite, a commanding officer at that it seemed, in gold armor.

The Grunts began to stream down the side of the hill, blasting away with the plasma pistols as Noble and the Normandy crew came into their line of sight. The Elite held back, content to watch the soldiers under him sacrifice themselves as cannon fodder. As predictable with most Grunt charges it didn't last long. Kat and Six had their pistols out, aiming down the sights the Grunts' heads exploded into fine blue mist. Jorge put a nail in the charge's coffin when he opened the chain gun up on them. The sound was enough to start driving them back, too late for one poor Grunt who ended up getting his methane tank punctured. He swirled forward into a rock, crushed his skull on impact.

As the grunts ran up hill the Skirmishers began opening fire, but not on Noble or the Normandy crew, on the Grunts themselves.

"Guess their CO doesn't tolerate retreats." Emile commented as he watched the bodies of Grunts explode from needler rounds or tumble down the slope with plasma burns.

"Unfortunately for him neither do we." Carter declared adamantly. "Move up Noble! Xeno flank them to the side!"

Sound enough strategy, Garrus recognized it, oldest one in the book really. Carter was going to get the attention of the Skirmishers, hopefully leaving the Elite open to be taken out. Garrus, Tali and Legion circled the bluff while the others stormed the hill top, heading towards a clump of twisting trees and bushes. Jorge's chain gun was more than enough to rip the frail bodies of the Skirmishers apart, but some were quicker than his trigger finger. One made a beeline towards Kat, jumping at her with plasma knife in hand. She grabbed the bird alien's head and slammed it into the ground. Her metal arm beat the Skirmisher's head in the rest of the way.

Six peppered an assault rifle on two of the remaining Skirmishers. That was when the Elite rushed out. Armed with just a plasma rifle it took a swipe at Six's head. The alien missed of course as the Spartan ducked out of the way. He then unloaded a full magazine into the Alien's shields. It was enough to get them critical and to the point of fizzling out. A punch to the face from a Spartan arm was enough to take them down completely. Six jumped back as the recovering Elite made a move to kick him.

That was the last thing he ever did as the Elite's back began to get ripped apart. Purple blood spewed everywhere as several shots slammed into the Covenant officer. He only went down finally when a stray shot hit his head. He collapsed onto his knees and then to the ground completely. Behind him was Legion, Garrus and Tali, their weapons smoking. Tali had her heavy pistol out once more, Garrus and Legion their Assault rifles, and from the look of it each of them were smoking.

"So uh, which one of us got him on that last one?" Garrus asked jokingly.

Six composed himself once more and walked up, his gun still drawn but at his side.

"Good timing." Six told them "Saved me the bullet."

"Would've got here sooner but a Skirmisher got away from the pack and got us distracted." Garrus explained. "We punched his head in though, didn't take long."

"Problem took 2.3 seconds average to correct." Legion added.

Another gunshot was heard as Carter blew out the brains of the last Skirmisher.

"Alright, stand down Noble, Xeno. Contacts are neutralized." He told them seemingly calm.

Jorge was not as composed as Carter.

"Contacts?" He said annoyed, seemingly pissed that Carter wasn't calling a spade a spade at the moment. "It's the damn Covenant! On Reach! None of us wanted to admit till now, but they're here!"

Jorge was distressed, Tali understood somewhat. This was where he grew up he said, it was hitting him hard. It would've been like if something had attacked the Raaya, the ship she had been born on. This all made Emile's next comment downright insensitive to her.

"Cheer up big man," he said barely hiding his joy over it all, "this whole valley just got turned into a free fire zone."

Tali, as stated before, wasn't at all amused by Emile's cool and arrogant attitude towards the situation. That was more than enough for her to forget her prior reluctance to speak up against the skull-faced Spartan.

"I'm glad that you can at least find some solace considering the possible beginning of the end for every living thing on this planet." She derided him.

Emile paid her no mind.

"Just saying there's a silver lining and all." He replied smugly. "Enjoy it while we can."

Carter at least kept his mind where it needed to be, on mission.

"We need to warn Colonel Holland. Kat, I need you at that relay outpost ASAP." Carter ordered. "We have to declare Winter Contingency."

"Winter Contingency?" Garrus asked confused.

"It's the code word for a planet wide lockdown and martial law." Kat explained. "When evidence that the Covenant have found a colony it's issued immediately. The Cole Protocol goes into effect. No ship can leave the immediate sector, we can only accept incomings from our own people. Military comes out in force, fully mobilized and we try to contain the enemy where they landed if we can."

"It's the only way to respond to a Covenant attack quick enough." Six added. "And keep them from discovering more colonies or planets."

"Like Earth." Tali finished for them.

"Exactly." Carter responded firmly.

With that in mind Garrus tried to reach Commander Shepard on the Normandy, hoping to at least get him so he could tell Holland or someone. But the dead zone was in full effect and he got nothing.

"Damn," he said to himself in frutration as he turned to the others, "just static. I can't get Shepard either, like Noble One said our only chance is the relay."

"No time to lose then, come on!" Carter shouted.

As they rushed across a small shallow stream, a waterfall cascading down beside them Jun came over the radio again.

"Another dropship, sir! I'll try running interference so they don't offer any plasma turret support but the troops they drop off are on you!"

"It will be enough," Carter told him, "we'll handle the ground troops, just be ready to get a Falcon in to lift Kat and Emile out of here! Six you're on point!"

The group came upon a hay bale field, with a large outcropping of rocks and trees directly in front of it. As they moved into position, Grunts poured out at them. The first two died as Carter and Six unloaded assault rifle rounds into their bodies. The third began running back as the team began to pursue red bolts of plasma suddenly arched their way over to them. The teams scattered in different directions as the volleys slammed into the position. Emerging out of the hay bales were three Elies, with large ornate curved crowns on their heads.

"We got Elites." Carter informed the others as he took cover with Kat in a small open storage and work area. "Ultra class, watch yourselves people."

Carter and Kat tried laying down suppressing fire but the Elite with the concussion rifle fired back, pining them down. The others had taken cover in the treeline with the rocks. Jorge set up his own little machine gun nest with his chain gun to keep the Ultras heads down. They were more slippery however as they kept ducking amongst the hay bales, no one could seem to get a bead on them.

Garrus tried get a lock on one to rip through his shields with an overload, but as he launched it the Elite ducked behind a hay bale again and the power surge missed.

"Damn! It's not like back on the Normandy, they have too much space to move around!" Garrus screamed in frustration "We need to root them out of hiding if we're gonna stop them! One of them keeps dodging among the hay bales, I can't get a bead on him."

Tali, who was next to Garrus, started thinking it over in her head. She was no strategist, but she wasn't stupid. She saw a Grunt, still in cover but more exposed than the Elites and he was right near said dodgy Elite.

"I can take one of them down," she declared confidently, "I just need a clear enough shot for like three seconds. Can you give me that?"

Garrus was about to ask how, when he remembered the Arc Projector Shepard had given him.

"Just be ready." Garrus told her

The Turian rushed up to a rock where Emile was firing off shotgun rounds.

"Not my kind of fight." He complained. "I prefer the up close and personal stuff."

"Which is why I'm here." Garrus informed him, mimicking Emile's own arrogant and cocky attitude.

He took out the Arc Projector and took aim at the Grunt. He charged the weapon. He needed to time this right or the Elite would just stay in cover and wait for his shields to come back up. When the moment was right the Elite made his move and began to dive between the hay bales. The Grunt, still in view from this position was open to attack. Garrus fired the arc projector. The electricity shot out and hit the Grunt square on. The body of the little alien squealed in agony as the electrical surge travelled through his body like he was a transformer on a telephone pole. Garrus shied away from looking at the Grunt. That many volts through anything's body never was a pretty sight.

The Elite fared better. His shields absorbed much of the electrical impact they still held however, but the shock had kept him from reaching his cover. He was only paused for a few more seconds than usual. Enough time for Tali to fire a single charged plasma shot at the alien. The blast travelled across the field and struck the Elite square in the back. The Elite collapsed into blue molten goo. One Elite and a Grunt down. Even Emile seemed impressed.

"I need me one of those." He said looking at the weapon.

Legion, who was huddling beside Six on the outside of the rock outcropping had its own idea of how to get the second Elite in the hay bales. But it required a bit more cooperation.

"Six Noble, we require your assistance." It told him.

"I'm not opposed to hearing some ideas right now myself." He responded.

"Follow our lead, stay behind us, provide cover fire." The synthetic said, laying everything out simply and matter of factly.

Six just shrugged and got his pistol ready.

"Lead the way then," he told the Geth, "I got your back… or backs."

Carter had explained to him on the ride in about Legion, suffice to say Six was struggling on how to properly refer to a machine that had thousands of sentient programs running around in it.

Legion walked out, Geth Assault Rifle at the ready. It activated it's Geth shielding which added an extra layer of protection for both it and Six. They closed in on the Elite with the concussion rifle who was now lobbing explosive plasma bolts at both the treeline and the work shed in tangent from a distance. As Six and Legion closed in the both started to unload on the Ultra Elite. It growled back in anger and tried firing its concussion rifle at them. The explosions erupted around them, but Legion was careful not to let the Elite get any direct hits. As the Ultra's shields dropped the alien ducked behind Hay Bale cover.

"Creator Tali'Zorah," Legion declared over the comms, "Enemy combatant hiding behind nearby obstruction. Sending coordinates to your HUD. Request drone assistance."

Tali noticed a purple dot appear in the corner of her visor. She looked towards it and spotted the hay bale. Quickly she activated her drone.

"Go Chiktikka, make him run screaming out of there."

The purple drone materialized close to the hay bale sought out the Elite. It spotted the drone, was perplexed for a second and began to back up to fire. It was too close to fire a concussion round. Chiktikka struck first and delivered a powerful energy zap to the Elite's eyes. The alien rushed out, holding its eyes in its hand. Legion pursued still firing even as the alien tried to regain it's composure.

"Garrus, we require assistance." Legion called.

Garrus leapt out of cover and charged ahead, the arc projector still at the ready. He fired a quick burst at the Elite causing it to reel back slightly from the shock. Legion renewed firing with his assault rifle along with Six. They got the Elites shields down at last, but it had recovered from the blinding shock and electrocution already. It made a move to fire a concussive blast at Legion. But Garrus was still there and he delivered another electric shock to the alien with the arc projector. As the Elite stood there in pain, Legion fired point blank into its head.

"Target terminated." Legion said looking down at the collapsed and charred form of the once proud covenant officer.

"Damn, these guys can really take a lot of punishment can't they? That last blast was half charged." Garrus informed Legion. "It's usually enough to kill a man without their shields up."

Garrus had forgotten in his state of amazement at how much punishment an Elite could actually take, that were three Ultra Elites. The last one body checked him from behind. Garrus was thrown to the ground and had to roll of the way of close range plasma rifle fire. The elite screamed in anger as it tried to follow the rolling Turian. Its rage filled attack was interrupted by a chain gun hit his shields. Jorge was back in the open, keeping up the fire.

Legion and Six added to the attack. The Elite's shields went down and he caught a bullet from Jorge in the back of his leg. He ran to a hay bale before collapsing. The Elite took a deep series of breathes and finally growled. It picked up its plasma gun once more and made a move to head back out into the fight. It turned the hay bales' corner and met face to face with a shotgun barrel. Emile stared down at the Elite from on high.

"Hey there, welcome to Reach."

The elite gave out one last roar before Emile pumped its body full of lead with three successive shotgun blasts. Only then did the alien seem to stop trying to get back up.

Legion helped Garrus to his feet as the rest of the team regrouped.

"This how most engagements are for you?" Garrus asked Carter as he came up.

"No, they're usually worse." Cater admitted. "Yours?"

"Same deal, usually worse." Garrus replied. "Still tough as nails though. Would like to fight them on our own terms one of these days."

"That will come when it does." Carter assured "Right now we still have a mission."

Carter was interrupted as he explained by Jun again.

"Commander, I have activity to the Northeast of your position."

Carter nodded and turned to the others as he talked to Jun.

"Get a Falcon down here to take Emile and Kat to the relay." He ordered. "Me and the others will run interference. Try and keep them off you."

Tali was perplexed as to why she and Legion weren't going. This was why they were down here, to help with the relay.

"Shouldn't I go to assist?" Tali asked as the Falcon made its approach.

"I'll work faster alone." Kat told her abruptly as she ran past towards the Falcon, Emile in tow.

Tali was about to say something in her defense, annoyed that Kat still seemed unwilling to let someone else with tech experience help her out. She had come to help with exactly this problem and she honestly thought that they had gotten voer this. It was disheartening. That was when Carter explained his reasons.

"I need every available body down on the ground to help clear out the area and take pressure off Two and Four." He explained to them. "From what I've seen so far I'm gonna need all of you for this. Now let's move."

Carter took off with Jorge and Six, Tali stood there flabbergasted.

"Did he just say he needed us?" She asked the others, rather pleseantly surprised at the implication.

"Well, I think our status among these guys has just improved." Garrus said happily.

The Falcon took off, leaving the others behind to face whatever lay northeast. They dropped down a small ledge to a small forested area nearby. To their right they saw two civilian trucks, just waiting there.

"Why walk when you can ride, right?" Asked Garrus.

They piled in, Six driving the noble team truck, Garrus taking over the second vehicle. Legion hopped on the back of their, sniper rifle at the ready. Jorge shimmed his way up onto the backside of Noble's truck, making a machine gun turret there with his chain gun.

"Gun it, Six." Carter told the Lieutenant. "We need to find what's in this valley and clear it out."

Six put pedal to the metal and the two trucks took off along the dirt road. They made their way down a hill towards a set of structures nearby. On the way they saw two Skirmishers patrolling the road. They spotted the two trucks and began to fire on them.

"Don't break for anything." Carter told Six.

The Spartan gunned it, as did Garrus. Jorge fired on the Skirmishers as they got close. Six's vehicle ran over one, Garrus' bumper smacked into the chest of the toher that had jumped out of the way.

There was nothing in their way as they pulled into what looked like a small villa that had been torn apart. With good reason as several grunts rushed out firing. Tali took aim with her shotgun, she didn't bother charging it up as regular plasma shot were enough to take apart a grunt it seemed. Garrus jumped out with a fully charged arc projector and launched a blast as a contingent of the little gas suckers rushed down the steps towards them. Noble didn't have to do much, they just let Jorge strafe the Covies. The lone Elite amongst the little squad made a dash out of cover. He was just a minor officer from the look of his armor, but that still made him a key target. Legion took aim at him, Widow at the ready. One shot penetrated hios shields and dropped him like a sack of potatoes.

"Move on it's clear." Carter told them.

Garrus jumped back in and followed Six as they sped out of the villa. They drove down yet another hill towards a grove of trees. Amongst a small flock of Emus there were some Skirmishers in wait. The Emus ran as they heard Jorge open fire on the Skirmishers. The three aliens ended up trying to run from the truck as well, firing back when they could. They ended up as speed bumps for the trouble.

"Little choppy today, eh Lieutenant?" Carter asked a bit jovially.

"Least the shocks are getting a good workout, sir." Six said adding to the remark.

The trucks pulled up along a stream around the next bend, surprising a group of Grunts as they did. Jorge laid into them with his chain gun. Tali began to shoot at them as they drove by the group, taking out two with her heavy pistol. Both shots connected with their heads.

"Detecting enemy movement across the stream in structures." Legion announced. "Halt transportation."

Across the stream was a complex of structures in the cliff side. Legion aimed down the scope of its Widow rifle once more to eye the distinct appearances of an Elite leading group of Grunts out the complex's doors and into the stream that separated them. Legion made sure that the Elite would never make it across the river. A shot rang out and the half of the Elite's face exploded.

"Primary target down," Legion said, "firing at secondary targets."

Over Legion's gunfire Carter picked something up on comms.

"Boss," Jun said, "we're picking up a distress signal. Patching you through."

Over the comm came the voice of a frightened and frantic soldier.

"Mayday, mayday, this is Three Charlie Six, we are under attack by Covenant forces! The Covenant is on Reach, I repeat the |covenant is on Reach!"

The cry for help caught everyone's attention.

"The Troopers?" Jorge asked.

"Must be, only other military unit out here we were told of." Carter replied. "Looks like your faith in them surviving was a good hunch, Garrus."

The Turian didn't proudly boast or anything, Garrus was just happy to know those Troopers had made it out alive.

"I had a feeling they were good soldiers," Garrus replied modestly, "they don't die easy."

But relief gave way to urgency, as Tali reminded them how long the Troopers had been here.

"If they've been out since last night fighting the Covenant they're probably running on fumes now." She told them all anxiously. "They're probably running out of ammo, or wounded, we have to get to them."

"Agreed." Carter said at once.

"No offense sir," Jun said sullenly over the radio, "but don't we have more important things to do than picking up strays?"

Carter had his mind on the mission for most of this op. The Relay was the goal, but Garrus had reminded him about Thom from the outset of it all. He already had a guilty conscience. He wouldn't add to it.

"We don't leave people behind." Carter steadfastly told Jun. "Keep tabs on that signal, find me those troopers."

Jun copied.

Legion by now had long since mopped up what was left of the Grunts. No more movement. The trucks took off again. It was only a few feet further when they started hearing the distress signal once more.

"We are under attack! Mayday! Three Charlie Six! I got wounded! Covenant are closing in!"

"We're close," Carter spoke up, "Jun, do you see anything at our position?!"

"Northeast of you! Hurry!"

The trucks rushed over to the site, they found a dropship hovering close to ground, dozens of Covenant soldiers, Jackals and Grunts, assaulting what appeared to be a small power station of sorts. Amongst the ruins were the troopers.

"Noble Three we have the Troopers," Carter called up, "we need Falcon Evac! Now!"

"En Route, just hold out."

Carter took out as many grenades as he could and set them up in his arms.

"Six, gun it, jump out on my mark. You too Jorge."

The truck took off, Six's pedal practically eating through the floor. Carter pulled the pins on the Grenades.

"Mark!"

Jorge, Six and carter bailed out of the truck. The grenade laden truck kept driving into the center of the Covenant attack force, running over a few as it did. A terrific explosion took out the assault force in one go. Noble team got to their feet just as the Normandy crew stopped their truck in front of them. They piled out and followed the Spartans to the Troopers. They were as Tali suspected, battered, worn out, and half dead, but they weren't broken, not yet.

"Spartans," said one of the exhausted troopers "thank god. I'm Corporal Travis. It's the Covenant, ambushed us in the night. Lost our CO hours ago, been trying to just stay alive since and-"

"Corporal, relax," Carter putting his hand up, "we're gonna get you out of here. I just need you to stay calm. Are you with me?"

The Corporal nodded nervously. Carter didn't blame him for being scared, he been out here so long, it probably felt like a lifetime.

"Covenant dropship en route to you sir!" Jun shouted over the comms. "I'm holding evac back."

"Good call Jun, we'll clear the evac zone." Carter told him

"I can get to high ground with Legion," Garrus suggested "act as overwatch."

"Do it," Carter responded, "everyone else, hold it here. Let's get to work Noble."

Tali took up position near one soldier near the doorway. It took only a few seconds of looking at her to realize the obvious.

"Hey, you aren't human." He said eyeing her three toes and fingers.

"No, but I'm on your side." Tali assured him with a steely eyed determined look. "And I won't let them take you. I promise."

For a moment, the trooper stayed crouched there, justy looking into the Quarian girl's eyes. Tali could see the man trying to process things in his head. Trying to guage her intentions. She almost half expected him to act like most people do around Quarians. Instead he surprised her. He took up a firing position beside her. Tali smiled a bit, a person who had never met a quarian before was trusting her. It was a nice feeling, and a famliar one.

The Covenant dropship came and began letting off its deadly cargo. Six rushed up to point and tossed a grenade to one side of the dropship. The explosion killed three of the grunts that plopped out of it. There were still plenty more coming. That and there was an Elite as well, this one apparently armed with a suped up plasma rifle, one that kept firing in greater bursts.

Six ducked for cover near some barrels. Carter picked up a nearby battle rifle, a semi-automatic weapon with a scope, and began firing on the shields of the Elite. It wouldn't stay still of course and kept bounding round. Thankfully every time it's shield was hit it paused for a brief second to get it's bearings. Tali used this opportunity to charge up her shotgun once more, wait for the right moment and fire. The plasma ejected out of the Geth made weapon and slammed into the Elite. It burned through the shields and sent him flying across the field as plasma ate through its armor. Cooked within its own protection, the Elite lay dead on the ground.

But he wasn't the only one on the ground. Another Elite rushed over, picked up his weapon and quickly rallied the remaining Grunts to the fight. Six popped out again firing at the Elite determined to strike him down. That's when the second dropship showed up. Another large group of grunts accompanied by Skirmishers and another Elite were dropped off.

"Great, we practically have our hands full here as it is." Garrus groaned in frustration.

Both he and Legion began picking off targets left and right, trying to stem the tide. There were so many grunts, so many bullets, so much blue blood spilling onto the ground with each passing second. Some of it spilled by him most of it by Jorge who was down in the doorway bullet hosing the entire attack force. all the while the Elites stood in cover letting the little guys take the brunt of the UNSC's fury. After awhile, seeing eyes pop out of their little heads for the twentieth time, Garrus began to feel sorry for the poor things. Still didn't keep him from laying on the hurt.

Garrus managed the small fry while Legion tried to get a bead on the bigger fish. The Skirmishers were fast, but they couldn't run much of anywhere without their legs. Legion fired a single round with perfect accuracy. The knee cap of the bird alien split in two and the poor thing was left to bleed out on the road. The Elite who had taken up his fallen comrade's weapon was still in the fight, as was his newly joined Elite comrade. They were making their stand in the rocks to the right of the complex. They ducking behind them so it was hard to get a lock on their skulls and impossible to hit their center mass.

But Legion was not deterred, there was a solution to the problem and it lay in Noble Six.

"Six Noble," Legion spoke over the comms, "we request your assistance again."

"Listening." Six said over the plasma bolts hitting his cover.

"We will cover your approach towards Elites on right side of facility. Toss a fragmentary device into their position."

"Just watch my back and I'll have them running out of there."

Six reloaded his assault rifle and began his run to get closer to the rocks. Legion kept the Skirmishers on the outside from getting a lock on him, blowing out their bird brains with well placed shots. Eyes collapsed inward along with skulls, Six advanced, Skirmishers died. The Spartan fired his Assault rifle into the enemy position on the rocks. The Elites turned to fire and he flung his grenade. The Elites of course saw it and ducked out of the position, leaving the slow moving grunts to die as the grenade exploded.

They lived, but were now exposed. Legion fired one shot at the first wave Elite's companion, blasting off the creature's arm. Screaming in agony the alien fell to the floor. With his attention placed on his comrade, Six jumped the Elite with the Plasma rifle on steroids. He punched his face into the ground several times. The Elite finally head butted the Spartan off him, connecting with his chest. The Elite stood up to finish Six, taking aim at the Spartan's head. Six stood up fast enough to miss the shot and deliver a roundhouse to the Elite. The creature stumbled an inch backward, faced toward Legion's sniper nest and got a round through the brain.

"Target eliminated." Legion said as it expelled a spent thermal clip. "We appreciated your assistance in this task Six Noble."

"Anytime," Six responded, "it's why I'm here. Smashing Covenant skulls and all that."

Six's shields suddenly spiked, plasma was smacking into his back. He quickly rolled out of the way, if it weren't for his shields he'd already be dead. It was the Elite, the one with its arm shot off. It was still alive and firing a plasma pistol at them. Luckily Six fired a full clip into the creature's body. Carter joined in, shooting a round in the Elite's face.

"Damn," Jorge said, looking on in shock, "he wanted to take someone with him I guess."

"If you gotta go, don't go alone." Carter reckoned.

The Falcons arrived soon after the last Covenant fell. One was for the injured Troopers, two were for Noble and the Normandy crew. They helped who couldn't walk onto the first Falcon then piled into the other two. Next stop was the Relay outpost, their objective and where Kat and Emile were, probably fighting off who knows what.

"Let's hope our delaying action got them off the hook a bit." Carter said as he contacted Kat. "Noble Two sitrep."

"At the relay outpost," she responded "haven't been engaged yet but that may change. Door is locked open, mechanism has been flash freezed."

"Can you beat it?"

"I got my torch, but it will take time."

Tali was wetting her mouth in anticipation of what she was hearing. Flash freezed, she knew that term. She knew how to fix it. She knew what to do.

"I can do that!" She said, pointing at at herself excitedly, eager for a bit for the action herself. "I can do that! Get me there! I can fix it!"

"Easy Tali," Carter calmed her, "you'll get your chance when we land."

They started to close in on the Relay outpost, passing by as destroyed bridge and the mountainous terrain below. As they passed close to the courtyard where Kat and Emile were they heard Emile shouting over the comm.

"Under fire boss! Came out of damn nowhere!"

Carter looked below, as did everyone and saw the swarming mass of Covenant soldiers firing on the still open door of the Relay outpost.

"Pilot, put us down in the courtyard." Carter ordered.

"LZ is a little hot, sir." The pilot warned.

"Put her down pilot." Carter repeated adamantly "Six, break is over. That goes for you too, Team 2."

"We're Team 2 now?" Garrus asked curiously, but still sounding grateful.

"I think you've earned it." Carter replied. "Don't get mushy on me now, we still have a job to do."

As the Falcon touched down the two teams barreled out and made a beeline for the door. No time for fancy shots, they took out their full automatics and rushed for it. Six smacked a Jackal, these ones had shields, and kept on going. He was already punching a Grunt down to the ground before the Jackal had hit the pavement. Same story with the others, Jorge cutting a path through the Covenant on his way in, Legion and Garrus staying together as they mopped up the surviving Covenant on their way to the door.

Tali was the first to reach the door, sliding in beside Kat, who was still working on the door at a fevered pace.

"How's it coming?" She asked as she began opening pockets on her suit in a hurry.

"I'm doing fine, I don't need distractions." Kat insisted. "Just help the others hold off any reinforcements till we can close this door."

Everyone piled inside as Emile pointed to something in the sky.

"Got another dropship, fast and hard!" He shouted.

Tali became more urgent now with Kat as she fired up her omni-tool.

"Let me help. I can get it closed faster." Tali informed her.

"I'm fine on my own," Kat assured her. "I don't care how good a hacker or tech you are, this is my domain."

"Just let me help," Tali pleaded urgently, "just open me a channel to the door's controls! I won't even get in your way!"

"They're locked!" Kat shouted back in anger.

That was when the Covenant landed, they started firing off Plasma shots as their boots touched asphalt. Tali looked frantically on as the others tried to hold them off in the small doorway.

"I know they're locked, but the flash freeze is gumming up the mechanics, right?" she presumed, her handing hovering over her omni-tool "That's the real problem, get me access to those controls I can circumvent the freeze!"

Kat growled in frustration.

"Fine!"

Kat opened a channel as fast as she could with her electronics bypass program installed into her onboard equipment.

"There, you're in, let me work!"

Tali obliged and opened her omni-tool, she frantically began pressing buttons, bypassing the imposed lock on the controls. That was stage one. Now the mechanics were open to her and she could see the schematics clearly, particularly the freeze. The part of the door that had essentially been frozen up, literally. The hydraulics must've burst and the released pressurized water must've frozen over night. With a few clicks of her omni-tool she had the door's power supply shift into overdrive. The heat caused by the power source igniting began to melt away the flash freeze before Kat's eyes. She looked over to Tali who was just powering down her omni-tool.

"Close it! Now!"

Kat obliged and activated the lockdown for the outpost.

"Everyone in!" She called.

The team slinked inside one by one as the plasma bolts slammed against the bulkhead of the door. When everyone was in the door slammed shut completely and the covenant were left outside, uninvited.

Kat turned to Tali, admitinh feeling a bit like a heel.

"I'm sorry." She said reluctantly. "I got possessive there for a moment."

"I understand, I don't think I'd enjoy someone sticking their nose in my business either." Tali assured her. "It's just, well, I got excited and this is why I'm here so..."

"No, it's okay," Kat replied to her. "that was a lot faster than what I was trying. I just didn't have the equipment to attempt it."

"Yeah, yeah," Emile said annoyed, "we're all one big happy family now, we get it. Moving along?"

The door to inner sanctum of the relay opened wide and the teams entered slowly. As they made their way around the bend to the central hub of the center they found a slaughterhouse. A dead body lying on the ground, this time a old man and a soldier in the corner bleeding badly. Kat told Six to search the body as Carter went to check on the soldier. Emile covered the door.

"Where's the rest of your unit?" Carter asked.

"Got split," the wounded man said, "I don't think they… sounded bad over comms."

"Just sit tight, soldier." Garrus told him. "We'll get you out."

"And to a combat urgeon." Carter added. "They'll fix you up."

Tali joined Kat at the console to see the extent of the damage.

"Damn plasma damage," she said eyeing the scorch marks, "all the damn Covenant in the galaxy and we end up with the cudgel squad. Makes our job harder."

"I can start patching up the transceivers," Tali suggested, "that should get us some kind of feed."

"Good start," Kat added, "but we'll need to boost the signal next. Search the plans for a power module while you're working."

Six began looking over the body, as he moved its arm he saw something fall out onto the floor. He picked it up and looked it over for a second.

"Found something," he said, "looks like tech."

Kat looked back and grabbed it from him immedietly.

"That's me and Tali's domain Six, we'll handle it."

Tali smiled, she was finally feeling included with Kat in this operation. It was nice to know she hadearned the respect of the tech head so quickly. She remembered how migrant fleet marines became closer after a baptism of fire shortly following training or joining a unit. Apparently it held true for Spartans as well.

"Got a live one!" Jorge shouted aloud.

Everyone's head shifted to the back of the room where Jorge was pulling out a hysterically from the airduct system. She kept screaming in what apparently was Hungarian and was trying to punch Jorge away to no avail. He was a supersoldier in heavy armor and was ten times bigger than her, she didn't have a chance.

"I'm trying to help you!" Jorge shouted softly as he pulled her out.

"Subject appears to be in heightened state of stress," Legion noted, "possible danger to self and others. Recommend administration of a calming agent."

"Our morphine is a bit too strong for her I think." Six told Legion.

Finally Jorge forced the young girl to stay put.

"Stand still," he said politely, "calm down and I will release you."

She still seemed defiant, but in reality she said something to him, something that gave him pause for alarm, because he was the only who spoke Hungarian.

She said: "There's more…"

That warning let Jorge hear it before anyone else did, he ducked his head a half second after hearing something drop from above towards them. The Elite swung his plasma sword at Jorge's head, missing by inches. Jorge forced the girl and himself to the ground. Emile hawked on the radio about what was happening.

"WE'VE BEEN ENGAGED!"

That was all Carter said before everyone in the building opened up at the onrushing Elite. It went for Carter and Kat first, slicing through a panel as the commander ducked, taking Kat down with so she wouldn't get sliced in half herself. Still looking for a kill, the Elite bulldozed past Garrus and tackled Six to the ground.

Garrus regained his composure as he watched a second Elite make a beeline for the exit Emile wasn't guarding. He began firing on the attacker with his vindicator, the shots were able to take down it's shields enough to clip the elite in the leg.

Six barely was able to move his arm and head in time to avoid get slicing by a plasma knife the Elite had on him. Six punched the bastard back for his trouble. When it recovered from the blow it roared loudly in Six's face, its mandibles wide apart. Almost as if the Elite was going to devour him. Luckily Six had friends. Legion the Elite off Six entirely. Carter opened up with his pistol on it as well, joined by Tali of course. The combined fire power was enough to force the Elite to roll over on its back a clamber to its third comrade who had taken the wounded soldier as a hostage.

Carter kicked Six's assault rifle over to him, he grabbed it and let Legion help him to his feet. Cornered the two Elites stepped back into a darkened hallway of the complex.

"I clipped the second one! I can go after him!" Garrus shouted to Carter.

"Same here, Sir!" Emile called over the comms. "Let me pursue him!"

"Negative Four and Garrus!" Carter ordered "Stay on the door Emile!"

"But-"

Garrus was put down quickly.

"That's an order, Garrus! Follow it!"

By now the girl was screaming in horror at the scene before her as the poor wounded soldier was brought behind the door. They could hear his agony as the Elites did who knew what to him.

"Two, Tali handle her and get back on the console!" Carter ordered in reference to the girl. "Legion, Garrus, go with Six and Five, clear the hole!"

Garrus didn't like the order, but he understood the necessity of staying on task. They had to secure this facility. Jorge and Six walked up to the door in rushed pace, Legion and Garrus following. They closed the door behind them. If anything tried to get through before they gave the all clear sign Carter would know to have it filled full of lead before hand.

As they entered the corridor, the Elite screeched at them before running off. It left a wave of Grunts on rushing them in its place. Jorge lay the hammer down and let loose a stream of bullet, ripping the Grunts to pieces. The harder part was the Jackals as the end with their shields. Garrus had his sniper rifle ready and took aim at the small corner of the shield that left the hand of the jackals exposed. He fired a round. Forcing the Jackal back. Six rushed in, fired a bullet into the Jackal's brain and put him down for goods.

As they headed to the next corridor, more Jackals and Grunt rushed in. Garrus armed the arc projector, charged it up and fired one more bolt of electricity into the onrushing wave of alien bodies. The attack shorted out the Jakcals shields and killed almost all the Grunts in the corridor. Jorge took care of the stragglers with his chain gun.

"No time to lose, let's keep it going!" Garrus told the others.

They rushed down the corridor to the final room, a large database it seemed with huge servers plunging up from the ground and back down into it.

"Detecting movement from that small enclosed corner." Legion said as he pointed. "Likelihood of hostiles occupying designated space."

"We're gonna need to flush them out." Jorge reasoned.

"Suggestion, allow us to accomplish this task." Legion requested.

Six nodded to Legion, so far the synthetic hadn't steered him wrong yet. The Geth activated a blue orange drone in the center of the server room. As he did three Grunts piled out of the small enclosed corner and began firing at it. Six switched to his pistol and fired three rounds, each connecting with a Grunt's head. Legion's little drone continued unmolested into the corner as worts and grunts were heard. An explosion of pure energy followed, the drone had activated its self-destruct mechanism. Incredibly, pouring out of the corner were the Elites, no worse for wear.

"Least they're in the open." Jorge said.

Garrus and Jorge opened fire, while Six and Legion ran along the path to the server floor. The Elite with the concussion rifle began firing on Garrus and Jorge, his shield rapidly failing as he stood in the open. The one with the sword that attacked Six, started to barely down on Legion.

"You go left, I go right." Six told the Geth.

"Acknowledged."

The two split and Six attacked the one with the concussion rifle. He was so focused on Jorge and Garrus he paid the Spartan rushing up from behind no mind. Six jumped on the back of the Elite, stuck his knife square in the creature's neck and using that as a base, twisted. The alien fell over dead as Six jumped back off.

Meanwhile, Legion ducked and weaved out of the way of the Elite with the sword. The plasma weapon seemed to be just barely missing Legion, who was running several analysis' at lightning speed to calculate where the next swing would come from. Then the Elite stabbed forward… and hit nothing. Surprised that his quarry was uninjured, the Elite looked down to see the hole in Legion's chest where the plasma sword had stuck itself through, missing everything.

"I'd advise you to remove that." Legion warned.

It didn't have time as several pistol shots slammed into the shield of the Elite. When they were down, Legion balled it's hand into a fist and smacked the Elite in the face with all the force the robotic body could give him. It wasn't enough to knock the Elite out, they were too tough for that. But it gave both Legion and Six ample time to pull out their weapons and unloaded into him. Legion's Geth Assault Rifle and Six's Pistol made the body twist and turn as several shots were needed to finally kill the alien.

"I swear the more we shoot their asses the more bullets the next one needs to take before he goes down." Six lamented.

"Perhaps a more efficient way of terminating the subjects is required." Legion suggested. "We will attempt to build a consensus on this."

"Let me know when you come up with something okay?" Six asked.

"We shall." The synthetic complied.

Six contacted Carter.

"Hostiles neutralized sir." He announced.

"Good, Kat needs you to reset a power junction, do it, get back here."

With new orders and no enemies to get in their way, Six and the others got a good look at the Elites who fired on them. They had strange patterned helmets, tough as nails shields and were definitely crazy enough to take on a room full of heavily armed Spartans and others. It was the armor and helmets however that ultimately gave it away/

"Zealot class." Six hauntingly. "Top of the line in terms of crazy as fuck in the Covenant hierarchy."

"Why is it that Organics tend to take their religious convictions to such suicidal terms?" Legion asked.

"I can only speak for humans Legion." Six replied "You wanna know why they're nuts? You gotta ask them."

"That is difficult considering hostile status. Data improbable to obtain."

"Well, maybe if we shoot enough of them we'll get our answer someday." Six joked.

"That is suggestion appears unlikely to produce the desired result." Legion responded once more, clearly not understanding the sarcasm.

* * *

><p>Kat and Tali were hard at work trying to get the Relay working at minimal capacity so Carter could contact Holland. It was slow going, the console was trashed. Thankfully with the junction reset by Six they knew the signal would get through the dead zone. They just needed to get the thing working again.<p>

"How long?" Carter asked.

"Question of my life." Kat replied monotone.

"Same." Tali added in solidarity.

Kat continued as they began to work.

"If you wanna know when the station will be back online, two weeks, earliest." She explained. "Plasma damage isn't something we can just sodder, put in a new hard drive and make it better. All the major uplink components are fried."

"Well two minutes is too long," Carter told her adamantly, "give me something."

"That's why me and Tali are splicing into main overland bundle to get you a direct line to Colonel Holland." Kat said calming him down "Give us a few minutes, you'll be online."

Carter looked over to Tali, beside Kat.

"You're in our light commander." They said in unison.

Noble one backed off, he knew better than to get in Kat's way, let alone another tech head like her. He turned to Jorge, who was standing next to the young girl.

"Find out what she knows." He told him.

Jorge bent down to talk, but she didn't seem to be in the mood. Emile just snickered at the whole display.

"What's your name?" Jorge asked in a friendly tone "Do you live around here?"

Eliciting no response he took off his helmet.

"I'm Evan Jorge," he told her in Hungarian, keeping up a nice friendly smile "I used to live here way back."

"Sara." She finally relented.

Everyone hung back and just let Jorge talk, it was clear he had the best connection to the young girl anyway. He kept speaking in Hungarian here and there as well, something none of them could really do anyway.

"You're pretty strong," He said with a light smile, "your accent sounds familiar, Sopron?"

"Tengeri." She answered.

Jorge looked to the dead body.

"Friend of yours?" he asked

Sara curled up tighter at the suggestion

"Father." She spat back sadly.

Jorge, saddened himself at the news, and feeling like a heel for assuming, tried to apologize.

"Sajnálom. I'm sorry."

"Why would you be?" She asked back in anger.

Jorge shook his head, he wasn't gonna get anything else out of her. He stood back up, feeling a bit defeated and helpless over the whole thing. Six was less sympathetic, he looked Six and Legion square in the eyes and just shrugged the whole thing off.

"Big man forgets who is sometimes." He joked.

Incensed, Jorge stared back at Emile in quiet rage.

"She just lost her father." He told Emile sneering. He then walked to Carter. "She's in no shape to answer anything, sir. She needs a full psychiatric work up."

"She's not the only one." Emile responded condescendingly to Jorge.

As the big Spartan turned round to face Emile for a confrontation, Carter cooled their heels.

"Lock it down, both of you." He told them sternly. "You're soldiers, not preschool kids."

He turned to Carter once more.

"Get her on her feet. The body stays here."

Jorge thanked Carter, gave the cold shoulder to Emile and helped Sara up at last. She looked back once at her dead father, and left.

"Poor girl," Garrus shook his head sadly, "no one should lose their father like that."

"Aw shit, more softies." Emile groaned.

Garrus didn't bother to confront Emile on that, he wasn't worth it. Instead he turned to Carter.

"So how'd we do?" he asked.

"I'll make sure Colonel Holland knows how much you helped on this mission." Carter assured. "With any luck, your Commander will be off the hook before day's end."

"Glad to hear it," Garrus responded happily, "I hope this is the start of a long partnership, Noble Lead."

"Same," Carter complied, "I may still have my reservations about all this, but we need all the people we can get for this fight. And good leaders like you."

Garrus just shrugged and shook his head.

"I'm still not entirely sure about that." The turian told him. "I'll need to run my own Op first I think."

"We'll see if we can pull something off next time round." Carter promised.

The conversation was interrupted by Kat and Tali.

"We got it!" Tali said with glee.

"Signal's patchy, Commander, but you're through to Holland." Kat told him.

"I'll take what I can get." Carter told her.

As everyone filed out of the room Kat stopped in Carter's face as he took off his helmet.

"Try not to touch anything." She told him dryly. "We don't wanna ground this place."

Carter walked up to the screen to contact Holland, and deliver the terrible news. Today was just the start of something far worse. He could feel it.

"…can barely read you come in Noble one."

"Sir, there are no rebels, it's the covenant, Normandy team is clean, they're on our side. Saved our asses today. I say again the covenant have found Reach."

"Repeat that last Noble One, did you say Covenant?"

"Confirmed sir, it's the Winter Contingency."

"Christ… God help us all."

* * *

><p>AN: I've saved this last because, damn this chappie is long! Now you see why it took me all month to finish it. I didn't want to burn the candle at both ends, so I'll say some quick things here.<p>

I love writing Legion, even if it is hard to make sure the dialogue sounds synthetic enough. Or as I call it "robotic in the good way", but I like the challenge of keeping things consistent, I hope I succeeded. You'll be seeing a lot more of Legion as things roll on as he'll be a major part of the story. I want to explore a few Asimov ideas about the nature of Artificial Beings. I fall into his camp concerning robots, Terminator is fun but its bullshit guys. If a toaster gains sentience, you think it's gonna decide to kill you? Its function is to make toast! Why would it feel it's a slave for following its function and purpose? I sympathize with the Quarians for losing their home of course, like Legion says they just responded naturally to the "error in their software." I just think they jumped the gun a bit. Still the people who pulled that shit are dead so I think they've suffered enough punishment already. Expect me to find a way to get them and the Geth to reconcile.

And I only said all that because it's part of Tali's arc in this story too. You'll see soon enough, trust me.

Speaking of Tali I hope her tiny rivalry with Kat came across well. Kat strikes me as a career minded woman, so naturally she's gonna get defensive about another tech head coming in, at first. Nerd, even hardass nerds like Kat, tend to soften up around their peers. Especially when they show their stuff.

One little Easter egg, I like it when my chapter titles have several meanings. This one's named discontent, try and guess the possible reasons why. Leave a way for me to reply to ya and I'll even tell ya if you're right. You'll probably get at least one of them right off the bat because I'm a damn sucker for the thespian arts. I'll let you make of that what you will.

Finally, hope I captured all the distinct personalities of Noble Team well enough. I added something to Six because, well we don't much about him beyond his military career. So, I filled some blanks. I've also being LA Noire so I had a hankering for detective stuff. Which explains the crime scene analysis in the Chapter. Hope that clears that up.

Well, the fourth chapter is in the bag. Next time, Shepard returns to command and we head to our next mission. I have a feeling thyat chapter is gonna be long too, don't wait up.


	5. Sacrificial Lamb

Chapter 5: Sacrificial Lamb

**July, 24****th****, 2552**

It had been several hours since the truth of what happened at Visegrad had been revealed. The news was horrifying to anyone who learnt it, the Covenant on Reach. It was a nightmare scenario, everyone knew it. Even for the people who had only been there for a few days. People like the crew of the Normandy. It shocked Shepard more than anyone else, because he had sent Garrus' team down there. He had sent them into the dragon's mouth and he hadn't know it. He had sent Tali into greater danger than he realised. Had he known, he'd have sent a biotic like Samara or Jack with them. He thought there would be just rebels in waiting. Had he known...

He couldn't dwell on it, the decision had already been made. According to Holland everyone was alright, so he could at least breathe a sigh of relief. They weren't dead, the shields, their weapons, it had given them the edge they needed. Tali was okay. Nevertheless, he wanted to go down there himself, he wanted to see the Visegrad relay, debrief his team on the ground in person. He sent them in there, it was the least he could do.

He got his authorization from Holland to head to the surface. At least he wouldn't have to worry about getting shot out of the sky as an unidentified aircraft inside what was now a military zone.

"How big do you think their attack force is?" Miranda asked as Shepard hurried up the elevator with her

"Holland wasn't big on specifics when he phoned in." Shepard explained as the elevator headed up to his cabin "I'll know more when we get on sight. I'm gonna be taking Mordin and Samara with me on this one. We can't be sure if they've left the area entirely, I wanna be prepared. Soon as I get my armour on we're leaving, no questions."

"Ackerson is not gonna be happy with you bolting so quickly." Miranda warned him as the elevator came to a stop.

Shepard rushed out of the elevator as the doors lurched open.

"Ackerson can kiss my ass, we had a deal, and it's done." Shepard explained as he marched to his armour locker "We just proved we're on the same side. Contract fulfilled."

"I doubt he's the type to keep his deals Shepard." Miranda warned as she followed him out.

"So everyone keeps warning me." Shepard acknowledged as he started suiting up "We'll deal with him if he tries something, right now I got a team down planet side trying to get their comms rig back online. I think I'm entitled to a little leeway. Contact Chambers over the line ask her if Mordin and Samara are ready."

Shepard continued to suit up in his personal favourite armour, the one given to him as a gift from an Urban Combat Championship team up in Edmonton, the Blood Dragons. Hence the name it was given, Blood Dragon armour. Sure it didn't look very military, what with its giant bloody dragon logo on the front, but Shepard's mom had always insisted, in this line of work one had to dress to impress sometimes. The helmet was always the hardest to get on or off though, he'd save that for last when they got down to the planet.

The use of the armour signified something else though, and Miranda picked up on it.

"You certainly seem to be taking all of this more serious than you usually would." She noted

"Militarily strategic planet being found by a relentless enemy, my people in the crosshair," Shepard listed off as he slipped into the armour's right gauntlet "why shouldn't I be taking this seriously?"

"Maybe because you tend to crack wise or make a joke to ease the tension." Miranda commented "You've always tried to be less of a hard ass than most commanders. That's my job, not yours."

Shepard looked over at her briefly, not really changing his expression.

"Current events have made me realise wisecracks don't get the job done." He explained "If you're missing it go talk to Joker or come back in my downtime. Otherwise we have things to do."

Miranda followed Shepard out as he finished suiting up, feeling rather awkward about it all.

"Is there something you're not telling me Shepard?" Miranda asked as the elevator carried them down

Shepard flinched a bit and rubbed the back of his neck.

"No, nothing, I'm fine." He swore "I just wanna get down there and figure this whole thing out."

"Is it because you sent Tali down there alone?" Miranda asked, not dropping it "We all knew the risks when taking this job, you shouldn't feel-"

"I said I'm fine." Shepard snapped back "You're not Chambers, you don't need to worry about me, alright? Worry about the countless people on Reach right now who may not have much time left before their homes are burned down with them inside."

Miranda backed off, not usually something she did. But she knew when Shepard wasn't in the mood. Now was certainly one of those times. She sorted wished Garrus or Tali were here instead of her, they knew what to say better than she. As they exited out the elevator onto the command deck they were joined by Mordin.

"Ah Shepard," he said looking up from his Omni-Tool "preparing final notes. Want to compare data from this supposed sub-species ground team encountered with that of Jackals. Wish to discover exact minute differences in bone structure-"

"Personal studies later Mordin," Shepard interrupted them as they walked "I want to know about the Elites down there. We'll be dealing with them more often."

As Shepard was rounding the corner to armoury Joker interrupted him over the intercom.

"Um, Shepard, we got a guest outside and he wants in." The pilot announced nervously "It's your Spook buddy."

Shepard groaned, he honestly thought they'd be gone before Ackerson showed up. Shepard rushed to the front of the ship, Miranda and Mordin following on his heels. They got there as Ackerson entered through the airlock.

"Came here to release us from lockdown?" Shepard asked, suspecting that wasn't the case at all.

Ackerson had two well armed goons at his side and didn't even face Shepard directly. He looked around at the ship, a mixture of bewilderment and displeasure on his face.

"Shut it down, all of it." He flippantly declared "I want every system on this tub off and all personnel in custody."

Shepard would've been shocked, but he had been warned this was coming. Never trust a spook to keep his word.

"The hell do you think you're doing?" Wade demanded to know

Ackerson only now looked at the Commander and pointed two fingers straight into his chest plate.

"Back off Commander, you're done as far as I'm concerned" He told him in a low growly voice "I don't have to play kid gloves anymore with you."

"We had an agreement Ackerson." Shepard reminded him, his own anger boiling up and over at this point. "We fulfilled our end of the bargain. You can't just-"

"I can do whatever I want." Ackerson asserted as he cross his arms and stood proud "You may be some big shot Marine in your dimension or militia cell or wherever you come from, but here you're nothing but a rogue element. That slip of paper we signed was just that, paper."

Miranda was not about to let this back stabbing slug get away with pushing around Shepard or thinking he could tell them what to do on their ship. Especially not when there was an approaching alien assault to be concerned with. She stepped up beside Shepard and shouted back at Ackerson in a rage.

"Your planet could be looking at the first waves of an invasion and you're wasting your time trying to order us around on our ship?" she said in a threatening screech "We're trying to help you idiot! Where are your damn priorities?"

"To humanity ma'am," Ackerson said steadfastly "maybe if you weren't so busy palling around with Xenos you'd know where your own priorities should lie."

Miranda was just about to deck him for that insult. Questioning her loyalty to her species was the last thing you wanted to do around Mrs. Lawson. As much as he wanted to see her biotically punch his face in, Shepard held her back as Ackerson began to explain.

"The Covenant are on Reach, Winter Contingency has been declared." He rattled on "If Reach is to survive we're going to need every advantage. So your ship is going to be stripped apart, examined and whatever we feel could help in our cause is going to be carted away for study. As for the crew they will be detained indefinitely until a proper inquiry can be set up."

This was absolutely outrageous, Shepard thought. They just helped expose the Covenant presence on Reach, Noble team cleared Garrus and the others. This should've been resolved. Now he was throwing his people in cells and planning to dissect his ship?

"This wasn't our deal Ackerson, we got to the Visegrad relay and-"

"And it's still down," Ackerson finished for him "which means my superiors will never even know you exist by the time I'm done with you and your ragtag bunch of squid-headed frog faced freaks."

Mordin scowled at Ackerson as the ONI Colonel looked in his direction.

"Which also means my superiors will never know about that deal, so you can't exactly start complaining to management either." Ackerson continued

"What are you even charging us for?" Miranda demanded to know "You can't hold us without a charge."

"I could actually," Ackerson corrected her "but I do have a charge. Before you showed up there were no Covenant on Reach. Suddenly you appear and so do they. Sounds like our suspicions were right after all. You led them here somehow and you're gonna have to answer for that."

An electronic chirp arose from a dashboard nearby Joker, who was watching the whole scene tentatively. EDI's blue orb appearance was quick to catch everyone's attention.

"That scenario is highly unlikely," she exclaimed simply "Nebraska's battle group had us under constant surveillance. They would've known if we were transmitting some kind of signal to the Covenant, as would your own station when we arrived. Also, the Visegrad relay had been taken down a number of hours before we even arrived. The Covenant have more than likely been on Reach in secret for much longer than that."

Ackerson took one look at EDI and grimaced

"Ah your AI," he grumbled "her testimony is hardly enough to clear you and irrelevant. Not only that, but she is clearly an unlicensed program. We will need to repurpose her from you, put her to a more effective use than aiding Xeno sympathizers."

Joker rushed to EDI's defence, putting a hand across the AI's hologram. He stared at Ackerson with a look of pure loathing. He wasn't gonna let this wannabe secret agent take EDI. Shepard voiced his displeasure more openly.

"You're just making this shit up as you go huh?" he asked sardonically "What next charge me for my style of facial hair too?"

"Laugh it up Commander," Ackerson sneered "but your AI is coming with me."

"Like hell she is!" Joker shouted back

Ackerson turned to Joker and was about to address him directly when he was interrupted

"Welcome to try," Mordin responded with a sense of pride "EDI's core processor takes up an entire room on this ship. She will not be so easily transported."

"We have our methods." Ackerson assured Mordin "Now zip it Froggy before I forgo the trial and just put a bullet in your head. Aliens don't have rights on Reach, especially not under Winter Contingency."

"Funny how you're using that as a shield considering you're violating it."

The voice instantly caught everybody's attention. They all looked behind Ackerson to see none other than Colonel Holland, in the flesh, with a file of papers under his arm. Ackerson did was of course the first to throw his weight around.

"Stay out of this Holland," he ordered "this is an ONI matter."

"No it isn't." Holland explained in rough tone as he stepped up "I gave Commander Shepard permission to head to Visegrad relay to debrief his team and help locate any remaining Covenant in the area. To facilitate this process I and the Joint Chiefs of staff here on Reach have decided that it would be more preferable to have the Normandy and its crew drafted into the UNSC armed forces."

Ackerson now looked positively livid. His eyes bulging out of his head he stuck his face directly in Holland's.

"On whose damn authority-"

"As I said, the Joint Chiefs of staff here on Reach made the call." Holland replied adamantly "We all agreed that the Normandy would serve us better as an asset to our defence and not as something to pick apart and study. As you know Ackerson, Military orders trump ONI command structure once Winter Contingency is declared. We make the decisions now, not you."

Ackerson looked over to a now smug looking Shepard and his crew. Now steaming he turned to Holland once more.

"They are a security risk!"

"They fulfilled their part of the bargain we made." Holland retorted "As far as the Joint Chiefs are concerned that's good enough reason to keep them under our watch but in the field where they can do more good. We don't have time for god damn inquiries and bullshit show trials. Every able bodied soul on this planet that can pick up a gun and fight is going to be needed. We're not gonna let ONI take away a bunch of them"

Ackerson backed off from Holland, still staring on in anger.

"I suggest you leave before my own men throw you out." Holland warned

Ackerson looked back to see Three Space Marines waiting in the airlock behind him. He turned back to Shepard and began to snarl as he walked out.

"This isn't over Shepard, you just wait."

Shepard, for his part just waved mockingly.

"Goodbye Ackerson, we'll miss you and your warm loving personality."

The ONI Colonel stormed out of the Normandy, blowing past Holland's entourage with his own. Shepard looked to Holland rather satisfied.

"Thanks, didn't think we were gonna get out of that one." Shepard told him "We may have just narrowly avoided a fire fight in here."

Holland did not offer the same smile.

"Don't thank me Shepard," Holland answered sternly "I stuck my neck out for you on this. It wasn't easy convincing the Joint Chiefs to draft you into the UNSC. I only got it when I said you'd be more effective and easier to watch if you were taking orders from us during this crisis. This plan goes south it's my hide as well as yours they're gonna flay open."

Shepard's smile evaporated rather quickly as Holland explained everything. So much for his hope he gained the UNSC's trust.

"So why go through the trouble?" Shepard asked humbly

"Call it instinct," Holland answered "I got a good feeling about you is all. That you mean it when you say you wanna help. That and Ackerson hates you, so you probably have some redeeming qualities. Other than that I'm reserving my judgement. Whatever rules you used to play by no longer matter, you're under UNSC jurisdiction now. Be thankful you won't have the spooks on your back, for now."

Holland stepped back towards the airlock with his men

"Your ground team will report planet side to Sword Base, an ONI research center." Holland explained "It's under Military guard now, so don't worry about the G-Men man handling ya. When they get there they should familiarize themselves with all the information available. We'd send you to one of our military bases but, well, can't have the news we got aliens working for us leaking out too soon. The Normandy will make its way to our shipyards planet side to undergo proper repairs. It will be up and running in a day at full capacity when we're done. Commander you may continue on to Visegrad at your leisure and report back to Sword Base when done."

Holland began to walk out with his men, as the Airlock opened wide he looked back to Shepard.

"This is your chance Commander," he brazenly warned "don't make me think it was a mistake to give you it."

With that Holland left, leaving the crew slightly less uneasy than when Ackerson showed up.

"Well he's friendlier than the ONI jackass." Joker commented "And hey, Normandy's a proper military ship again! Just like old times!"

"New boss seems the same as the old boss." Shepard commented "They still don't trust us. But at least they're willing to let us help."

In the midst of the whirlwind of military and secret agent personnel parading in and out of the Normandy, everyone had forgotten EDI's blue orb was still listening in on everything. Ackerson's arrival had delayed her from relaying some important news. News that she knew Shepard wouldn't want their previous guests to hear right now.

"Commander," she announced "before you head to Visegrad I have found something of vital importance."

Shepard turned to EDI, the gloom of being drafted replaced by curiosity.

"Does this have something to do with those copy-encrypted files from the Battlecruiser?"

"Indeed," EDI acknowledged "I finally cracked the encryption while you were talking to Colonel Holland a few hours ago. I've been sifting through layers of information since. Most of it pertaining to weapons specs, shields and engines."

"Ah, all useful data." Mordin said rather pleased "Should give Tali'Zorah and engineers ideas on how to improve the ship."

"That is not what I wanted you all to know." EDI added a sense of dread in her robotic voice "I discovered exactly what the Battlecruiser's mission was. Why it was in our dimension."

"Well don't leave us in suspense here," Joker told her "what was the whole point of its little field trip?"

"To lay in wait for us."

EDI flashed several pictures onto the screen of the Normandy's cockpit as well as in front her own display. Holographic pictures with alien writing surrounded a layout of ship, along with pictures of the crew, Shepard, Grunt, Mordin, Samara, everyone of importance was pictured. Rather crudely, but they were pictured. The evidence was clear; the Covenant knew exactly what they were doing when they opened fire on the Normandy.

"The exact parameters of the battlecruiser's mission were erased," EDI explained "but it is apparent that they were waiting for us. They knew who we were, what our ship looked like and even pinpointed possible places where they could board us if need be."

The revelation was shocking, but it explained much. Why the Battlecruiser just opened fire on their tiny vessel without provocation. How they just happened to run into each other. They were waiting for them.

"If they knew so much about us how come they weren't more prepared?" Shepard asked EDI "They should've known about biotics and our weapons."

"The files only pertain to crew members of significant interest, not to their precise capabilities." EDI explained "It is possible the Covenant were only given enough information to know who to look out for, not precisely why they should."

Need to know basis, exposable shock troops. Shepard had seen it before. Maybe that Battlecruiser was just supposed to soften them up so the Supercruiser could finish them off while they were licking their wounds.

"I'd like to know how they got this information in the first place!" Miranda cut in "The only people who would know this much about our ship are us, Cerberus and the Collectors. We only just encountered the Covenant a few days ago, Cerberus would never work with aliens like these and the Collectors-"

"Are dead, I know, relax." Shepard said trying to calm her down. "Remember there was one other person who knew about us better than anyone. He only died a few weeks ago and we know the Covenant have been flying in and out of that wormhole for much longer than that."

Shepard was of course talking about the Shadow Broker, the one before Liara took over. They just didn't know why he'd give information to the Covenant. Was it in exchange for technology? Money? Shepard would love to ask Liara about any recent transactions he could've made, but she was a whole other universe away now.

"Shouldn't rule out possibility of Collectors." Mordin added "Covenant could've gained knowledge through a partnership. Similar goals. Both wanted or want to wipe out humanity in a sense."

"Maybe Cerberus or the Alliance has a leak," Joker suggested "they could've passed along files to the Covenant and just didn't know who they were dealing with. Probably someone trying to take us down from either of the two for all the trouble we've caused them."

Miranda was quick to shake her head. Her face was already turning sullen, frantic and angry at this news and the prospect of where this evidence came from.

"No, no, something that big..." she began to ramble "the Illusive Man would know about this. It would have to go through him. He authorized the Normandy's reconstruction; he's got the only Cerberus copy of the blueprints in his own personal hard drive back at one of his hideouts. Say what you will about him, but he'd never give that kind of information to the Covenant, never."

Miranda didn't really sound all that convinced of any of that statement herself. She was pacing around a bit, fidgeting where she stood. She could believe the Illusive Man would do a lot of things. But work for genocidal anti-human aliens?

"Like I said maybe he just thought they were people who were gonna keep us in line." Joker suggested, trying to at the very least comfort Miranda "We did kinda severe our relationship on a sour note. He's probably looking for someone willing to take us out."

"Or maybe we don't know him all that well after all." Shepard added "It's not like his motivations are the easiest to read."

When he said that, he realised who would be hit hardest by the accusation. Shepard looked to Miranda, who was now shaking her head in frustration. The whole prospect of this was seriously troubling her. She was pacing wildly in the background of cockpit, her troubled thoughts made clear for all to hear. Even the technicians and other crew members sitting in their designated positions nearby in the hall took notice.

"I worked for him without question, gave him years of my life," she mumbled under her breath "he kept my family safe. I quit, but I thought... I never thought he'd be so quick to-"

Shepard took her by the shoulder.

"Hey, Miranda, Miri, don't dwell on it." He told her as pleasantly as possible, trying to get her back in the here and now "I need your head on straight here. We'll figure this out, okay? Let's not start jumping to conclusions till we have more information."

Miranda took a deep breath, and let her mind wander back to the here and now. Thinking clearly now she thought about what they learned.

"We'd need, a high ranking Covenant leader or officer." She explained "That would be our best bet to getting more information. It's a long shot but any one of them could have answers."

Shepard nodded, that was a goal they could work towards, capturing a Covenant officer. Not easy considering their officers were eight foot tall monsters. In the meantime this information at least helped them. They now knew that the Covenant were aware of them, that they had some kind of interest in them. They weren't sure what, but it was a start to finding out what they were doing in their own universe.

"We have to keep this under wraps," he warned the others "if the UNSC finds out the Covenant know who we are it could lead to some unwanted questions."

"Not to mention giving Ackerson more fuel for his fire and dissolving what little trust we gained." Joker added

Shepard turned to EDI.

"Nice work EDI, analyze the tech specs you found for now." He told her "I want our engineers to know the best way to implement whatever improvements we can make to this ship. We'll need every edge we can get. The next Covenant ship we come face to face with will more than likely be better prepared for our next encounter. We should do the same."

"Affirmative commander." EDI replied as her blue orb vanished back into its console

"Miranda you're in charge of the crew until I get back," Shepard told her as he twirled around and began marching back to the armoury. "Get permission to access whatever files they have concerning the Covenant and weapons tech when you get to Sword Base. I wanna know everything we can about these religious alien zealots. God knows how much they know about us, we need to even the playing field."

"I'll do my best," Miranda promised "but what if they're not willing to share?"

Shepard was hoping it wouldn't come to that, but his crew was in danger. An enemy they weren't familiar with knowing who they were wasn't a favourable battle scenario. He needed more information and he wasn't going to be stonewalled. Not if it meant his crew's lives were on the line.

"Ask Kasumi for help." Shepard told her, the implications of the order obvious for all to see.

First at the wormhole, then at Visegrad, he wasn't going to get caught with his pants down by the Covenant a third time.

* * *

><p><strong>July, 25<strong>**th****, 2552**

Work on the relay was slow, but certainly quicker than originally thought it would be. A team of engineers and marines had already set up shop a mere hours after the facility had been retaken. With the Covenant on the planet getting the facility back online had become a top priority.

Tali and Legion hadn't come into this expecting plasma damage, but that didn't mean either were unaware of how to fix the problem. Salvaging what they could from the surrounding and now abandoned buildings they were able to repair many of the basic systems. More vital systems would take time as replacement parts would have to be flown in. With any luck they'd be able to contact other colonies by the end of the week and be fully operational in half the time after that.

The only problem they really had was with the humans on site. They kept their distance from Tali and Garrus, but they could hear murmurs, people talking behind their back. Some of the marines seemed to be making cracks about Tali's lower body structure. If she had to hear one more comment about her hips she was going to scream. Legion got stares, but they were more curious than anything else. The hole in its chest was the biggest attraction.

Still the whole thing made Tali uncomfortable. On one of her breaks she talked with Garrus about it, hoping he'd relay her concerns to Carter. However, while Garrus understood her displeasure he also knew why the soldiers were doing it.

"They're just letting off steam Tali," he tried to explain "I've been in the army; we all have different ways of relaxing in downtime. I never made passes at the girls when I was in the service but I know it happens."

"It doesn't happen with Fleet Marines." Tali protested back "At least not the ones I worked with. And it certainly didn't happen on the first and second Normandy ships as much as it did here. I keep catching them leering and laughing, it's deplorable!"

"Yeah but you're the first female alien they've probably ever seen," Garrus replied "everyone on both of those ships had seen aliens tons of times already so they were obviously more accustom to it. That and it's not like Asari exist in this universe so-"

Tali's glowing eyes could be clearly seen bulging out at Garrus to give him a rather displeased look. The Turian quickly stepped back from the point he was trying to make.

"Shutting up now, that was going someplace inappropriate." He said stifling a nervous laugh "Not that you aren't good looking it's just, well you know humans and Asari they're... um... crap put my talon in mouth there."

"I understand what you're saying," Tali told him, getting them both back on the subject "it's just I'm not used to it. They're making me feel more out of place than I did when Emile first looked at us. It's even worse when you're already in a relationship."

"To be fair they don't know about that," Garrus reminded her "How could they?"

Tali just sighed; she supposed she couldn't blame them for that. Everything else was fair game of course. Garrus placed a sympathetic hand on her shoulder.

"I'll talk to Carter," he promised "see what he can do. He won't be able to stop it, but he could probably direct fewer Marines your way. Try not to worry yourself till then okay? In a few hours Shepard will be here and you'll feel a lot better."

No argument there. That was something Tali could agree on. However, when Garrus brought up Shepard it raised another concern.

"Have you heard anything back from him yet?" she asked

"No not since yesterday when we contacted Holland." Garrus reluctantly replied "Nothing from the Normandy."

Tali could only fidget her hands nervously. That was not a good sign. Garrus, seeing her starting to worry, tried to renew her optimism.

"I'm sure if Ackerson pulled something we'd already know about it." Garrus assured her "It's been a full day already."

"They could just be keeping us on till we're no longer needed." Tali suggested

Garrus shook his head. Paranoia didn't suit Tali, no matter how justified.

"Tali..."

"Well it's how they treat Quarians back home, they hire them then cut them lose without so much as a pink slip when they're done." She shot back "Shepard could be in trouble and there's nothing we can do about it."

"And until he shows up we won't know for sure." Garrus reiterated "Besides, this is Shepard we're talking about. He can handle it."

Tali finally seemed to calm down for the first time since she started talking with Garrus. Her hands stopped shaking and she stopped fidgeting her feet around.

"I know I just wanna be sure he's safe." She explained "He's always the one who pulls me out of the fire; it hurts not being able to do the same for him."

With a pat on the back Garrus finally calmed Tali's nerves completely.

"Why don't you work on reconnecting the other landlines for now." He suggested "That should get your mind off all this"

Tali just nodded and walked away. Worrying about Shepard wasn't gonna get him here any faster. Still, thinking about him and work in general would probably keep her mind off the Marines and their watchful questioning eyes.

The Normandy Crew at least could take solace in the fact Noble Team seemed to be more professional about the situation. They wish they could say the situation with them was entirely different, but respect in combat and in abilities didn't translate to trust. Kat was more open to working with Tali. She let her help get the relay working and trusted what she had to say. That didn't mean Kat relented her authority to her. Time and again she made it perfectly clear she was running the show, not Tali. The Quarian couldn't do anything without running it by the Spartan first. That and whenever she turned around Kat was close by looking at her. Tali wondered, was she afraid she'd try to sabotage the work? Or was she trying to make sure she didn't learn too much about their tech?

It was pretty clear by this point Noble tolerated the Normandy crew's presence, maybe even respected them more. Trust wasn't included in that package.

When Kat wasn't eyeballing or bossing Tali around she was off in a corner looking at that data disc Six had found. She was the best tech hacker in her field, and she wasn't getting through to this thing. Legion and Tali saw her struggling with the thing on and off over the course of the day. Kat hadn't proved much of a socialite. She was like Jack with more manners and far more restraint, so they tried not to approach her with an offer of assistance. However, Legion was a naturally curious machine, and Tali would be lying if she claimed she didn't want a peek at the data disc herself.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained. The two walked over to Kat as she began fiddling with the device again on her palm computer.

"Any luck with it?" Tali asked

Kat didn't even look up from her work. She just grunted for a moment and kept an eye on the screen.

"You're supposed to be repairing the receiving functions." She responded coldly

"We just figured maybe we could help." Tali explained quickly "I mean you've beating yourself up over it ever since we found it."

"I've been running six different software hacking programs on the hour every hour and shifting through code in the meantime." Kat told her harshly "As good at mechanics as you are I doubt you'll be able to crack it in a shorter amount of time. We need the relay up more than this. Your time is better served working on it."

Tali would've felt insulted being shut out... if Kat didn't have a point. It didn't lessen the Quarian's desire to help.

"I probably couldn't crack it faster than you." Tali humbly relented "But Legion probably could. It's an AI remember?"

Kat's interested peeked she looked over to Legion.

"You know anything about hacking?" she asked

"This platform has required its use both in and outside of combat." Legion replied "If you will allow us we will attempt to gain access."

Kat passed the palm computer to Legion, figuring she'd let the machine give it a shot. Legion's eye lit up as it started to wirelessly connect to the data disc through the computer. The Geth went silent for a few seconds. By 30, Tali thought something was wrong. Legion's neural connected consciousness was faster than that. Not knowing exactly what to do she waved her hand in front of Legion's eye.

"Legion," she asked as she did "are you there?"

Suddenly the Geth's head leapt back from the computer, shaking wildly, its head plates flicking up and down wildly as its eye flashed on and off. As quickly as the spasm came, Legion calmed down, returning to its regular calm demeanour.

"The hell happened?" Kat asked, more confused than concerned

"We managed to break through a level of the encoding." Legion began "There was a surge of data, then the device's secondary defence system activated. It was attempting to spike our systems with an electrical overcharge. We needed to disconnect before any damage became permanent."

"Did you find out anything?" Kat asked as she took the computer and disc back

"Very little," Legion replied "all we managed to recover was a reference to something occurring at a military installation called Sword. Any other data we discovered will require time to properly defragment. The spike disrupted the upload. Information was lost or damaged in the process."

Kat was thoughtful for a moment before she snapped her fingers, realising what it meant.

"That's an ONI installation; it was probably where the disc was meant to go." Kat explained "you probably just got an address. Better than nothing I guess and I'm now aware that the device could fry my hardware. Thanks, I'll be sure to watch out for it next time I give this a go."

Tali looked Legion over, more concerned than Kat evidently. It was weird, but despite the fact it was a Geth as she saw Legion flailing around like that she couldn't help but wonder. Was it in pain? Were "they" in pain? A few months ago she never would've even considered the possibility. Now, after weeks working with AI, she was starting to question.

"Are you sure that spike didn't harm your systems?" she asked "We should run a diagnostic just to be sure."

"We do not detect any software or hardware related damage." Legion replied "But we are grateful for your show of concern. If it would ease your fears however, we will allow it."

Tali looked to Kat, knowing she'd need approval from her first. Although it was strangely nice to hear Legion tell her it was grateful.

"Go ahead, check the robot." Kat told her "I expect you to be quick though."

"Of course Noble Two, I will."

Kat walked back to her work station while Tali began scanning Legion with her Omni-Tool. There didn't seem to be any lingering damage from the looks of it. So she used the opportunity to ask another question, concerning the disc.

"You really think that it was just an address you found?" she asked as she tapped her Omni Tool for another scan.

"Possible." Legion replied "But the wording seemed to suggest it was referring to something occurring at Sword Base or near it."

Tali grumbled under her throat a bit, worrying over the information. Legion had just broken into something the scientist who had the disc didn't want anyone but the people at Sword Base finding out about. If what Legion was telling her was true they may have inadvertently stumbled onto a secret project.

"This may be something that's classified." Tali warned "If we investigate it could strain our shaky relations with the UNSC."

"Agreed." Legion replied "While Geth do not believe in keeping secrets from one another we have come to understand why organics do. Do you believe it would be better for unit cohesion to not pursue in investigating the information?"

Tali thought to herself a bit. She didn't want to abuse the trust of the UNSC by poking around their secret files, but she wondered at the same time if this information could in some way help them. Or maybe they could help the UNSC and ONI with it like they did with the Relay.

"We should let Shepard decide." Tali finally told Legion "Just keep a lid on it for now. We'll figure it out later whether to look into it."

Legion merely nodded, and let Tali continue running her diagnostic. Now reminded of Shepard, however, Tali was worried about more than just Legion's systems. She really hoped Ackerson kept his deal, or there would be hell to pay.

* * *

><p>Shepard's shuttle was closing in on the Relay. As they made their way in he saw piles of dead bodies, all of them Covenant, piled in one corner of the Relay's courtyard. No one believed this was every Covenant in the area, just the ones that had gotten killed near the relay. Shepard could only imagine if any other corpse piles were as big as that one.<p>

Samara and Mordin seemed relatively composed despite the evidence of the violence below. Mordin was in the middle of working on something with his Omni tool, Samara appeared to be meditating as best she could in her seat without her legs crossed. Her eyes were closed and her hands were pooling biotic energy, she hummed silently as the shuttle came to a landing.

It was good to see them both so tranquil, despite the information that they just learned, that the Covenant knew who they were and had them on a hit list. Then again Mordin was never one to dwell on these things and Samara was composed no matter the situation. It wasn't going to take a lot more to shake these two up.

As the shuttle landed Shepard saw Garrus flanked by two heavily armoured soldiers. One blue, the other silverish grey. The blue one has his helmet off, the Silver Grey one had a skull carved into his. It immediately unsettled Shepard a bit.

"Well at least one of them looks somewhat friendly." He thought to himself

Shepard, Mordin and Samara all piled out of the shuttle as it landed and Garrus approached them with the two Spartans in toe.

"Commander Shepard I presume?" asked the blue one

"In the flesh." He greeted

"Commander Carter, Noble Lead." Carter replied back "nice to finally meet you Commander. Mr. Vakarian seems to hold you in high regard."

"Good to see you Shepard," Garrus greeted "glad to see Ackerson kept his deal after all."

Shepard's response was a nervous laugh and tingle at the back of his neck which he rubbed.

"Yeah, I'm gonna have to talk to you about that later Garrus." He said sheepishly "Right now, let's go take a look at the Relay. You can fill me in on everything that went down."

"We'd be happy to," Carter told him as he put his helmet back on "follow me and I'll lead you to the central Hub."

The Spartan commander turned to his subordinate in silver.

"Emile," he began in a low commanding tone "bodies are almost all gathered up here. Dispose of them quickly and meet us back inside."

Emile seemed all too eager to accept that order and quickly ran off. Carter briefly took Shepard's attention away from the Spartan with a question.

"Strange armour you got there." Carter told him "What's with the dragon on it?"

"Oh it was donated by a combat league team, specially outfitted for military operations." Shepard replied, seemingly proud of the attention it was garnering. "Mostly just wear it for when I'm trying to take pressure of the crew. This thing can take a beating."

Carter did not look impressed. Everyone could seemingly realise that, even with the helmet on.

"Hope it does, certainly not made for stealth."

Wade looked down, kinda disappointed the Spartan wasn't impressed with his get up.

"I still think it looks cool." he mumbled

As Shepard was led away by Carter, he looked back to notice Emile was helping the marines pour kerosene onto the alien corpses. He was reminded of the time Zaeed told him how fire was the quickest way to get rid of an excessive amount of dead bodies. Unnerved slightly he turned back to the rest of the group and just kept walking. He hoped that burning Elite didn't smell too bad.

As they made their way through the Relay station Carter filled everyone in on what had happened. The initial investigation, the first contact with the Covenant, the fight towards the Relay Station and of course the Zealot Elites they fought. It was quite the harrowing tale, even though Carter wasn't much of a story teller. He just relayed the basic facts of the encounter. He didn't bother elaborating more than necessary.

Still the zealot Elites intrigued Shepard.

"What makes these Elites so special?" he asked "Besides their shields and armour of course."

"You can take a look for yourself," Carter told him "we have both of them in bags in a nearby room. All you really need to know is that they're the fanatical ones of the Elite family tree. Really into the whole religion way I heard, makes'em crazier than most. Like they got a guardian angel or something. Beyond that it's not a concern."

"You've been fighting these things for almost three decades now;" Shepard reminded him a bit confused "don't you think knowing more about them would help you combat them better?"

Carter stopped in front of a door and waited for it to open. The hydraulics in the facility still needed some work.

"All I need know is that their shields are stronger than most and that they wear distinctive headgear." Carter explained as the doors began to slide open "Knowing more about the bullshit belief system that compels them to kill humans isn't going to help us beat them. I leave that stuff to the Xenobiologists and folks at ONI."

As they began to walk again, Samara interjected rather quickly.

"Knowing your enemy in all facets helps determine their weaknesses, their strengths and possible ways to use those to your advantage." She lectured him "Their religious beliefs are a part of that equation. It's one of the oldest rules of combat. You would do well to recognize that Commander."

"I understand your reasoning, I agree." Carter replied simply "But to be honest I'm a simple and pragmatic soldier. The Covenant kills humans cause they think we disrespect their Gods, they think we're lower than them and that makes them cocky and arrogant. They get sloppy, and that's our greatest advantage. To me, that's enough to know. You'd all do well to remember it yourselves. How dangerous a Covenant soldier is depends on how big his ego is. Besides Grunts they all got some pretty swelled heads."

"We'll keep it in mind." Shepard assured him

Probably the best combat advice any of them had gotten concerning the Covenant since they arrived. At the very least, it showed Carter had a good head on his shoulders. He reminded him a bit of Jacob, he wasn't seemingly complicated from the looks of it.

As they kept walking they eventually reached the central hub where they saw Kat working on the machinery. As they approached they saw a tarp covering something in the corner. It wasn't an alien that was for sure.

"Scientist we found when we entered." Garrus explained "Got killed long before we showed up it seemed. That's when the Zealots jumped us."

"Get'em all?" Shepard asked

Garrus looked to Carter, seemingly upset.

"No," he said "I wounded one after sustained fire from everyone dropped his shields. But we couldn't pursue."

Shepard knew the look Garrus was giving Carter. It was the same look he had on his face when the Turian told him about a case he had back in C-SEC. A case involving a mad Salarian doctor he had to let go. Carter, although lacking in that knowledge, recognized the look all the same.

"He was not priority, we were preoccupied with the task of clearing the facility and establishing a link to command." The Spartan Commander reiterated "We got two out of three, an acceptable outcome."

Garrus just sneered. Shepard quickly looked over at him, shaking his head, telling him not to start something. Garrus' face softened whatever outburst was about to come was averted.

"We'll get him eventually." Shepard presumed "He couldn't have gotten far with a wounded leg. Should be easy to spot to, how many Elites have a limp?"

"None that I've seen." Kat spoke up from her corner. "Pleased to meet you Commander Shepard, Noble Two, I'd salute but I'm a bit busy. I'm trying to fix what I can while waiting for your two other crew mates to get back with replacement parts."

Shepard wondered why he hadn't seen Tali yet. Well she'd be along eventually.

"Mordin, check out those Zealot bodies." He said "See what you can find."

"Of course, hopefully decomposition hasn't degraded specimen." The Salarian prattled on "Preservation of corpse severely limited in field. Still can begin now. That is if Noble Lead has no objections."

All eyes looked to Carter who just shrugged.

"Knock yourselves out," he said "but you're not gonna find anything all that useful I tell ya. Zealot or not, you see one dead Elite's insides you've seen them all."

Mordin just nodded and hurried off, which left everyone else in the room alone to discuss the nature of the Covenant's visit to Reach. If this really was an invasion, Shepard wanted to know what they were in for.

"How big do you think the Covenant's forces are?" Shepard asked inquisitively

"This one was at least two platoons worth of strength." Carter answered "That's the equivalent of a raiding party to them."

"That seems excessive." Samara observed.

"These guys Glass entire planets because we just happen to live on them." Carter reminded her "A huge raiding party is par for the course."

This raiding party had decimated a small farming community and several trooper fire teams. Shepard could only imagine what an entire invasion force would do in the coming days.

"How long before they start glassing?" Shepard asked in haste "What's our time table?"

Carter did not seem as worried as Shepard was about the prospect when he answered.

"For all we know it's just a small battle group worth of Corvettes and smaller ships at the moment." Carter explained "That's not enough to burn this planet to the ground. We'd need to see something like a battlecruiser or assault carrier before we need to worry about that. And if any Covenant fleets started jumping into orbit we'd have spotted them."

Carter made sense, for now maybe there wasn't much to worry about. Still, the whole thing made Shepard feel uneasy.

"You don't burn colonies to a crisp with a small battle group." Shepard concurred "But they could just be preparing for the next wave, weakening your defences."

"Don't get me wrong Shepard. My gut says this is just the start of something bigger." Carter reiterated "But right now it could be just a small army we're up against."

Kat closed shut the panel she was working on and looked up to the others as she rose to her feet. She placed her tool to the side as she activated one of the consoles.

"I'd like to know how they got any ships close to the planet without us knowing." She said "We should've detected any slipspace ruptures within the system."

"Maybe they have some kind of cloaking technology." Garrus suggested "Could've kept small ships off your sensors as they moved in. We have a similar system on Normandy, hides our heat emissions."

Kat's head instantly turned to Shepard upon hearing that.

"Really?" she asked "Clever, admittedly. We've always had difficulty adapting cloaking technology to our own ships. The Covenant are more advanced however, and they've been known to have cloaking technology. Yours is an interesting work around though."

"We can learn more about it later," Carter told her "Right now I'd like to find out where they're gonna strike next."

"Or where they are," Shepard suggested "the sooner we strike their staging area the faster we'll be able to nip any potential attack or invasion in the bud."

Carter merely nodded and turned to Kat again.

"Noble Two already has an idea," he said "the Dead Zone we encountered; we're trying to locate its source. But we've been pre-occupied. We figure that's where the Covenant are operating out of, best place to hide. It will take time to locate, which means the ball is their court for the moment. Till then I'd like to find out where they're all headed next."

As they talked, the door on the other side of the room slid open. Legion and Tali walked in, carrying an assortment of electronic equipment with them.

"I swear the Covenant just like shooting at random." She bemoaned "Why blow up a personal computer owned by a damn farmer! These fanatics are insanely methodical, not that that's a surprise but-"

The Quarian stopped in mid sentence when she saw Shepard. She dropped her electronics and rushed up to him, Legion following behind.

"Shepard!" she shouted joyfully rushing in for a hug "You made it! I was worried Ackerson was gonna try something! But you're here! Thank goodness."

By now, everyone who wasn't a Normandy crew member was staring at the two. Shepard could tell what questions they had on their minds. Why was the alien hugging her human commander? Why was she specifically hugging him around the neck? And why did Shepard have an incredibly embarrassed and sheepish look on his face?

Shepard understood that Tali had been worried. But her over-eagerness was starting to draw attention. Attention they didn't need now as it would raise question he wasn't willing to answer. He slowly made Tali release her hold.

"Heh, it's okay Tali, um... I'll explain more about what happened later." He nervously told her

Tali seemed confused at the whole thing, and then she remembered they weren't among regulars. As she looked back to see the probing looks of both Noble One and Two she started fishing for an answer, fidgeting with her hands. Thankfully Samara gave her one.

"Forgive her impulsiveness," the Asari politely said "Quarians are very social creatures and the contract we set up with Ackerson had us all concerned for the Commander's well being."

Carter and Kat didn't seem entirely convinced of the explanation, but they let it slide.

"Ackerson isn't exactly known for being... trusting." Carter answered at last "You had good reason I'm sure."

The confusion tempered for now, things shifted back to more important matters. Kat looked over the equipment they scavenged from the surrounding buildings.

"I'll need to go down to the lower levels to install some of these modules into the system." She told the others "Tali, Legion you keep working on the central hub."

With that Noble Two left the room, exiting through the large sliding doors to the left. As Tali and Legion got back to work on the central hub, Carter turned back to Shepard.

"Well, I'm gonna be heading out with some of my men to scout the surrounding area." Carter told him "We need to be sure the Covenant are gone entirely."

"From what I saw outside you got a lot of them." Shepard chuckled a bit

"Just need to be sure." Carter reiterated, he then looked over to Garrus "Vakarian, think you can stand Noble 4's charming personality for a bit?"

Garrus just seemed to sigh, getting stuck with a real jackass of a partner. It was like C-SEC academy all over again. Luckily Shepard was there to ease things a bit for him.

"You can take Samara with ya," Shepard told Garrus "she's a pro at tracking criminals and people who don't wanna be found after all. She'd be a great help."

Garrus looked pleadingly at Samara, hoping she'd realise he did not want to go alone with Emile. Thankfully she got the message.

"I'd be happy to lend my services to tracking down any stragglers." She told Carter

"Fine, an extra head or two won't hurt." Carter concurred "I'll be back shortly Shepard, you can ask any other questions then. The engineers will keep ya company till then."

Shepard just nodded and let them all leave for their assigned duties. Marine engineers nearby walked over to their assigned area of the hub, close to Shepard and Tali, as they did. When the others left and everyone who was still in the room was out of ear shot, Tali let out a huge sigh of relief.

"I am so sorry," she said in a hushed tone, more embarrassed than ever "I wasn't thinking. Keelah we've never had to hide before-"

"Tali relax," Shepard calmed her, raising his hands in a reassuring gesture "you did nothing wrong."

It took a moment before the two had recomposed themselves. They weren't sure how Noble Team would react to Shepard and Tali's... unique relationship. Hopefully they could keep it under wraps for awhile longer, at least until they earned their trust a bit more. Still the whole thing was awkward. They never were concerned about what others would think of their relationship, it hadn't been that much of an issue among the rest of the crew. No real secrets among shipmates after all. They never expected they'd be in a situation like this however.

Shepard was starting to feel bad about having to reject one of Tali's hugs as he watched the poor Quarian fiddle away at a panel trying to get back to work and put it out of her mind.

As she opened, Shepard picked up the box of supplies and set if down near her.

"Need any help?"

Tali smiled slightly under her mask.

* * *

><p>Noble Six wasn't much on tech, and from the looks of it there wasn't much of a fight left here anyway. Still, watch duty from the roof of the relay wasn't all bad. It offered a great view of the landscape for one. He figured he had to enjoy it while he could, considering that if the Covenant had their way it would be all glass in a few weeks.<p>

The serenity of his lonely thoughts was interrupted when Legion arrived on the roof, electronic equipment being carried up behind him by two Marine engineers. When they set it down in front of the large dish's base, Legion looked towards a hole in the base and surveyed the damage.

"Transmitter damage superficial, triangulation and modulation systems require replacement."

"We'll just go work on the transformers then and leave ya to it." One of the marines told him, he then looked over to Six's direction "Hey Lieutenant, mind watching the robot for us? Your commander told us he's not allowed to work on the dish alone."

Six stood up and began walking over. Better than looking at nothing he supposed. Legion didn't seem at all bothered by the fact it now had someone looking over its shoulder. It just diligently went about its assigned task. In fact Six noticed that was the unique thing about Legion, the machine wasn't complaining as much about having to be watched as its shipmates.

"You don't seem as pissed about this whole over watch thing." He told the Geth "Your buddies downstairs have been pitching a bit of a fit over it what I hear."

"Their demeanour is not unwarranted." Legion expressed as it began replacing the burnt out chips and wires of the dish. "Sentient beings do not tend to enjoy being observed routinely."

"You any different?" Six asked

"Geth do not retain secrets from each other. There is no need to spy." Legion explained "Limiting the sharing of information is counterproductive to our goals."

So by all accounts Legion should be angry because he was being spied on. Six still had no real answer. He bent down to get a better look at what Legion was doing. The machine had now brought out its Omni tool was beginning to scan the internal systems.

"I get why your friends don't enjoy being watched, I don't get why you don't seem to be as bothered." Six explained properly

"We are gathering data. We wish to understand organic behaviour. Thus we are complying with your desired requests in order to better facilitate an understanding of organic observatory actions." Legion explained "In short while you are observing us we are observing you."

Six was a bit taken aback by the statement. In a sense Legion was watching the watchmen. And old adage finally answered by a robot with a single blue eye and a hole in its chest. Legion's head turned to Six, its eye's iris opening and closing a bit.

"More importantly," it added "a consensus was reached that accepting such terms would be an act that would help earn your commander's trust. We also saw your commander's inclusion of us within the order as a form of outside confirmation of our solidarity with the rest of Normandy. We found this prospect gratifying and see no reason to debate it."

It was an interesting way of Legion thinking about the situation. That it made him a part of the whole even more. Six didn't know much about the relationship between the members of the Normandy crew, but it sounded like Legion wanted to belong.

"Is belonging to the Normandy important to you?" Six asked in turn

Legion's head plates clicked a bit, up and down before answering.

"Belonging is something important to all sentient life forms." It answered in its usual monotone "To be part of a whole, acceptance of one another in service to a higher calling. Entering into something made greater by the individuals within. It is a tranquil end goal many societies strive towards in one fashion or another. This is one of the many traits Geth share with organics."

"One? We share others?" Six asked, honestly curious

"That is a question you can help us answer." Legion replied as it turned to Six with its Omni Tool ready.

The machine hit some buttons on the holographic display and brought up a holographic display of both Six and the far bigger Noble Five, Jorge.

"Initial scans showed that members of your team had cybernetic enhancements along with genetic enhancements not found in normal humans." The Geth listed off, highlighting said anomalies within Six and Five. "However outside a few possible genetic enhancements and Two Noble's cybernetic arm, preliminary scans show that Five Noble has more of both of these anomalies in his body than yours. He is also higher than average humans, standing at over seven feet."

The Omni Tool's holograms vanished back into the device; Six looked back up at Legion.

"We wish to know why this is, if you desire to explain."

Six knew he couldn't share every little detail, not his place. Legion certainly didn't have the clearance. He'd tell it what the public knew, and maybe a little bit of what ONI wouldn't give a shit if he told a robot.

"Jorge, from what I understand is a Spartan II." Six answered before standing up "I'm a Spartan III, so is the rest of Noble."

Legion stood up as well, more question on its electronic mind.

"Could you elaborate for us please?" it asked politely

"Spartan IIs get the major body overhauls, the expensive dangerous kind." Six replied "It's why there's so few of them left, keeping their ranks full is costly. I don't know the full details of the process. You'd have to ask the scientists at ONI for that. All I know is, we're supposed to be cheaper, we get some genetic enhancements to keep us going strong, but mostly we just get more training and the armour. That and we work in teams more."

"Fascinating." Legion responded "You suit a different function based on resources and necessity for different tasks. As we said, you are like the Geth in that regard. We have different platforms to serve certain functions as well. Some are meant to withstand tremendous amounts of damage, others like our platform are meant for stealth."

Six just laughed a bit at that.

"Well if you have platforms that serve as a suicide squad we definitely have a bit more in common." He joked

Legion's head tilted one way in confusion.

"We do not understand. You have a self-destruct code?" Legion asked confused

"I means Spartan IIIs are meant to be more expendable." Six answered, the laughter evaporating from his voice now "We get sent on suicide runs more often than not."

Legion knew this wasn't unheard of. It had researched Organic databases and found references to expendable foot soldiers. Most of the first references it ran across referred to late 20th and early 21st century soldiers with bombs strapped to their bodies. More recent stories referred to soldiers who were expected not to return from dangerous missions. Like Shepard recently.

"And yet you still function." Legion observed "What does that signify?"

"I and the others are just luckier than most I guess." Six answered with a shrug "Give me some time, I'll tell you a heap of stories of near death experiences, the ones that aren't classified of course."

"We anticipate the exchange of data." Legion replied, seemingly pleased at the prospect of learning new information. With any luck its queries would be largely answered by the end of the day. Such information could later be shared with Shepard when prompted.

Legion just hoped this wouldn't be a violation of Six's trust though. That would hurt unit cohesion, the last thing anyone, especially Shepard, wanted.

* * *

><p>Emile once again didn't seem to like the idea of being stuck with aliens again, but he didn't make as big a scene about it when carter assigned him to patrol with Garrus and Samara. May be it was because he didn't dislike Garrus as much anymore. Garrus however figured it was more likely because Samara's armour had a V-neck. That probably appealed to his hyper-macho testosterone laden brain.<p>

The small group had approached what was left of a small villa, littered with civilian and Covenant bodies alike. It was a ghastly scene, not at all helped by the smell of smoke and burning tarmac. Even the Covenant plasma marks on the walls still smelled fresh, despite being over a day old.

"Looks like nothing here either." Emile observed "I'm starting to think the bastards are long gone."

"Perhaps, they are after all cowards." Samara said as she looked around at the dead bodies surrounding the villa.

She walked over and bent to a woman, barely out of her teen years from the looks of it, face down on the cement, a large plasma burn at away at her shoulder blades. She had been killed quickly. The Asari turned the poor woman over, closed her eyes and placed her hands on her chest. Samara bowed her head when it was done for a moment in silence.

"You gonna do that for every poor fucker in this place?" Emile asked, surveying the scene rather callously

"Didn't they teach you respect for the dead back in boot camp?" Garrus asked in return venomously

Emile's skull carved helmet turned to Garrus. The Turian didn't need to see his face to know he didn't like being talked back to.

"This ain't our job Scarface." Emile told him "We don't have time to waste on these people, they already bought it. Maybe if they joined up they'd have had a better chance, taken a few more down with them. Saved us the trouble."

"Empathy is an important trait of any warrior." Samara responded simply as she kept her knelt stance "It is what separates you from that of a cudgel. If you feel no connection for the people you are sworn to defend then your actions are given less meaning. Personal gratification is not the Justicar way."

Emile just brushed off the sage bit of wisdom with a stiff cocky little smirk.

"Works just fine for me lady," he argued back "I'm bred for combat, nothing more. I don't need any damn empathy with civies. Getting to kill Covies is all the meaning I need. Personal satisfaction is something to fight for. Why do I need to worry about a bunch of dirt farmers?"

"How heroically selfless of you." Garrus quipped sarcastically "For a second you actually thought of someone besides yourself in that statement."

Emile was seriously starting to get on Garrus' nerves. He'd say he was like an ornery Krogan, except even Krogan fought for more than just getting their rocks off. Emile for his part took the quip in stride and carried on the recon mission. As he walked around surveying the area Samara finally got up from her position and joined the search once more.

"By the by," Emile began as he looked at the Asari "for a lady who puts up a Zen Buddha Samurai act, you don't look like much of a fighter. That armour ain't what I'd call standard issue."

"It has served me well for several centuries." Samara replied "It is more than adequate."

"Centuries?" Emile asked confused

"Asari live very long lives," Garrus explained "sometimes over a thousand."

Emile took another look at Samara, who was now barely paying him any attention.

"Damn," he said "gotta say for a super senior she's pretty fin-"

Emile's crass comment was cut off mid-sentence when a series of plasma bolts shot out of nowhere. They struck Garrus, but luckily the new and improved shields Mordin had created held just find. Rushing out of the back room of the villa, ploughing through some water barrels, was a Grunt. Plasma pistol in hand the little ugly midget alien made a dash for safety. Emile aimed his shotgun at the alien, but Samara moved his gun away. She raised her hand towards the fleeing creature.

"I have a better way." She told him

Samara's arm glowed with blue energy and the little Grunt was soon enveloped in the same. Suddenly the alien was lifted off the ground and began floating back to the group against his will. When he aura went away, Garrus rushed in to kick and the pistol away and stomped his foot onto the grunt's chest to keep him there.

"Looks like this little one got left behind." Garrus motioned "Samara search him; make sure he doesn't have any more weapons."

Samara went about her task, looking at the Grunt's grenade belt and holsters. Emile however was watching in astonishment.

"The hell did she just do?"

Garrus fielded the question.

"It's called biotics," he explained "it's an ability some individuals have to create mass effect fields. Shepard has it, so does Samara, although her abilities are substantially more powerful. She can put up barriers, throw objects and people across the room or pull them in. Easiest way I can explain is it's like psychic powers but it isn't."

Emile, for once, seemed genuinely surprised. He was honestly about to ask more about it, then the Grunt started squealing in pain as Garrus pushed down a little harder.

"Let's blow the little fucker's head off already and get back." Emile said as he moved in with his shotgun.

"Wait," Garrus told him stick his hand in front of the Spartan "we can get information out of him. On where he came from, their force of numbers, he understands us right?"

"Grunts are stupid dumbasses. They don't know shit." Emile shot back "They only good for sucking up bullets and running around like chickens with their heads lopped off. You should know by now how low they are on the social scale within the Covenant. They're like slaves they give guns to, what makes you think he was told jack?"

"It's still worth a shot." Garrus replied

The Turian picked up the Grunt and threw him against a wall. His gun still pointed at the alien so he didn't get the bright idea to run, he began the "interview" so to speak.

"Alright, I've killed a ton of your buddies already so don't think I'm gonna hesitate to do the same to you if you don't start answering questions." He began sternly "Cooperate and this will go quickly. Do you understand?"

In somewhat broken English, the Grunt responded.

"Ye-eSs?" it answered frightened

Garrus nodded, communication barrier broken, so far so good.

"Alright first question buddy, where'd you come from?"

The Grunt shifted its head around for a bit before it pointed off in the direction of some mountains in the distance.

"THe-AiR." It said

"See vague and unhelpful," Emile complained "we already guessed they're in the dead zone somewhere. His finger doesn't narrow it down."

Garrus just shushed Emile. He'd been in C-Sec long enough to know you took your time interrogating.

"How many?" he asked the Grunt "We talking small army, raider party? How many ships do you have?"

The Grunt looked at its fingers, trying to count. It held up a disproportionate amount, four to be precise. But it didn't look sure. Emile was growing more frustrated.

"If you're gonna do this at least ask him something more concrete and useful already." He badgered

Garrus just stared back at Emile, annoyed at the constant interruptions.

"Why are you here?" he asked "What is your objective?"

The Grunt fiddled its hands, not entirely sure it should tell. Fearing reprisals from its fellows it clammed up. Emile didn't respond well. Fed up with the alien and this pointless exercise he placed a shotgun to the poor alien's forehead.

"Answer the fucking question you methane sucking piece of shit before I paint this villa you burned a new coat of blue!"

As the Grunt began to tear up, placing it hands up and begging for its life in a rambling alien language, Samara moved the shotgun away.

"That will not yield you any information." She told Emile "It will say anything to avoid dying. It will lie to you. You must convince it telling the truth is more preferable."

Emile pulled back, the Grunt weeping on the ground in hurried sobs.

"Well you got your own recommendation than Mrs. High and Mighty Zen Warrior?"

Samara didn't answer. She simply showed Emile the proper procedure. The little Grunt was lifted off the ground, hung upside down in the air with her Biotics and pushed against a wall in the villa. He was then released, and fell to the floor, hitting his head first. Samara pushed him back up and against a wall once more.

"I understand your fear," Samara assured it as she leaned close "you fear dying on this world, far from home. I can see why you refuse to tell us, you fear your superiors more than us. You fear what they will do to you. But are your comrades worth suffering for?"

The grunt's head rose up slightly to look at the Justicar.

"You are a slave, used as a tool by them to commit these atrocities." She continued pointing out the dead humans "As of now, they probably believe you dead. No one will come to save you. You're disposable to them."

The Grunt's eyes started to water, the truth sinking in.

"The Spartan will kill you." She informed him "I will not kill you. I will free you. Do you want to be free?"

The Grunt suddenly began nodding frantically in response.

"All I ask is that you answer. What is your objective?" she asked again "Answer and I will release you."

The Grunt's eyes darted back and forth as it began to recall what it knew of the Covenant mission, what it heard in briefings, what it overheard from the Elites, anything that could possibly satisfy this strange blue alien working with the humans.

"It is in your best interest to tell me the truth." Samara assured it "I will set you free from your suffering. You will no longer need to be afraid."

Not being afraid. Something every Grunt wished it could feel.

"BaSE. SwORRdd." It said in frantic tone "IcE. ReLic. AlL KnoW, all I KNoW!"

Samara released the struggling little alien. When she pushed off his chest the Grunt fell to the floor on its hands and began to hyperventilate. Samara backed away and over to Garrus.

"It is done; he has revealed his true purpose." Samara told them "Do his words mean anything to you?"

"Yeah, sounds like the Covenant have been monitoring our comms if he knows the name of the place." Emile explained "Sword Base, ONI facility, it's on the Ice Shelf."

"And the relic?" Garrus asked

Emile just shrugged

"Hell if I know, probably some damn alien artefact the ONI fellas have stashed there." He answered "Could just be some Covie tech we snagged. ONI keeps a lot of secrets."

They suddenly heard the little patter of feet rushing away in fear as the Grunt ran from them. They could almost swear they heard it laughing with joy. It was free.

That was when Emile pulled out a pistol and fired a single round at the Grunt from the back, blowing its head off. Garrus stepped back in shock. He looked to Emile in anger. This wasn't how the Normandy team operated.

"What was that for?" Garrus demanded to know "He was no threat to us anymore! He told us what we wanted to know!"

Emile didn't even bat an eye, shrug or raise his voice at Garrus. It remained even, unwavering, somewhat bored and slightly annoyed at the Turian's moral crusading.

"He was a Covie. You think he gave a shit when his buddies slaughtered these humans your Blue skinned friend here gives so much of a shit about?" Emile retaliated back "You wanna honour them so bad? Start killing their murderers."

Garrus turned to Samara, hoping for back up on this. She promised the Grunt freedom, to end its suffering. She would side with him on the matter. At least that's what Garrus had hoped.

"Noble 4 has simply done what I was about to do." She explained "He had committed wrongs; he needed to atone for them. Such is my code."

Garrus was a bit shocked at this. He understood the code for Samara was important, but in this situation it didn't sit right. Whether he killed these people or not, he should've been taken as a prisoner to atone for these actions, not shot in the back of the head. As pissed off as he was with red tape at C-Sec, he knew that's how the law was supposed to work.

"But you promised him-"

"He is free now, free from pain and suffering of any kind." Samara explained reassuringly "Had he returned to his comrades they surely would've tortured him for revealing their plans. He was a slave, but a slave who had committed great and terrible acts. By my understanding of the code, it was the only viable option. He atones for his actions and will not suffer further. May he find peace in the embrace of whatever Gods he prays to."

Garrus would've argued more, but Emile brought them all back to the here and now.

"We gotta hoof it back to Noble Lead, we need to tell him the Covenant are gonna hit Sword hard."

Garrus reluctantly agreed, discussions of morality could be saved or another time. More lives were in danger right now. They couldn't stand idle.

* * *

><p>Shepard and Tali continued to work diligently on the central hub. At the moment they were sorting through chips and salvaged nodes from the surrounding buildings. They figured one of them had to be an appropriate replacement for the damaged ones. Problem was neither of them could find the ones that fit.<p>

"It would be so much easier if they just sent more replacement parts." Tali complained "There aren't as many communication based tech bits in this valley as I hoped."

"Why didn't you ask Noble Two to order some?" Shepard asked as he eyeballed another chip board

"She said it would take a few days for the request to get filed." She sighed heavily "During Winter Contingency supplies are rationed according to their importance. For some reason communication based tech considered secondary to mobilization and defence of key assets."

Shepard was a bit confused about that, communication was incredibly important during an invasion, off world or otherwise. It would help coordinate their forces better after all, why wasn't it a priority?

"Did she say why?" Shepard asked

"No," Tali answered seemingly annoyed at the memory "classified according to her. She just said we should both be grateful it would only be a few days and not a week. Still, replacing everything is going to take a long while. We were lucky there was still a hard-line open to contact you guys."

Shepard put the thought out of his mind for now and just went about his task helping Tali as best he could. The way this place was trashed and all the headaches she was seemingly under, she needed the help. Even if Shepard wasn't much of an engineer, she was the tech head, and in many ways smarter than him. For example, trying to find a wrench among her alien tools was not easy. He only knew which one looked vaguely like a blowtorch. Wrenches to help her undo a bolted bulkhead on the floor to the lines there were a different story.

"Which one is all purpose?" he asked confused, holding up several metal small miscellaneous tools.

Tali just shook her head and pulled out one of the wrenches in the middle.

"I hope this isn't emasculating that I end up doing all the handyman work around here." She giggled

"You are a Quarian." Shepard shrugged "It's not a huge blow to my delicate ego to be beaten out of this by you. Even if you weren't, I never was one for working with machines. It took me forever to figure out my first Omni-Tool, whole damn year of freezes and crashes. I almost failed high school because of that thing."

Tali laughed, Shepard may not have been the most tech savvy person on the planet, but at least he lent a hand where he could. And he always had a warm smile to offer as well.

In the midst of their work, Tali mentioned the information she found regarding the data disc and Legion finding out about something at Sword Base. It was intriguing to Shepard. He wanted to know more about it himself. Unfortunately, he also didn't want to risk pushing his luck with the UNSC. He had been drafted, for good or for ill, into their military. He did not want to face whatever court-martial system they had in place in this universe, especially since looking around classified information in their bases wouldn't make them look good in their already suspicious eyes. He decided to put the idea on the back burner for now, unless they found out something forced their hand otherwise he was not going to permit investigating it further.

Shepard had another reason to stick by Tali as she worked. She mentioned earlier how uncomfortable she was around these UNSC marines and the suspicious glances. He was hoping being around her now would deter them. They were still keeping a watch though, they had their orders.

Quickly he decided it would be better for both of them if they tried to talk about other things besides their current project. With any luck it would probably get her mind off the frustrating parts of this job.

"So how was working with the Spartans?" he asked

"Alright I guess, expected worse to be honest." She answered "They're not entirely happy about us being here, but they're not complaining we're around either. Legion fits in better than me or Garrus."

Best he could ask for at the moment, Shepard supposed. He then noticed Tali peering over his shoulder to take a peek at the Marines keeping an eye on them. They averted their eyes subtly as soon as Tali spotted them.

"Think they suspect anything about us?" Tali asked

"I don't know. It's not like we've done anything really suspicious yet." Shepard told her "It's not like we're taking pictures of classified documents or anything."

While Shepard laughed a bit, Tali elaborated on what she meant.

"I meant about us specifically." She explained

Shepard got her meaning. Feeling like an idiot for missing the obvious he huddled close to her.

"Maybe a bit, we did seem odd for a moment there." Shepard explained. He quickly back tracked the statement somewhat "Not that your hugs are odd. I like your hugs."

"I know what you meant," Tali assured him, a smile only he could picture behind her mask "I'm just happy Samara thought up a cover story for us. I'm not sure these people are ready for the concept of cross species relationships."

"It's none of their business as far as I'm concerned." Shepard added ardently "Still even if they do figure it out I don't care. They have bigger problems to worry about I think than us."

Tali nodded in agreement before going back to her work and opening a panel. She wanted to compare one of the chip boards she found with one of the broken ones. Luckily it fit, not she just had to hope she could easily replace the damaged components. As she began to start removing the damaged board she kept up the conversation with Shepard.

"Speaking about us," she started "I know it's probably not the best time, but I was hoping we could try and squeeze in some time together."

"What this doesn't qualify as time together?" he asked

"I meant in private." She elaborated with a bit of a giggle "Don't be coy Wade."

Shepard responded by rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

"I don't know Tali," he said "we probably wouldn't be able to do much considering-"

"I'm not asking for much," she interjected, stopping in the middle of her work "less than an hour I promise. You could use it; it's been one stressful hour after the next since we ended up here. A few minutes by ourselves won't hurt anyone. Didn't you just finish re-downloading all the vids you had on your Omni-Tool before the first Normandy was destroyed?"

He had, and it was pain to find them all. Luckily EDI and Legion were extranet surfing legends. If it weren't for them he never would've rebuilt his prized collection, every episode of the Original Star Trek series. He was surprised Tali had remembered him telling her about that at this moment, what with everything that was going on.

"That's how you wanna spend an evening? I mean, watching 'The Trouble with Tribbles' doesn't exactly sound all that romantic." he asked, hoping a bit that she'd back off.

Tali's face just lit up instead.

"It sounds perfect to me, remember back on the first Normandy?" she began, a hint of nostalgia in her throat "You suggested that to complete my pilgrimage I should take a copy of your collection back. You showed that episode to me in an attempt to convince me it was the best gift any captain of any ship would want to have."

Shepard remembered. It was an embarrassing memory. Truth be told, he lacked the actual confidence in himself back then to try and properly ask her out on a real date. Hell he lacked the confidence to believe he was actually Spectre material back then. So, as he usually did back then with avoiding issues by skirting around them half the time, he tried to get her to come on a date without actually saying it was one. He hoped good old Captain Kirk could help him out. Looking back on it all, it was dumb plan. More evidence of the fact he was nothing like the great impervious dashing superhero the media had painted him as after the Blitz.

But as memory served, she left the cabin rather pleased that night. Saying, while she needed something more important for her pilgrimage, she would take a copy of the series back as a memento of the mission.

If only he hadn't thought of his favourite episode first, maybe she would've dropped this alone time idea.

Another thought came to him, why was he trying to avoid this? Didn't he want to spend time with her? He had promised they'd go out some time, alone, when they could. What was he afraid of? It wasn't the UNSC finding out. Was it really because he didn't think right now was the time?

"It would be like reliving our first unofficial date so to speak." Tali continued.

"Look Tali-"

The Quarian didn't let him finish.

"Wade," she cut him off, seemingly a lot less cheerful and more solemn "please. I was worried about you the whole time I was down here. For once I've actually saved you from something. I can't say that about many people. I'm not asking for much, just a few minutes together. What's the harm?"

Shepard didn't answer. In fact he didn't get the chance. As he started pondering how he was going to say no to the woman he loved, Mordin saved his cowardly behind.

"Shepard!" he shouted through the comm. link "Need you here! Must show you something! Utmost importance!"

Tali got the message too of course, as Shepard got up to leave Tali followed. She grabbed him by the arm to pull herself up, giving him a look that said "not that easy." He let her follow him to where Mordin was observing the bodies. Nearby was another Spartan, sniper rifle in hand. He looked up an lightly saluted.

"Noble Three," he greeted "you must be Commander Shepard. Nice to have you here, maybe you can translate for me."

"Something wrong with the one we gave Holland to give to you?" Tali asked

"No, this guy talks a mile a minute and I can barely understand a word." Noble Three answered "It's like he's on caffeine! Super caffeine! Or whatever aliens drink."

Mordin was in a corner, frantically pouring over his notes on an Omni-Tool he finally looked over to Shepard and waved him over. Wade bent down next to the good Professor.

"Most disturbing Shepard." He began "Serious concern. Could be game changer. Swing war in Covenant's favour."

"Mordin calm down," Shepard told him sternly "what is it?"

Mordin brought out one of his surgical tools and began peeling back fragments of flesh on the dead Elite. The chest cavity was open wide for all to see, but what Mordin had to show him lay deeper within.

"Detected fragments of metal inside Elite's body." He began "Surmised fragmentation round, embedded itself inside its body, possibly from grenade. Discarded it when Noble Three said this Elite was killed with Legion's self-destructing drone. Became puzzled further, as explosion should've made more internal damage, but damage while lethal wasn't as widespread as it should be. Then, found this."

Mordin pealed back another piece of flesh to reveal something near one of the Elite's hearts and its right lung. In fact, it looked surgically attached to both. It was a metal of some kind. Mordin pulled at it with a pair of pliers and brought it out for Shepard to see more clearly.

He took one look at it, the wires, the joints, the chips, he knew what it was.

"Cybernetic implants?" Shepard said astonished

"Indeed," Mordin answered "This one appears to keep heart and lungs from failing from trauma. Automatically restarts them, regulates them. Other cybernetic metal pieces detected in arms and legs, increasing muscle configuration no doubt. Very well hidden signals though. Needed to do full invasive diagnostic scan to detect. Possible reason why Legion didn't know about it."

Shepard looked over to Noble Three, who was as concerned as he was.

"Do Elites usually get implants?" he asked

"No, not from what I heard." He replied, seemingly shocked at the whole thing "They're physically tough all on their own. Adding robot parts though... that just pushes them over the edge I think. They were already the equivalent of the Covenant's super soldiers without it."

"Autopsy of Elites we fought had no cybernetics." Mordin added frantically "Possible new development. Considering possibilities now."

"They may have found some ancient tech from their Gods, decided to implant themselves." Noble Three suggested "They're real big on ancient technology."

Tali looked over at Noble Three, trying to process everything.

"Who exactly are their Gods anyway?" she asked

"Forerunner I think they're called." He answered "You'd be better off asking an expert about them though. I'm just a Sniper, not a xenobiologist or something."

Mordin eyed the cybernetic piece he had before placing it in a sealed container among his things. He'd analyze it in more detail later when he had better equipment.

"Will need more tests." He began to rattle off "Must compile data. Devise proper experiments. Will need to extract other samples. Need as many specimens as possible. Have to find out full range of implant capabilities."

Jun looked over at Mordin warily. The reason was clear, this was something that the UNSC would want to hear about and study.

"I'm not sure what Noble Lead is gonna say about that." He told the Salarian "I'm sure ONI would like a look at these cybernetics. You'll have to ask him permission."

Mordin suddenly stood upright, looking Jun in the eye as he talked rather quickly.

"Yes of course. Apologies," he rattled off very fast "never meant to imply otherwise. Merely offering services. Believe I can offer fresh perspective on matter. Compare notes with ONI. Full intention of sharing any findings with superiors."

Shepard himself didn't see any problem with the request.

"You have two bodies," he said "we get one each. Hell I'd be willing to bet there are more Elites out there with similar cybernetic enhancements."

Jun suddenly slapped his visor, remembering something.

"Shit," he said visibly annoyed "the Elite bodies we started burning. Damn, I better go tell the Commander about this. Need to see what we can salvage."

As he rushed out of the room he turned back to Mordin.

"Stay here! I'll be back. You can probably explain this way better than I can." He then turned to Shepard "You too, in case One needs you to translate all this techno medical babble."

With that Jun rushed off, leaving the three with the dead Elites. Shepard looked down at them both, furrowing his brow.

"Cybernetic implants," he repeated "reminds me of a certain someone now that I think about it."

Certain someone's name didn't need to be said. Their now deceased rogue spectre adversary had long since passed needing his name spoken in idle conversation aloud. Mordin however remained level headed, refusing to jump to conclusions.

"If origin resides from our universe there are other possibilities." Her told Shepard "Cybernetic companies, smugglers, obtained during a pirate raid on a vessel. Could in fact be from this universe. Then more likely Forerunner in origin as Jun suggested."

"I'm just noticing the similarities Prof." Shepard assured, raising his hand "I know they could've gotten them through a number of means. In any case I'd imagine there is one person on this planet that could give us a straight answer."

Tali only took a moment to realise who he was talking about.

"The Zealot Garrus shot in the leg." She realised "If his friends had these Implants than he probably does too."

"And he's been clipped." Shepard added "Depending on how bad the wound is he's probably got a bit of a limp about now. Cybernetics or no."

"Won't be easy to track." Mordin told him, putting his hand up to his chin to think "Any number of places he could hide on planet. Caves, mountainous terrain, several local villages, forests, could be anywhere."

Suddenly Mordin's eyes lit up as he was struck with an epiphany.

"No, wait, more likely seeking medical attention. Returned to fellow Covenant. Find their staging area and we find the Zealot."

"Just what I was thinking." Shepard agreed. "Noble Team is already working on locating it somewhere in the dead zone. I think we should help out."

Tali seemed a bit perplexed at it all.

"We're going out of our way to find one zealot just to ask where he got the cybernetics from?" she asked confused "Seems a bit much."

"Not just that," Shepard began as he looked around "I wasn't able to tell you or Garrus when we got back because this is vital information."

He began to relay what he learned back on the Normandy with the others. That the Covenant knew who they were, that they had been looking for them, that the attack wasn't an act of random fanatical violence at all. Needless to say Tali was shocked by the revelation. She inevitably agreed finding out how they knew was important and that the zealot could be their best bet.

"Capturing one of these things alive isn't gonna be easy." Tali told Shepard as she looked down at the dead Elites "They're hard enough to take down."

"We'll just need to keep our eyes peeled and use our heads when we find the bastard." Shepard told her

That was when Noble Three returned, Noble One in tow. Behind him, Samara and Garrus, a bit of a shock as Shepard hadn't expected them back yet.

"Patrol wrap up early?" he asked

"Not exactly." Garrus responded downtrodden

"We have a problem," Noble One interjected sternly "a major problem."

Carter wasn't kidding, Shepard listened to what Garrus and Samara had just finished telling him and Jun. The news about cybernetic implants in Elites was put on the backburner as far more pressing matters became apparent. The Covenant's next target had just been named, and worse it was the very base the rest of Shepard's crew were.

Carter immediately called everyone in to the central hub room as he made a call to Colonel Holland through the hard-line. They couldn't waste time, for all they knew the Covenant were already on their way. Shepard for his part tried to boost his comm. link's signal by getting Legion to patch him into the relay's system. He needed to get Joker, now.

Eventually the signal went through.

"Yo! Commander, what's up?" he asked "Should I expect you back soon or is that relay really messed up? Cause if not me and EDI were thinking of taking some time off and playing a few rounds of poker if that's-"

"Did you already drop the squad off at Sword Base?" Shepard demanded to know

Joker was taken aback, but he knew when Shepard was pissed off so he didn't shoot back a smart ass remark.

"Few hours ago, rest of us have been holed up here in the ship breaking yards for repairs. Why?"

"It's the Covenant's next target, we've contacted the UNSC about it and we're headed there now." Shepard explained "Get back in the air, meet us there. We may need fire support, bad!"

Joker without hesitation copied back and the comm. link terminated. Carter finished his conversation with Holland around the same time and approached them.

"We need to move, Holland says he wants us at Sword Base. It's a vital military asset; we can't let the Covenant grab it.

"How long before they strike again?" Garrus asked

"We should at least have another day." Kat replied "They're licking their wounds after giving up the relay yesterday, they'll need time to properly plan out their next move. Even if they did attack today the base has advance warning, they should be on full alert now. We'll have time to mobilize, I hope."

"Then let's get moving," Shepard responded "We've wasted enough time as it is here."

No one argued with that point, before long everyone was running to their shuttle or Falcon. It was a few hours flight to the Ice Shelf from Visegrad. But they were hoping, based on what Kat said that they'd have one more day to prepare for the assault.

* * *

><p>AN: Well this chapter has been running pretty damn long. In fact it was supposed to be longer. I got to sixty pages before realising it needed to be split. But don't worry, I didn't take out any content and let's be honest, 34 pages is still a nice significant enough size. So you technically you're still only getting one chapter, but now it's two. Hooray! And in case you didn't realise they both have a big Sheep theme going on. Try and guess the relevance.<p>

By the by, if anyone felt really friggin sorry for that Grunt, my job is done. The Grunts are just so sad and apthetic I can't help but feel sorry for them/ They're slaves pure and simple and they got no choice but to kil humans. if any Covenant races deserves my sympathy it's them... even as I kill them in hilariously gruesome ways. Which reminds me I will probably boost the rating because good lord this shit is getting violent. Also, Halo savy fans will know the scene was a homage of sorts to something similar that happened in "Halo: Helljumpers" a comic staring two of the main characters from Halo: ODST. Expect more Grunt deaths in the future, and perhaps even some more scenes where I show off how truly unfortunate their lot in life truly is.

For more revelations, far more earth shaking ones at that, head to the next chapter. Or continuation of this chapter however you wanna see it.


	6. Sheep to Slaughter

Chapter 6: Sheep to Slaughter

**July, 25th, 2552**

"We have Covenant coming in fast and hard, Corvette in holding pattern above, multiple drop ships approaching, estimation six platoons worth on first wave alone. Request any available UNSC forces in vicinity of Babd Catha Ice Shelf to assist. Sword Base is under attack, I repeat, sword base is under attack."

That was what both the Normandy shuttle and the Noble Falcons heard half way into their flight. The Covenant weren't waiting two days after their first engagement to start another. They were headed into Sword now. The Garrison could hold out as they were ready for the attack shortly before it began, but for how long was anyone's guess. They were headed there unofficial to help out before any of this happened, now that the Covenant were there they were officially requested to come to Sword base. One thing was for sure, the battle was lost if they didn't get rid of the Corvette. It was pounding Sword base, it needed to go.

"We could have Joker blow the thing out of the sky." Garrus suggested as they got closer to the base.

"Inadvisable." Mordin told him "Depending on how close Corvette is to base crash could kill everyone inside. Counter-productive tactic. Will need to draw Corvette away from Sword Base first."

"How well do you think the Garrison has been faring holding them off Commander?" Samara asked turning her gaze towards Shepard.

But Shepard didn't answer, his eyes stared down at the water below them, unflinching and unwavering.

"Commander?" Samara spoke again "Are you alright?"

Shepard suddenly shook his head and turned to the others.

"Sorry," he apologized "just thinking about this attack a bit. Why they only waited a day for another attack. You'd think they'd have to reorganize a bit."

It was peculiar. It kept up the momentum sure, but considering how many soldiers they lost at Visegrad they'd try to plan their next move more carefully. The crew had their theories as to why.

"Maybe this relic is more important than we think." Garrus suggested "They've done recon; we know that much considering the Grunt knew the name and location. And they've been discovered. Taking back the relay may have forced their hand."

"Maybe the relic has something to do with what we saw on the data disc." Tali suggested "The one concerning that project they had going on here. Maybe they found out ONI was experimenting on it and they want to take it back now, you know to stop blasphemy or whatever."

"I don't think so." Shepard replied, melancholy about the whole situation "If this relic really is at Sword Base I don't think it's going anywhere anytime soon. I'm thinking they're moving in now for another reason. Think guys, what recently showed up at Sword Base?"

The answer to that question was one no one liked to think about. They probably should've considered this sooner; they had just learned that the Normandy was being targeted by the Covenant, along with everyone on-board. That included the people who weren't on the Normandy at the moment as well.

"The other squad mates are at Sword." Samara answered as she shook her head "It would be a prime opportunity to take our crew out by surprise."

"That's assuming they even know they were sent there." Tali added sceptically "How would they have found out?"

"Possibility," Legion chimed in "Covenant are monitoring human transmissions for any mention of Normandy crew and other key targets. Suggests UNSC network is insecure."

"And we can't hack theirs cause it's all behind their little dead zone." Garrus added "Sneaky bastards."

Shepard was too taken aback by the whole situation. If it was true that this was why the Covenant was at Sword Base, then their presence there was putting every soldier stationed there at risk. He couldn't completely blame himself, they were ordered to go to Sword Base after all, but the scenario was becoming all too familiar. Virmire familiar.

Tali noticed him sulking in the seat and tapped his shoulder.

"I know what you're thinking." She began "This isn't your fault. They were going to attack Sword Base eventually."

"Yeah but if the rest of the team wasn't there right now the UNSC would've had more time to mobilize." He countered "I'm starting to think maybe Ackerson had a point, that somehow us being here is making things worse."

The other squad mates were silent for a moment, as Shepard continued to stare out at the horizon. He thought back to Alenko, Virmire, the bomb. How he practically sent his best friend to his death. Now he may have just let Miranda and the others walk willingly to theirs. Eventually, Tali placed a hand on his shoulder. There were no words. The action alone was enough to get him out of his funk.

Just in time too, as Noble One contacted them over the shuttle's comm-channel.

"Alright Normandy Team, listen up," he began "LZ is no doubt hot by this time. So watch yourselves. We'll be feeding you Intel throughout the mission so we all know what is going on. More accurately that would be Auntie Dot's job."

"Who?" Garrus asked

A calm dry female voice came over the channel next.

"Greetings." It said "I am Auntie Dot, Noble Team's assigned AI."

Shepard could hear Tali groan and Legion looked up intrigued.

"Well nice to meet you." Shepard responded "Or hear you as it were. Where exactly are you anyway? Sword Base?"

"That is classified information." Auntie Dot responded "Unfortunately you do not have clearance to be told the exact coordinates. I am however not located at Sword Base presently."

Naturally, Tali was quick to sneak in a minor remark of distaste towards the AI.

"So how exactly are you supposed to fill us in on the battle?" Tali asked sceptically

"I have already accessed both satellite and camera feeds within the base and can give you immediate updates concerning the battle."

Tali just shrugged and brushed it off. As long as it had eyes on them it was good enough for her.

As the team passed by the first large mountainous peaks of the ice shelf and the icebergs below, Sword Base came into view. As did the battle within it. When they passed the peaks they saw their target, the Covenant Corvette, leering down on the ONI facility like a dark thundercloud. Auntie Dot quickly filled them in on the situation.

They received a call from command, informing them their current landing zone was too hot. Dot immediately corrected their course towards Sword Base's courtyard. Also lousy with Covenant troops, but not as bad their previous LZ from what they understood. Seeing the amount of bad guys they would be facing. Shepard put on his helmet at last. The Blood Dragon armour finally looked complete. Hopefully it would intimidate a few Covenant soldiers.

Dot of course filled everyone in on information they already knew or surmised, specifically that orbital rounds were prohibited. It went without saying that probably meant Normandy wouldn't be able to fire a shot at the Corvette either when it arrived.

"What do we got on troop numbers?" Carter asked

"I have been unable to properly determine that." Dot responded "I can confirm current defensive measures are insufficient. You will need to re-establish our defensive assets on the ground. Will keep you informed as situation develops."

As they flew over ONI base's courtyard they saw the battle raging down below. Plasma bolts and grenades flying in every direction. Shepard scanned the area, trying to find his squad. Suddenly he spotted them.

"There!" he shouted pointing out a corner to the right of some stairs. "It's Miranda!"

He'd recognize that distinct jumpsuit of hers anywhere. He assumed not many Marines wore skin tight leather. That and he noticed several Covenant soldiers getting tossed back with her biotics. He could make others among the small defensive position. Jack, Jacob, Kasumi, and a few marines huddling beside them. He couldn't see any of the others.

"Alright everyone let's give these troopers a hand." Carter told everyone over the com-channel. "We'll head to the front, Six, Kat, take the Normandy Crew with ya. Their team is down there after all and you look like you'll need all the help you can get."

The shuttle's doors opened wide. The ship didn't land of course, neither did the Falcon. Everyone jumped off, feet first into the fight.

"Let's move lieutenant," Kat told Six as they jumped out.

When they were all clear the shuttle took off and the other Falcons left as well. A couple of marines in the LZ rushed up to support them.

"Thank god, Spartans." Greeted a corporal "Command said you were coming but-"

That was when he noticed Shepard and his decidedly non-human crew. Perplexed, and bit on edge, he and his friend pointed their weapons at them.

"Um," he began nervously "who are they?"

"Not the enemy," Noble Two informed him "eyes front soldier we have Covenant to deal with."

The marine just nodded and rushed to cover up front. Kat looked over to Shepard and the others

"We need to start pressing," she said "push them out of the courtyard and establish a holding pattern."

"Let's be quick," Shepard told her "Miranda ain't exactly in the best position right now."

Their way forward was through the archway below a bridge to the greater courtyard where all the fighting was happening. A ramp to the right would get them on the bridge, and on the high ground.

"I'll go up the middle Six," Kat told the Lieutenant "you take the bridge."

Six just nodded and headed towards the ramp. Shepard had a similar vein of thought as Kat's.

"Legion, Garrus go with him." He ordered "I need you to give Miranda's team sniper support until we get there."

"On it!" Garrus complied, as he and the Geth rushed after Six.

When Garrus was halfway across the tarmac towards the ramp, the team noticed a plethora of Grunts climbing over a concrete barricade towards them, firing as they came forward. Kat fired two shots from her pistol taking down one in the eye, the other in his breather. Samara of course saw a more efficient way of clearing the advancing Grunts. She stepped out into the open, plasma bolts whizzing past or lightly hitting on her now better equipped shields. Mordin's modifications were holding up nicely. She raised her hand to the enemy. With a single push, a wave of blue energy shot out the Grunts. The biotic attack struck them and sent the tiny aliens flying backwards straight off the concrete divider or into it depending on how far they had gotten.

Kat was stunned by the action, but kept moving regardless. The marines they hooked up with were more dumbfounded.

"You see that shit Kowalski?" asked the corporal

"Is she some kind PSI Ops agent?" His friend asked "I thought they were just a morale booster ONI was circulating."

Samara looked to them as she came into view. She pulled out her submachine gun and motioned to them with her head

"Quickly, follow," she told them "before they press on us again."

The two marines looked at each other briefly and rushed up to the next bit of cover under the archway beneath the bridge. All the while they kept close to Samara. They didn't know what she was, just that they wanted to be behind her in this fight.

Garrus and Legion kept close behind Six as they rushed up the ramp. They hit the deck however when Plasma bolts started to slam against their shields. Garrus made a mental note to thank Mordin and Tali for saving his ass again today with their shield mods. The plasma came from an Elite, an angry one too. From the looks of it he was a low ranking officer in blue armour, but as gun-ho and fanatical as any of them.

The Elite fired again, plasma hitting the ground as Garrus rolled to the side. Six and Legion were keeping in cover behind a very low outcropping in the center of the tiny platform they had climbed up to. As plasma sailed over the top of their heads, they reacted quickly. There wasn't enough room this time or cover to help this Elite evade overload. Garrus popped up and targeted the Elite. It worked like it did back on the Normandy, the Elites shields faded and Six took the opportunity to rush the alien at once.

He fired sporadic bursts from his rifle, making the Elite flinch with each shot. The Spartan closed now, running over their bit of cover towards the Covenant officer. He pulled out his knife and ran for the Elite's throat, slicing it in two as he rushed past him. Six kept going and was halfway onto the bridge before the Elite fell to the ground. Legion and Garrus followed, when they came to the center they had a perfect view of the battle below.

There were several elites, numerous Grunts and dozens of Jackals and Skirmishers all rushing about the courtyard firing on anything that wasn't one of them. Shepard's team just below them had engaged the closest Covenant squad to them. There were three elites, a few remaining grunts and far too many Jackals to count. All of them were behind At the moment though their numbers didn't matter; all that mattered was that they were keeping Shepard away from his fellow squad mates.

The team on the bridge opened up, Legion's Geth Rifle cutting through the shields of the highest ranked Elite there, the Ultra. He was forcing everyone below to keep their heads glued to the ground, his concussion rifle just didn't let up. As Legion made the shield whittle down to nothing it gave Mordin an opportunity to end that threat. Preparing his omni-tool, Mordin shot up and fired a cyro blast at the Ultra. The alien froze in place, turning to brittle ice for everyone to see. Garrus took aim with his Sniper Rifle, and fired. The Ultra's head shattered into a million pieces and the body collapsed.

While one Elite down was good, they still had more to deal with. Not to mention the Jackals in their way. They couldn't get a shot in with them using their shields to protect themselves and their comrades.

"I want them gone!" Noble Two shouted

"Your wish is my command." Shepard replied cheekily

The Commander readied himself , he placed his arm low to the ground and created an upward sweeping motion with it. A biotic shockwave exploded out, travelled across the battlefield, completely ignoring the Jackal's shields. It sent them flying into the air like ragdolls, removing the cover the Covenant were hiding behind for the most part. Now they only had their big stationary shields to protect themselves.

As of now though, Noble Two was thinking of other things. This was the second time in the last minute she had seen this blue energy cripple the Covenant. As per her curiosity, she wanted to know more.

"How are you doing that?" she asked Shepard

"Biotics, it's complicated." Shepard explained briefly "I'll explain more when I can."

The Jackals were gone, but the Covenant weren't leaving their position. Tali activated her shield-jack program on her omni-tool. Anticipating the movements of another Elite on the battlefield, she prepared to even the odds a bit more. The Elite at the moment was stepping in and out of cover, trying to nail one of the team in the head as they exchanged fire. When next he popped out, Tali attacked. Bolting over cover she launched the program and the Elite's shield power was drained and transferred into her own supply. It gave her the extra boost of to rush to cover in front of one of the Covenant's own shield barriers.

Noticing the Elite's shields were drained, Six took its attention off Tali and onto him, by peppering him with bullets. The Elite growled in anger and fired at the Spartan's position, narrowly missing Garrus in the process as they ducked. The Elite's move was a mistake. In the split second the alien took his eyes off Tali he missed Noble Two rushing out of cover to smash him in the jaw with her metal arm. As he recovered Kat shot him in the eye with her pistol, killing him instantly.

"Keep pressing people, don't let them breathe!" she ordered as she reloaded

"Kat look out!" Tali shouted

The Lieutenant Commander looked back and saw an Elite about to strike her from behind. She dived away from the attack. She rolled on her back and fired at point blank into the alien's chest. Tali joined in, firing shot after shot into the alien's shields. The combined firepower brought them down, but he was not finished yet. With a single kick he pushed Tali away from him and aimed his Plasma rifle down at her. He never got the chance to use it though.

The elite was hit with another intense burst of biotic energy, one that stung his back like a mad hive of hornets had just landed on it. It was Samara, using her reave. An ability to sap the life from an opponent. The Elite knelt down for a moment, but unlike most victims of the attack he was strong enough to resist the effects. He stood back up and continued marching over to Tali as the life was leeched from his body.

"He ain't going down!" Shepard shouted "Mordin! Hit him! Get him away from Tali!"

The Salarian didn't hesitate, if reave didn't slow him, the debilitating effects of Neural Shock would. The attack struck home, stunning the Elite more properly. As Tali stood back up, Legion took aim at the Elite's head from above. One shot with its Sniper rifle took half the Elite's head clean off.

"Tough son of a bitch huh?" Garrus commented

"Agreed." Legion complied "Pain threshold exceedingly high."

Shepard rushed out to Tali, as the others moved up.

"Any ruptures?" he asked frantically

"No, none detected, I'm good to go." She told him

The remaining Covenant started to fall back from the position, fire or so grunts stuck close to their Elite commander as they retreated to a secondary line of defence. As they made their way there, Mordin was quick to stop them. They kept firing back as the Salarian targeted them. An incinerate blast struck the grunts, catching them all on fire. As they burned their methane tanks exploded one by one. Their Elite commander was wise to run as far as he could from the exploding little aliens. Mordin couldn't help but observe.

"Lack of empathy for lower tier soldiers." He noted as the grunts burned "Files provided were accurate. Grunts status within Covenant similar to Vorcha in Blood Pack mercenary group. Treated more like attack dogs than comrades."

"Less analysing more shooting." Kat told him as she ran by

"Merely speaking aloud." Mordin assured "Have Omni Tool on record. Difficult to make mental notes in midst of battle. Trying to get sense of cultural-"

"What did I just say?" Kat shouted back as she rolled into cover

Mordin just huffed and kept moving. She could've been nicer, but he had gotten use to military bravado over the years. Besides, there were more important things to consider, like getting Miranda and the others out alive.

* * *

><p>Miranda's position was holding, barely. During the time which Shepard was pushing up to her and the others, she what little remained of the courtyard garrison kept up the fight. It hadn't been Miranda's day. First ONI chiefs try to bully her, evidence surfaced that suggested her old boss betrayed her and now she was about to get overrun by Elites and Grunts. That and she had to keep listening to Jack's insults now and again.<p>

She pressed herself against her cover as the covenant moved in, blind firing as the Plasma bolts began to melt the very concrete they were using to protect themselves. Jack, tactless as usual, thought this was the time to start berating her.

"Well cheerleader," she began "what now? Dig a hole; see how much we can further screw ourselves over?"

"You are not helping right now." Miranda snapped back

"I wasn't the one who suggested falling back to this position when they overran the gate outside." Jack replied

"You wanted us to rush them!" Miranda screamed "You think that was any less suicidal?"

"This is not exactly the best time to argue ladies!" Jacob shouted at them both as he huddled between them. "We need a plan here!"

Ever the accomplished mediator, Miranda and Jack's tempers cooled. Her head clear to think, she looked to Kasumi.

"Give me a flash grenade." She ordered

"Roger ma'am!" The Japanese kleptomaniac mock saluted "I'll have their cataracts burning in like two seconds."

Arming one of her Flash grenades she tossed it over the wall and covered her eyes. The flash blinded the Elites and grunts, causing them to stumble around aimlessly.

"All yours." Kasumi smiled "Play nice now."

Miranda stood up and fired a full clip into one of the Elites to get him off kilter a bit before throwing an overload attack into the mix. The blast chain reacted through the mass of Covenant soldiers, shorting out the Elites shields for the moment. She then used her biotics to lift one of them in the air. As it looked on frightened and scared for its life, she suddenly pulled back down and the Elite smashed into the pavement. The biotic slam reverberated through the squad of Covenant soldiers, sending them flat on their faces.

Jack merely snorted at the whole endeavour. Not be outdone by the cheerleader in feats of Biotic prowess she looked to Jacob.

"Reel the little piss-ants in when I say so."

Jacob wasn't gonna argue with the ex-con. Readying herself, Jack unleashed a powerful shockwave on the still recovering Covenant. As the bodies went flying, Jacob managed to pull forward a few grunts towards them. The elites landed a few meters away, but got up shortly after. The Grunts wouldn't, as Jacob filled them with lead from his heavy pistol.

More Grunts rushed up to replace those lost. But they never arrived. Another biotic field swept the ground. The pack of Grunts were sent hurtling off into the distance. Samara had been the first to arrive at the scene, the marines following her in tow. The rest of her compatriots, Normandy and Noble team members, arrived shortly after guns blazing.

Sufficiently flanked the Covenant, or what was left of them, began to retreat. The Elites were lucky enough to have shields to defend themselves from small arms fire, the Grunts were not. As one Elite rushed to join his compatriots he turned to fire a few final shots at the humans he had cornered only to receive a round through his head. Legion cocked its Widow rifle once more.

"Targets eliminated."

Shepard rushed up to Miranda and her squad. Four UNSC marines had survived with them and quickly joined the new counter-offensive themselves. They began chatting up with their buddies.

"Dude that chick with the cat suit," one of them said "she's got like psychic powers or something! She was tossing Covies left and right all day!"

"So does that blue girl over there!" Added Kowalski "Throws'em around like ragdolls. Did something to this Elite just by pointing at him! I don't know what the hell she is, but damn she's bad ass."

"And as a bonus she's got a great pair of-"

The corporal was cut off when his friends pointed behind him. Samara was standing there, a blank expression on her face. It was enough to silence them in mumbling. Samara just sighed, humans were the same everywhere.

Shepard was having a more productive conversation with Miranda. He needed to know what was happening at this base now.

"Status report Lawson," he began "what we got here?"

"Classic overwhelming numbers assault sir." She began "They started landing at all over the damn base. We had warning thanks to you, we were prepared for them. Took out several platoons before we had to pull back. Things only really got bad when the corvette showed up. It's not as coordinated as it should be or we'd be in worse shape."

"We got most of the Marines back to base." Jacob added "Outside is Covenant land now. We wanna push these guys back we gotta retake the area."

Tali then noticed something odd, the weapons most of the team were holding. They were UNSC made.

"Why do you have UNSC guns?" she asked them

Miranda stared down at the pistol in her hand, the cartridge loaded pistol. She forgot she was even using a different gun.

"We didn't really plan on having to fight here when we got transferred." She explained "When we got the call we had to improvise. Jack brought her pistol, and Kasumi her weapons, otherwise we had to raid the marines' arms locker."

"Never go anywhere without at least one gun." Jack commented

"I just like being prepared." Kasumi said merrily

That was well and good information, but Shepard only wanted to know about one thing. His crew.

"Where's everyone else, Thane, Zaeed, Grunt."

Kasumi reluctantly fielded that one.

"Thane didn't come back. He's still out there for all we know." She explained "Said he's taking pot-shots at key targets running surveillance."

"Lizard Lips gonna get himself in a cardboard box earlier than scheduled at this rate." Jack added somewhat unfeeling.

Shepard could only groan and swear under his breath. Damn it Krios, the hell were you doing? Hopefully he wasn't dead yet, he wanted to kill him himself at this point.

"What about the war hounds?" he asked Kasumi; teetering on the edge of exasperation at this point "They run off too?"

Kasumi giggled nervously under her throat.

"Actually..."

Suddenly there was an explosion and a loud boisterous sound of laughter, Unmistakably Grunt's. At least they weren't too far from them. That was a plus.

* * *

><p>Zaeed was screaming bloody murder from atop his fortified position. The covenant were falling back in the courtyard but at the very end of it a few stubborn ones had made it their mission to take both the grizzled veteran and bloodthirsty Krogan down. A pool of blood, every color imaginable, was forming at the bottom of their position. But the Covenant kept coming, even the Grunts who probably knew by this point it was suicide to continue.<p>

A stream of flame shot out and ignited as careless Jackal who let his shield down for a moment.

"Come and get me you sons of bitches!" Zaeed screamed as Grunts tried to climb up the large slope leading to their balcony "Just try and take me! I'll rip your fucking hearts out and eat them in front of ya!"

Zaeed aimed the flamethrower again and swept the slope to the balcony clean. The grunts screamed as they fell to the ground in agony. Zaeed aimed again, this time igniting another small group of Grunts. The firestorm flamethrower wasn't big on range, but that didn't matter when the weapon's only place to go was down. As the grunts burned, the Krogan that shared their name sake fired wildly his assault rifle. Grunt was leaving the Covies on fire to burn, their punishment for being slow and weak. Unfortunately for the tank born Krogan, the day's battle had sapped what remained of his Thermal clips. As the gun refused to work anymore he placed it on his back.

"Slag it all." He said

With a heavy roar he leapt of the balcony and into the mass of Covenant bodies below. He smashed two of the little gas guzzlers with ease and grabbed a nearby Jackal's head, crushing it in his palm. He tossed what remained of the body into a nearby Elite, sending him careening to the ground. The Krogan now began to wildly kick at the mass of Covenant bodies surrounding him as they tried to run. Grunt grabbed one of gas guzzlers by his tank and began to slam him into the floor while holding him.

"WEAK! WORTHLESS! ANNOYING PUSTULE!" he bellowed incoherently.

In his rage he didn't see one Elite arming a concussion rifle at close range. Luckily for the Krogan Zaeed did. One long sustained blast from the flamethrower set the Elite's head a flame as it sliced through the shields with ease. Grunt heard the screaming and finished off the Elite by slamming his two fists down on the alien's head while they were clasped together.

"HA! I AM KROGAN!" He screamed

"You're an idiot is what you are." Zaeed mumbled to himself, not at all impressed with Grunt's last kill as much as the Krogan apparently was.

The old veteran then noticed Miranda and the others running up to them, followed by a bunch of familiar faces from the ship. Including Commander Shepard.

"Bout damn time." He thought aloud

Zaeed slid down the side of the balcony, landing beside Grunt. Shepard marched up to them, he did not look happy.

"How exactly did you get split from Miranda?" he asked, seriously hoping they had a good answer.

"Covenant came at us pretty fast once they took the gate." Zaeed explained "We got split from the group had to fall to something so we headed to the back of the base. Best option we had, take the high ground."

"You missed a good fight Shepard," Grunt said with sadistic glee "wave after wave of enemies. Fire raining from the sky, ships getting shot down as they tried to land. Glorious! These are tales that will be sung by Krogan yet unborn for centuries to come."

Shepard just rolled his eyes, best not to antagonize Grunt when he was musing like this. He sent off Legion and Samara to chase the now retreating Covenant. He couldn't get his information and keep up the attack at the same time. He needed to know what happened here, and if they were both still fit to fight. At least the UNSC marines they picked up got a kick out of it all. When they saw the burned and desecrated Covenant bodies surrounding the area, they couldn't help but whistle.

"Damn, the giant dinosaur went to town on these a-holes." The Corporal said as he shifted one of the dead arms of a dead Elite "Gruesome as fuck I tell ya."

"I think this one was a grunt," said one of the privates as he looked at a torched body "Or it could be uh a Jackal... or both."

At this point Shepard noticed that Zaeed had a flamethrower. Odd thing to bring on this excursion, considering they weren't expecting a fight when they showed up.

"Do I dare ask why you brought the firestorm along?" he asked

"Wanted to test and see if the Marines in this universe had made a better one." He answered simply "Figured we would could compare and what not. You know, for the hell of it."

Tali just shook her head and sighed.

"What is it with you men and the size of your guns?" she asked, knowing full well the ironic implications of the statement.

Shepard stayed on task, looking to Grunt, who was now caked in blood both purple and blue.

"Well it seems you at least handled yourselves well." He noted "Need any more thermal clips?"

"Could use a few." Zaeed answered

The Krogan however shook his head.

"No," Grunt responded "I don't need a gun to kill these aliens. Just point me in the direction and I'll tear out their spines."

Even this level of aggression was unusual for Grunt. Shepard knew that, he'd been trying to handle this crazy space-dinosaur for months now. He turned to Mordin, the best and only Krogan expert in a billion light-years at this point. Sensing he wanted answers, the Salarian provided.

"Grunt possibly experiencing Krogan blood rage." He suggested as he scanned Grunt with his Omni-Tool "Organs could've been damaged in fight, shut down for repairs. Compensating for loss of bodily functions with increased levels of testosterone and tolerance for pain. Advise in-field medical procedure immediately."

"I'm fine," Grunt retaliated "blood rage or no. I can take these Elites down with my bare hands!"

"Would advise against such action." Mordin replied a sense of grave caution in his voice "cognitive abilities no doubt damaged. Judgement during combat more than likely impaired. Will take unnecessary dangerous risks. Threat to self and mission at large."

Shepard agreed with Mordin's caution. He was not about to let Grunt go parading on the battlefield without a weapon of some kind. If he was injured enough to induce blood rage fighting the Covenant up close and personal was only going to compound the problem. He especially didn't want the Krogan acting reckless in front of the Spartans. By now Noble Two was giving him a look, as was Six, one that was seriously questioning Shepard's ability to control the alien under his command.

"I'm not having that thing run around the battlefield," she told Shepard "he's more out of his mind than Emile on his worst days."

There was no need for an order, Shepard got the message. Reign Grunt in, now. Simple enough to do, he was his battlemaster.

"Urdnot Grunt," he began "you are going to calm down and you are going to use a proper weapon. You are not some god damn rabid dog. You are a warrior, start acting like one."

Grunt furrowed his brow, Shepard only needed to respond with a firm powerful stare right back at the Krogan to get him to back down. The Krogan nodded, reluctantly. Satisfied Shepard picked up a nearby plasma rifle and tossed it to the tank-bred alien.

"Alright, enough yapping." Noble Two told them "We've got the Covenant on the run here, let's keep up the momentum."

* * *

><p>As Shepard talked it out with Grunt, Legion and Samara kept the Covenant on their toes. Legion gunned down the fleeing Jackals and Grunts as they made their way down a slope towards the gate. It was a quick succession with each shot, Legion shifted from one to the other with relative ease.<p>

The Covenant took cover where they could, behind large metal shields in the path. But they couldn't run fast enough, or at least the Grunts couldn't. Samara sent a wave towards the fleeing methane breathing aliens, sending them careening headlong into the very sheets of metal they had sought refuge behind. Their skulls cracked with a sickening sound and they fell the ground soon after.

As the two approached the slope they were joined by Noble Two and Six. They four began to wade in and out of the metal sheets down the slope towards the gate. The Covenant kept pulling further and further back as the enemy closed in. Kat tossed a grenade into the fray, catching several fleeing Jackals with their shields over their heads as they ran unawares. The explosion sent them flying. They didn't know the grenade had landed near their feet till it was too late.

One elite watched the explosion and turned to fire upon the Spartans. He got caught in Six's crosshairs and his Designated Marksman Rifle, or DMR, an older version of the Battle Rifle, one that had more punch. The bullets slammed one after the other into the Elite's shields, taking them down a notch with each successive hit. Eventually one of the Elite's hearts exploded in his chest and shot to his stomach finally brought him to his knees. Six kicked the Covenant on to his back and fired a single shot into its head. They moved on, unwavering, continuing to patiently and methodically kill each Covenant in their way as they fell back.

Then Grunt showed up. He fired his plasma rifle a bit, killed one gas guzzling Grunt, then a jackal. Then three needler rounds struck him in the arm and exploded. It came from a Skirmisher who had been lying in wait. The little bird like alien jumped away, but Grunt was now determined to kill it for the insult. He rushed past his comrades, tackling an Elite over on his way and slamming him into a piece of cover. The Elite would've recovered quickly and shot the Krogan had Six not rushed up to fill its head with lead.

Grunt kept going regardless and caught up with the skirmisher at the open inner gate doors. That when the creature made a mistake. It turned and saw the onrushing Krogan coming for him. The Krogan smashed head long into the alien's spinal column, straight through the concrete divider. Grunt only stopped when he was halfway through the gate archway. The Skirmisher's body kept going till it hit the closed outer doors leading to the outskirts of the base.

"Shoulda kept running, would've lived a bit longer." The Krogan mocked

Eventually everyone caught up with Grunt, the courtyard was secured. The real problem now lay ahead, clearing out the Covenant from the outskirts. No easy task, considering they had substantial foothold. Of course Shepard had another objective, finding Thane.

"Garrus get on the comms," he ordered, seemingly on the edge of a breakdown "find that crazy bastard and make him tell you where he is."

The Turian just nodded, knowing Shepard was not in the happiest of moods at the moment. Everything felt like it was going to hell, despite the success. Still they had earned a small respite from the fight. At least for a minute or two, a breather they needed to come up with a plan.

"Dot," Kat asked through her com-link "what are we dealing with out there?"

"Satellite imagery confirms that the Covenant are currently patrolling the area with several vehicles, hunting for any remaining UNSC forces." Dot explained "Most immediate threat, two wraith tanks several yards beyond this door."

Shepard was a bit perplexed as to what a Wraith tank, only that it was probably bad. Miranda didn't seem as confused.

"I guess it was too much to hope those things had left." She mused, when she saw Shepard was a bit confused as to the nature of these weapons she filled him in. "They're essentially Mortar tanks, they fire huge bolts of plasma. Decimates anything where it lands."

"One blew up two whole squads in their jeeps as we retreated back." Jacob added "Perfect aim, one shot and both were out of commission. We'll need heavy firepower to take them down."

With very little in the way of dramatic flair, Shepard pulled out the missile launcher he packed for this mission.

"I think this should be enough." He noted, confident in the weapon's damage yield.

Kat was a bit more sceptical. She was standing with Six near some weapon cases, refilling on Ammo with her fellow Spartan and handing some out to Normandy crew members using their weapons.

"It won't be that easy. They have plasma turrets in front; I wouldn't stand in front of them and fire. No shield will last longer than a few seconds under sustained plasma turret assault." She warned "That and along with its armour, we've been noticing an upgrade in the past few months. Some kind of shield on top of its regular armour."

"Shield?" Shepard asked. He knew what that meant. He had shields on the Mako with the last Normandy, but from the way at had said it made Shepard want to ask the obvious question "Is that normal for Covenant ground vehicles?"

In Shepard universe it was normal for most vehicles to have shields. Even the Hammerhead had some shields along with self repairing armour. Six however told him the case was not the same for this universe.

"Not all of them." Six admitted "Covenant fighters use them; their ships use them of course. Wraiths with shields are both new and a bit weird. Seems like overkill to be honest. They can usually take three or two rockets to the face before exploding. With the added shield that number get's bumped up by one."

"So we just get behind them right?" Garrus asked hopefully "Aim for their backsides and blow their tops?"

Kat nodded, that was the general strategy when facing a Wraith. But with two there were complications, mainly that they could cover each other with their plasma turrets.

"Fastest way is to go for an exhaust port on the back, stick a few plasma grenades on it and watch the thing burn." Kat told them all "Personally though I think we're gonna need to kill at least one first before we even try that."

"Then we need something with a bit more firepower than a missile launcher." Zaeed suggested despondently "Damn fine day no one decides to bring along the Cain."

"Portable nukes are a bit overkill Zaeed, even for plasma tanks." Shepard informed him

"Agreed." Kat added as she bent down over one case "But artillery isn't."

She picked up a small device. It looked like some kind of speed gun you'd see highway officers using. Of course, Shepard, being a former marine himself, wasn't ignorant of military technology; he had a pretty good idea what it was. She passed it to Six.

"FOM Target Locator," she informed them "I'll make the call up to command, see if they still have artillery support. They do we're in. Once we clear out those wraiths we can figure how to go about pushing back the rest of the Covenant."

It didn't take long to confirm artillery was still online in the area, with that settled the doors to the outside opened wide. The drawback was of course they only had a few shots, so they would have to use them sparingly. As soon as they exited out into the rocky valley ahead the wraiths made their presence known. They floated around the rocks they used as cover, their bulbous blueish-green forms slowly moving towards them. The one in front moved and inch to the left to allow its friend behind him to take a shot. The large cannon on top of the vehicle charged up and expelled a flaming ball of blue plasma straight into the air.

The large group of warriors scattered as the attack rocketed towards them. Shepard dove for a nearby rock to the left with Six and Kat and half of his crew following him. Everyone else went right towards an alcove behind another rock. The plasma shot slammed into the gate. Where everyone once stood was now a smoking crater. A few seconds hesitance and they would've all been dead.

"Let's take'em before they fire another round!" Kat shouted

Six rushed out, targeting the area just ahead of both tanks. The attack area now designated, the shells flew in. A rain of explosive charges fell from the sky landing directly on top of the lumbering blue-green machines. The ones in the back exploded into a burst of blue flames. The one in front was jostled and smacked around by the shells. But miraculously, it kept rolling. It only caught the tail end of the strike, the shield it now had apparently absorbed most of the damage. While it was smoking in several places it kept moving up. Then it fired another shot as it closed in on Six. The Spartan rushed to the side, joining the others. The plasma turrets from the gunners aboard the wraith licked at his heels as he ran. Kat and Shepard were now too close to fire a rocket at the thing, but lucky for them the vehicle didn't notice them as it past them by. It was focused on cornering the team behind the rock in the alcove.

Shepard wasted no time, taking a plasma grenade from Kat. He rushed around the rock to get a better view of the tank's backside and its vulnerable exhaust port. His body surged with biotic energy and he charged directly up the tank and latched onto its back.

"Stick this in your pipe and smoke it!" Shepard quipped, one of the lines he always wanted to use.

He activated the plasma grenade and shoved it into the exhaust port. Just as quickly as he grappled onto the tank he jumped back off and ran for it. A few mere seconds later, the grenade detonated and the backside of the tank erupted as plasma spilled out, exploding in a flaming ball of blue. The rest of the team joined up with him at his position as he observed the carnage.

"So what else can these biotics of yours do?" Kat asked "Read minds? Start fires? See the future?"

"Common misconception there Noble Two, it ain't psychic powers." Shepard chuckled "Just the ability to create and control mass effect fields in our bodies. Still pretty cool though."

Both Kat and Six wanted to know more about these abilities, how Shepard and his crew had got them, what were their limits, how did they work? They saw value of the abilities immediately, no doubt the UNSC would too when they reported back to Holland about them in full. The file on the Normandy had mentioned Shepard's biotic abilities, but they weren't entirely sure about it all until they saw it in action for themselves.

However those questions had to wait, as voice came over the com-channel calling for Shepard.

"Hey guys you there! Sorry it took so long I had to get clearance to leave the dry dock. You wouldn't believe the hoops I had to jump through to convince them I was allowed to leave."

It was Joker and right on time too.

"Good to hear your voice Joker," Shepard smiled "how are things looking from up there?"

"As bad as you'd imagine." He replied "Smoke billowing up from the nearby airfield, the main facility is getting hammered, all in all regular clusterfuck sir. I told command on the way in I'd be happy to remove their Corvette problem-"

"But they told you they couldn't risk the ship crashing into Sword Base huh?" Shepard asked

"Pretty much, EDI said there was a high probability of that happening so I laid off." Joker replied sounding disappointed "Really wanted to fire the Thanix again. Oh well, figure I'd help you out. Need me to drop the Hammerhead near ya?"

"Do it," Shepard confirmed "we're gonna need the firepower to push these bastards back."

The Normandy, as it was want to do, came down low and slow out of the sky and dropped its precious cargo, The Hammerhead Infantry Fighting Vehicle. The hovering lightly armoured vehicle came to a stop in the middle of the rocky valley. Didn't hit a thing despite all logic saying it should've.

"Didn't even scratch the paint! Damn I'm good!" Joker cackled over the comm.

Now they had some decent enough fire power to handle whatever was thrown their way. Course problem was not everyone could fit in Hammerhead. Shepard turned to the two Spartans, who were still peering up at the sky.

"You gonna be able keep up with us on foot?" he asked

"We'll manage just fine Commander." Noble Two informed him as she pointed up "Our own ride is here."

Shepard looked up to see a large lumbering green ship float down from out of the sky. It was bulky and looked like some kind of miniature jet. Under its tail rested a car of some sort.

"Pelican coming in Noble Two, dropping ya off your warthog."

The Pelican released the jeep and took off. Now Shepard could get a better look at the sleek looking green army vehicle. More specifically he could get a great look at the large chain gun attached to the back. As Kat walked over to the vehicle Auntie Dot chimed in once more over the comm. link, she had news.

"There are two outposts in this area, Farragut and Airview. The Latter has old comms-array that will re-establish command control allowing for us to call in our Longsword attack bombers. Airview has an Anti-Air emplacement that will hinder the Covenant's ability to re-supply via drop ship."

"Seems we could accomplish more if we split up." Shepard told Noble Two "I can re-take the gun with a portion of my squad you take the rest of them to the array."

"I suppose, but I'm sending Six with you." Kat responded "Not that I don't trust you, but this is a Noble mission remember. I want you supervised."

Shepard nodded, he couldn't exactly argue with her. Despite her being a rank lower than him, he had a feeling that Carter wouldn't like to hear he had been bossing around his second in command. Besides, having a extra gun for the fight was fine by him.

As Shepard was discussing the two prolonged assault strategy, Garrus rushed over to him.

"I got in contact with Thane." Garrus told him "Finally answered the sneaky bastard. Says he's got sites on the array. I told him to pull back to our position but he refuses. He's incognito at the moment with eyes on potential high ranking Elite. I told him to wait till we get there. He says he'll give us about ten minutes before he starts shooting."

Shepard groaned, but more out of confusion than exasperation. This was not like Thane at all. He was methodical and careful. Right now he sounded more like Zaeed than himself. That was gonna get him killed if he didn't cool it soon.

"Find him," Shepard ordered Garrus "and when you do get his head on straight before he gets it blown off. I don't need him playing hero right now."

"Will do sir." Garrus acknowledged.

* * *

><p>The team was split up at this point, to keep Thane's cover intact Kat suggested they move towards the Array on foot. Along with Garrus, Jacob, Zaeed, Mordin, Grunt and Kasumi would follow her to the Array. Everyone else would head to the AA Gun. The marines they picked up stayed behind to maintain security in the courtyard. If the Covenant came through again somehow, it was their job to defend the place.<p>

Shepard, Tali, Miranda and Jack squeezed into the Hammerhead. It was a tight fit, the vehicle was not as spacious as the old Mako which could seat everyone if they so chose. Here they were luck to stick in a fourth person. Jack, naturally, took the gun turret while Tali stayed back in the engine and Miranda took up the co-pilot's seat beside Shepard in the driver's seat. Six grabbed the wheel of the warthog, Samara rode shotgun and Legion decided to use the chain gun on the back.

"You know how to use that thing?" Six asked the machine

"Affirmative." Legion assured "Although we are not specialized in the handling of heavier weapons we shall manage."

The two teams took off, the Hammerhead in the lead as the warthog followed close behind. Jack already loved her placement in the vehicle.

"Been waiting to use this cannon ever since we got it!" she said, her mouth wet with anticipation of her chance to do so "Jealous cheerleader? I'm getting the big gun."

Miranda didn't even bother to answer. Let her think whatever she wanted, she had been dealing with Jack's attitude since the attack started. She was fed up with having to force her to move back or forward on her orders. Nothing she did or said was good enough for the convict. So she just took the insults in stride.

In any case she didn't have to answer period, as something appeared over the next hill. Several small purple vehicles with wide front ends, firing plasma bolts straight at them.

"Covenant Ghosts," Miranda told Shepard "read up on them back at Sword Base before you sent to word out. Fast, nimble and a pain in the ass to take down because of those two."

As the Ghosts began to circle and strafe the on rushing human vehicles, Shepard turned into one that was strafing left, giving Jack a clear line of fire.

"Fire!" Shepard ordered

The missiles flew out of the cannon one by one, tracking their target. One hit the front, the other the back and the third blew the purple vehicle into the air with a fireball.

"Now this is a damn good gun. Why don't you bring on board this thing more often Shepard?" Jack asked, beaming at the site of the burning Ghost.

"Figured you were more of a hands-on person to be honest." Shepard informed her

Jack just smirked a bit at the .

"Huh, so you do know me."

As the Hammerhead finished off the first Ghost, the second circled around to take at the Warthog which was spinning around wildly to avoid the shots. Legion kept trying to take out the driver with the chain gun, but the Elite inside was pretty fast. Tired of the chase, Samara took initiative as she armed her submachine gun.

"Get alongside him." She said to Six

Six, seemingly reading her mind, did so and punched the accelerator towards the Ghost's left side and his right. As he did, Samara propped herself in the front seat, leaning out of the side of the military jeep. As warthog neared the Ghost, it circling close to try and lay in a few shots to the tires, Samara jumped. Using her biotics to propel herself forwards a few inches more, her momentum doing the rest, she landed on the front of the Ghost, gripping at its dashboard. The Elite looked up in astonishment as the Asari unloaded her weapon point blank into alien's shields and biotically kicked the Ghost's pilot upside his head. The Elite tumbled out just in time to get run over by Six's warthog with a satisfying splat.

Samara grabbed hold of the controls, keeping the vehicle steady.

"You know how to drive that?" Six asked as they pulled up close

Samara wobbled the joystick for the craft a bit to get a feel.

"Similar to our flying transit vehicles where I'm from." She informed the Spartan "I will be fine. Now let us hurry."

Samara drifted back along the road and began racing towards the target, the hammerhead and Warthog raced to keep up.

Getting to the array station was easy enough, not getting sighted by the Covenant when they arrived was another factor. The team moved among the rocks on a nearby hill overlooking the Farragut outpost, which had seen better days from the look of it.

The wooden buildings were dilapidated, all two of them. One was a large three story structure on the ground that circled around a roundabout dirt road in the center. Near the corner of it close to the main road was the array itself. A real old looking radio tower as it were. Overlooking that building was a wooden gangway attached to a large tower, a perfect sniper's nest. The gangway rested on a ledge, with broken down and rotting sheds on either end, one with its roof completely gone.

They could see the covenant were there in force, they could see Skirmishers on the gangway and small red vehicle that looked like a miniature wraith, but more angular. Kat said it was a Revenant, a light support vehicle, similar in vain to a small tank or APC. They'd need to be careful around it.

The team headed to where Thane had reported his position was, on the far side of said hill overlooking the buildings on the ledge. Everyone kept quiet as they moved to Thane, or where they hoped he was.

"Where's your man?" Kat asked Garrus as they got close

"He's an assassin," Garrus answered "if he wants us to see him we'll see him."

The team heard a small "psst" sound and looked over to a large bushel of grass piled up. A green gloved hand was motioning them to come forward. It was Thane alright/ Everyone crouched down and did as he silently asked.

"Were you spotted coming in?" Thane asked the team quietly.

"No," Garrus assured the Drell, who wasn't even bothering to look at them. He just kept staring down the sight of his rifle. "they're not shooting after all. Here's a better question what were you thinking rushing out here without back up?"

Thane's emotionless face didn't change as he responded.

"Argue later, mission now." He said, refusing to answer the question "you said something about an array you needed back online?"

"Precisely." Kat confirmed "how many covenant are we looking at down there?"

Everyone eyed the camp, swarming with elites, grunts and skirmishers of every colour and size. They weren't paying much attention to the hill. They were setting up defences for what they figured would be an assault from the Airview outpost as it were.

"The power supply to the array is in there." Thane said pointing towards a shack near the road. "But you of course have Elites on the road, and their snipers taking up position on the wooden gangway."

The stupid move would be to just run in guns blazing. They well concentrated in this little area, rushing forward would get them all cooked by the plasma. They needed surprise, to catch the Covenant off guard. That and they needed to wrap this mission up as quickly as possible by getting to the power generator and then the array. Thane of course had his own priorities. Killing that Covenant officer he was so hard up to catch.

"I spotted that Covenant officer down there." He said pointing him out "He looks like he's a high rank."

Kat looked through her Pistol's scope at the Elite, noticing his orange armour and wide angled helmet.

"Major." She noted "You're right, he is pretty high."

"If only we could sneak past them." Jacob thought aloud "Catch'em off guard from behind and then open up on their front while we're still in cover."

Kasumi cleared her throat softly, getting everyone's attention.

"Hi, um, remember me?" she asked "Greatest thief in the galaxy? Stealth Cloak?"

Everyone gave her a bewildered look, one which caused her to sigh and click on her omni-tool.

"Just be ready to shoot when I give you the signal."

Kasumi went invisible and vanished from the group. Kat was of course perplexed.

"You have proper cloaking technology?" she asked "We've only seen the Covenant use that."

"You learn something new with us everyday don't ya?" Zaeed asked smugly

Kasumi snuck past the Elites and Grunts as they patrolled the road, completely unseen. A slipped by one though, the Elite felt like something had brushed by him. He turned around, seeing nothing. Kasumi was seeing him though, staring right at her. She kept still, waiting for him to move on. If he saw any hint of movement, and shimmer of an invisible form passing by, her cover would be blown and she'd be blown away. Eventually the Elite just went about his way. Once cleared, Kasumi easily entered the shack where the power supply was. She found the switch and pulled.

The generator roared to life, instantly catching the attention of one of the Elites nearby. In fact every Covenant soldier turned their heads towards the suddenly turned on generator. Kasumi was now only seconds away from being discovered. She would have to make the first move. As the Elites started looking towards the shack, guns drawn and crowding near the door, the first one of them entered.

Suddenly rounds started slamming into the Elites, cutting through their shields. Kasumi slowly came into view with Kassa Locust Submachine gun blaring as she did. The three Elites at the door were pelted with bullets, popping their skulls one by one. When they collapsed Kasumi readied a flash grenade.

"Last thing you never saw." She quipped, throwing the grenade.

The flash bang went off, blinding the rest of the elites outside as Kasumi ducked out through the window of the shed. Every covenant down there was blind now and perfect targets for the team up top. While Kasumi had been skulking down below they had been lining up shots. It helped their odds that the team had at least three snipers in their group.

Zaeed's phasic rounds sliced through one of the Elites shields with ease, cutting through his jaw before exiting out the back of his mouth in a bright purple explosion blood. Another Elite took it to the eye as Garrus fired his round. Thane finally got his chance to take out the Major who had just watched two of his men get gunned down in front of him. The Assassin pulled the trigger, the round travelled straight and true entering the center of the forehead and embedding itself inside. The Elite Major fell to his knees and then onto his side.

There were a few elites left but they weren't high ranking officers. Their leadership crippled the Covenant fell back to cover. Kat fired her pistol at the retreating covenant soldiers.

"Keep them away from the power generator!" she ordered "Snipers suppress, everyone else push forward and take them down!"

Garrus quickly made a comm. call to Kasumi as the shooting started in earnest.

"Kasumi, you alright?" he asked frantically

"Fine, it ain't no biggy." She mused "Hiding out below in the shadows. I'll see if I can keep reinforcements from coming up on your flank. Watch out for the Revenant it's moving into position to fire on the gangway I think."

As much as the Turian appreciated Kasumi's offer to cover them, the news about the Revenant frightened him. If she got caught in the open with it down there...

"Just stay in cover, we'll come to you when we can." Garrus told her

"I'll be fine Garrus don't worry I-"

"Stay put! That's an order!" Garrus demanded

Kasumi just replied with a very meek "yes sir." Garrus rejoined the firefight, looking down his scope and firing once more. He hoped Shepard's assault would be easier for him and the second squad.

* * *

><p>Samara's ghost crested over the hill, a large group of Grunts noticed the oncoming repurposed vehicle. Samara began to fire, alerting them all that the Ghost was certainly not theirs. The Plasma bolts cut down the fleeing Grunts. Samara then pushed the stick forward. As expected the Ghost sped up, running over the Grunts or sending them flying. Samara turned around the right corner of the main building of Airview base, going between it and the tower nearby. She doubled the Ghost around to the back of the building, got out of the Ghost and took up a defensive position. She then radioed Shepard.<p>

"Commander, I have the back of the base covered and I am drawing the attention of the main force away from you." She said as she pulled the Assault Rifle off her back and let it unpack "I will hold out till you arrive."

"Good job Samara," Shepard congratulated "just as planned. Think you can keep them at bay?"

Samara watched as one grunt with green armour rushed out of the back door of the Base to her left, a large cannon of some sorts held over his shoulder. He took aim at the Asari. She simply pushed him back with a biotic throw. He pressed the trigger when the cannon was pointing up at the overhanging roof above him. The explosion's shockwave did the rest of the work, crushing his spine as he slammed back into the pavement.

"I shall manage." She assured him

Shepard and the others didn't take long to arrive. The Hammerhead and Warthog rushed over the hill, guns and missiles blasting as they did. Naturally even the Elites weren't stupid enough to remain in the open, so they went for the two places they'd be safe. The Main building, and the AA Gun itself. As soon as Shepard saw the Grunts and Elites rush behind it he yelled up at Jack.

"Ceasefire!" he shouted "We cannot damage that gun!"

Jack groaned disappointedly. She wanted to blast more aliens. Still she obeyed, and with that Shepard looked to Miranda to give out their new strategy.

"Can't use missiles, might risk hitting the gun." He said "I'll circle back with Six and Tali to Samara's position as planned. You clear out the front with Jack!"

"What?" Miranda shouted perplexed

"The fuck you say?" Jack added just as troubled with the idea

"Sir," Miranda started "maybe it would be better if Tali went with Jack an-"

Shepard did not even let her finish.

"Those are my orders!" Shepard yelled at them "I've already had two people act like idiots today I do not have time for you two and your bullshit petty issues! Get it done!"

Shepard's decidedly un-Shepard like behaviour clammed both Miranda and Jack up. And made Tali shift a little in her seat afraid. As the Hammerhead stopped, Shepard bolted out of the Driver's seat and out the back, Tali following best she could. Miranda and Jack reluctantly followed. It was best not to argue with Shepard when he was on edge, especially when he abandoned his usual democratic approach.

The Hammerhead came to a stop near tall communication tower on a steel grating. As the team got out they found out why the place was called Airview. It had a spectacular view of Sword base's airfield. A view ruined by the smoking billowing up from it. At least they knew Joker's report was accurate. They didn't have time to admire the view; they had to take cover as the plasma bolts flew in. Tali and Shepard kept moving to meet up with Samara, Jack and Miranda stayed by the Hammerhead.

Meanwhile, Legion was trying it's best to use the chain gun on the warthog to suppress and enemy officer on the roof. Another Ultra from the looks of it, armed with a huge weapon of some sort. Six kept the vehicle in motion however, circling in front of the outpost itself. Blue balls of plasma ejected out of the weapon's barrel as the officer kept up the fire on their jeep.

"Too risky to stay still with that plasma grenade launcher Legion!" Six told him "Any better ideas?"

Legion looked to a tower at the other end of the base.

"We do." It said "Continue to rendezvous with Shepard Commander. We will cover objective."

Legion jumped off the back of the warthog which took off towards the tower, firing as it went on the grunts and Elites that had spotted him. The Geth's assault rifle managed to deter them long enough for Legion to reach the tower and climb to its top thanks to an upturned patch of dirt and rubble. The Covenant's bombardment of the base had worked to their benefit.

Once inside, Legion took aim at the officer with the plasma grenade launcher again. But another threat crossed its vision as it saw a Grunt in green armour wielding a huge plasma cannon on its back at both Jack and Miranda. The safety of the team trumped the need to obliterate enemy leaders. Consensus was achieved unanimously. Legion took the shot, killing the grunt before it even had a chance to fully line up its sights with Miranda and Jack. Unfortunately, that was Legion's last shot with its Widow rifle. Like most of the squad, it hadn't been given the chance to reload on spare thermal clips. The Geth looked around for another option as it put the rifle away. In the corner, it spotted another rifle, a human rifle.

* * *

><p>Miranda and Jack pressed themselves against their cover as plasma fire rained over them. The Elite and Grunts at the AA gun were making their life difficult. They couldn't stay here they needed to clear the gun.<p>

"Well, you're the one with all the bright ideas cheerleader." Jack chided "Care to enlighten me? Maybe we'll fall back again and stick ourselves in another dead end. That strategy worked so well last time."

Miranda just stared back Jack in anger, she knew this wouldn't work.

"Must everything you say to me be a backhanded insult?" she asked, her annoyed attitude bubbling to the surface "I'm on your side remember? You can at least try to be civil."

"Awwww," Jack replied, mocking sympathy "did I hurt liddle Miri's feelings? Test tube baby gonna cry?"

Miranda let out a groan; throwing her hands up in defeat and quickly throwing them back down again.

"Fine, forget it." Miranda told her, fed up with this pointless bickering now as much as Shepard was "I get it, you don't like me. But if you want to live, at least listen to me for one damn moment in your life."

Jack just nodded, her face still sour as ever though. She didn't like the idea of listening, that was for sure. She was bound to change her mind at any second. At least that's what Miranda thought. With the storm settled for now though Miranda laid out her plan.

"I'll flank left," she told Jack "You go straight up the middle and throw every biotic attack you have in the book at the elite."

"That won't penetrate his shields." Jack informed her

"But it will keep him from firing on you as he tries to avoid it nonetheless and keep his eyes off me." Miranda continued "I take out the grunts on the left side of the gun, pop his shields from behind, and then you can do whatever you want to him."

Jack just shrugged, sounded like a good deal.

With that, Miranda put her plan into action. Jack leapt over the cover in front of them and made a dash for the Elite, Biotic shockwaves and gun fire from her pistol blaring all the way. The Elite kept ducking back into his corner to avoid the blasts. Probably one of the lucky ones to see her in action during the first waves but was lucky enough to survive. If that was the case he wouldn't so lucky in round two.

Miranda went left of course, the Elite was too busy with Jack to even bother looking in that direction. Miranda just kept running. When the grunts came into view, she popped the first one's head with her pistol, then the second the same way. These UNSC guns were a lot heavier and less sophisticated than their guns, but they were damn accurate and powerful, she'd give them that. As she came around the gun she saw the Elite. Activating overload she popped the alien's shields. The creature looked stunned as it watched its protection fail. It turned to see Miranda behind him, forgetting the other far more dangerous human female in front. A biotic punch to the Elite's gut was more gruesome than Jack had intended as the punch went straight through the gut tearing a hole in the poor creature's stomach. Jack pulled her fist out as the Elite stared at the sight of its own guts. Thankfully, Jack put him out of his misery. Pulling out the UNSC shotgun she procured, she shot the alien in the head, killing him for good.

"See." Miranda said with a smile as she looked at Jack "We work better as a team."

Jack just snorted, but couldn't respond further, as both she and Miranda's shields were spiked by plasma bolts hitting them. They rushed back behind the gun. The Covenant inside the main building were now taking pot shots at them.

But there was worst to come, the fighting had attracted the attention of some drop ships, the Covenant were bringing in reinforcements to besieged outpost. They needed that gun online and they needed it now. Miranda called Shepard.

"Commander, incoming drop ships! We're out of time; get to the gun's controls already!"

* * *

><p>"Hold on Miranda, we're about to proceed."<p>

Six had joined up as he parked the Warthog next to the Hammerhead. The team were pressed against the back door. The Covenant were more focused on Jack and Miranda to worry about their backsides. Big mistake. Tali sent in her drone first to soften the Covenant up a bit.

The drone rolled up the stairs and began shocking any and all aliens inside. As they were hit the Covenant turned to face the drone and shot it to pieces with their plasma weapons. That is if you could count disrupting a solid light holographic rolling bit of energy as taking it apart.

Still, they weren't prepared for what happened next. Six rolled in a grenade while Samara pushed out a great biotic throw field up the steps of the back door. Anyone who wasn't ejected out of the doors ended up getting hit with explosive fragments. It didn't kill all the Covenant but it softened them up. As one Elite struggled to keep his balance, Shepard charged in. His biotics propelled him forward, smacking him into the alien's gut with a shoulder check. The Elite was thrown into a corner, but regained his composure and rammed the commander for his trouble. As he fell back Shepard pulled out his shotgun, Scimitar of course his preferred weapon, and fired point blank into the still charging Elite. It took two full point blank rounds to finally take the alien down for good.

"Tough son of a bitch." He said as he shook it all off and got back up on his feet

"Don't I know it." Tali said as she came in "You should've seen the one yesterday that-"

Tali was cut off by a stream of plasma that was rocketing into the windows. The Covenant reinforcements had via the rocky ledge to their front. Shepard caught a glimpse of Miranda and Jack running for the warthog; at least they were out of harm's way for the moment.

"Head to the roof, we can't stay here." Shepard told the others as the plasma kept coming.

As they rushed out the side door onto the catwalk that would lead them to the roof, Shepard heard the warthog start up. He looked over to see Miranda in the driver seat, Jack on the gun. She began firing immediately on the rocky ledge, taking down as many Covenant as she could with a thousand rounds per minute.

"I never thought I'd see them cooperating long enough to do something like that." Tali commented, seemingly satisfied at the whole scene

"Mutual survival Tali," Shepard mused "Should've thought of it ages ago to be honest."

Another drop ship was coming in, they didn't have time to dwell on the two finally learning to act civilised. They headed up to the roof. Six was on point, scanning the area for hostiles. As he neared the roof's generators he found one. An Elite Ultra armed with a plasma grenade launcher rushed out, slamming his weapon at the Spartan. He ducked just in time in time to miss getting his head caved in by the weapon. Then he forced the Elite to fall back, shoulder checking him as he stood back up. The eight foot alien was forced back. And growled at the Spartan as it aimed its weapon once more, it never got the chance to use it though. A sniper round rang out; a white smoky gun trail appeared from out of the nearby tower and passed right through the Elites helmet. An eruption of blood and brain came out next, the Elite's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fell backwards on to the ground.

"Target has been neutralized Shepard Commander." Legion informed Shepard over the comm. "You may precede."

"That didn't look like your standard widow Legion." Shepard commented

"We were forced to improvise." Legion explained

The second drop ship was already overhead. This one was different from the U-shaped ones they had been encountering up till now. This one was bulbous and an even darker shade of purple. As Covenant began to pour out, Both Legion and Jack shifted their fire to the new reinforcements.

Meanwhile Six activated the AA Gun, which began cycling in and warming up for the kill.

"Anti-Air defences re-established." Dot chimed in "Procuring more transport for additional forces via pelican."

They didn't need but the others at the array would. However as the gun was warming up, the team got unexpected visitors from behind. Rocketing off the large transport came two Elites with decidedly different armour. For one you couldn't see their faces because they were covered in face concealing visors. The other reason was they had jet packs.

Shepard took one look at the incoming aliens and groaned. Pulling out his pistol he began firing back on them.

"Damn it the bad guys always get the coolest friggin toys!" he complained, a bit of his usual light hearted attitude seeping through "It's not fair! Why don't we have jetpacks?"

"Could always ask if you could borrow theirs." Tali joked

The Elite dropped down, trying to land his foot on Shepard face, but the Human rolled to evade. He popped back up on his knee, submachine gun in hand, and started unloading at the Elite. But these guys were nimble. He jumped up on a nearby generator on the roof and began firing on Shepard again, prompting him to make a run for it. The elite then rocketed off again, but this time his flight met with an early cancellation.

A sniper round slammed into the Elite's jetpack. The device damaged the Elite began to swerve around in the sky wildly. After a few loop de loops and twirls the jetpack careened down to the ground. Exploding on impact with its pilot.

Legion had come through again, the Geth's excellent marksmanship saving their hides once more.

The second elite went for Six, rocketing down towards him as he fired. When the Elite landed, Six tackled him into a Generator. The Elite kicked him off and tried to jet pack out. But the Spartan recovered and caught the alien in a choke hold. One the Elite tried to break by keeping his jets going, but the Spartan's grip was strong and with latched on there was too much weight to take off.

"Let's see how high you can get in that thing!" Six told the alien

The Spartan pulled out a plasma grenade, activated it and stuck it to the Elite's back. He then kicked the Elite forward. The Jets propelled him into the sky, where he blew up seconds later in a flash of blue flames.

Fire filled the sky in another way as the AA Gun began firing on the drops ships starting to swarm the area. One by one they started to explode out of the air, either disintegrating in a massive explosion or crashing to the ground in a heap of flames and upturned dust.

"Quite a fireworks show huh?" Shepard asked Tali

"So much for air superiority." She added

A pelican came in a few seconds later as the gun stopped chattering away at what remained of the Covenant drop ships. It dropped of a similar warthog. Someone would of course have to drive the thing if they wanted everyone to get picked up and back to Sword Base when the array went online.

Speaking of, Shepard contacted Garrus over his comm.

"We're wrapped up here Garrus," he said "skies are friendly again for the most part. How's it on your end?"

* * *

><p>Garrus could barely talk as the bullets and plasma whipped by. They were moving up as the Covenant fell back. The battle was so far in their favour, but now the Revenant was starting to open up on them. Plasma mortar attacks were flying all over the battlefield and it had forced them all to fall back to the rocks on the hill. The Covenant were regaining the momentum.<p>

"Could use some back up sir," he said "resistance is heavier than anticipated."

A single grunt began rushing Garrus' position, screaming wildly. The Turian booted the small creature in the head with his foot and unloaded half a thermal clip into its body.

"If it ain't too much trouble do you mind stopping by?" he asked sarcastically

* * *

><p>Shepard acknowledged and told Garrus to hang on for a little longer.<p>

"Everyone back in the vehicles!" he shouted "They're having trouble at the array; let's give them some fire support ASAP!"

Jack and Miranda stayed in their vehicle while Six and Legion grabbed the other Warthog. Tali took Jack's place on the turret in the Hammerhead. Samara stayed in her hijacked Ghost. They boosted off down the hill, speeding as fast as they could towards Farragut Station and Garrus' position with the others.

As they made their way they came across a bit of a bump in the road. It was a squad of Grunts in yellow armour and Jackals patrolling the small dip between the hills between the outposts. When the Covenant spotted them they reacted quickly, firing fully charged plasma bolts at them as they rode in. Six swerved to avoid them as Legion fired on the enemy.

"Avoid getting hit by them or you'll stall!" Six warned

Legion fired the chain gun once more; the Jackal had his shield up however. The bullets forced the alien to keep his head down, but they didn't penetrate. It wouldn't matter though, as the Hammerhead was passing by them next or more appropriately through them.

Shepard slammed on the accelerator and tore through the mass of Covenant soldiers, ramming them with the ship's blunt pointed nose. Those who survived like the Jackals met with a missile to the face courtesy of Tali. As the last Jackal went flying she turned to Shepard below in the cockpit.

"You didn't run them over you know." She told him in a friendly jab at him "Now we're gonna have to clean the blood off the paintjob."

The joke seemed lost on Shepard, as his response to it was monotone.

"We don't brake for yellow." He said, still gunning the accelerator.

* * *

><p>The fight at Farragut had been switching back and forth between the two sides. Evidently there were more Covenant at the base then they had originally wagered. But with their command crippled, the Jackals, Skirmishers and Grunts lacked leadership to fully be of any use. The only thing carrying the day was the Revenant, which was forcing everyone to stay to the ledge, and making them pull further and further back along it with each creeping volley. They needed to break this stalemate and soon.<p>

Garrus and the other team snipers were doing a good job forcing the heads of the Covenant down, but now that they knew snipers were in the area they were being more careful with when they stuck their heads. It didn't help that they had no room the move around and change their spots. Their position was fixed.

Thankfully, help did arrive in earnest. Moments after receiving the call from Shepard and telling him of their situation, Garrus saw the four vehicles that now made up the Commander's miniature convoy, ride up to the front of the base. With machine guns clattering and missiles flying, the Covenant found they had just been boxed in.

This was the moment they had been waiting for. Kat signalled the others to press the attack as the Covenant were ripped apart by the dual warthog chain guns. Mordin rushed alongside Jacob, Pistol at the ready. A cryoblast stopped a grunt literally cold and allowed the Salarian to get in a head shot, shattering the poor creature. Meanwhile, Jacob covered the good Professor's back. His shotgun blasted apart and Elite that was racing along their flank, trying to catch them both with his plasma rifle. Thankfully, the UNSC shotgun packed more than enough punch to take him down. One hit took out his shields, the next perforated his chest.

As Garrus ran in he stopped and took aim at a Skirmisher on the far end of the wooden gangway. This one had a rifle pointed directly at Kat. One shot was all it took to shatter both the alien's skull like helmet and its actual skull. Kat kept moving unabated to the sniper's nest on the wooden gangway. The two Skirmishers in there, armed with needler rifles turned to face her. Instead they ended up taking several pistol shots to the head and upper torso. As their bodies twitched and rived in pain from each shot, Kat kept closing in. One of the Skirmishers went over the side of the nest's edge. The other remained standing remarkably. That problem was rectified when Kat delivered a punch with her cybernetic arm. It turned his brain to mush before the alien slammed against the ground.

The Revenant below took note of the Spartan's actions and aimed its plasma cannon at her. Kat quickly ran from the tower heading back to the gangway as a plasma mortar headed her way. She rolled away from the tower as it was struck by the mortar, incinerating its roof instantly.

It had become abundantly clear that the Revenant had to go, either before or after they activated the array. Garrus put a plan into action.

"Jacob head down the main road to the structure, take Mordin with you." He ordered "Everyone else stay here, take shots at the drivers, and draw them away from them-"

A boisterous roar interrupted Garrus. A certain oversized Krogan apparently decided that destroying the Revenant now, not later, was of top priority. Running on either brains or stupidity, possibly both, Grunt rushed past everyone, threw himself over the guardrail for the gangway and landed on the ground below a few yards from the offending Covenant attack vehicle. Garrus called out for him, in vain. Grunt was a juggernaut. You didn't stop him you just got out of his way.

This lesson was taught harshly to the two poor Elites manning the Revenant. As they positioned the gun to fire at Grunt, backing up as they did, the Krogan closed on them. A plasma round sailed for him, but Grunt ducked and rolled straight forward as the red round smashed into the ground behind him. He didn't lose momentum, if anything he picked up speed. He lowered his head, positioning it down to the ground, below the Revenant's hover clearance. With a mighty push and a terrifying roar, Grunt smashed his head against the underside of the hovering vehicle, flipping it over. The Elites spilled out onto the ground and scrambled to get back on their feet.

Grunt's attack had a cost, even for his tough skull smashing head long into an armoured vehicle like that made him disoriented for a few short seconds. It was a few short seconds the Elites used to their advantage. The first Elite kicked the Krogan in his chest and delivered a follow up roundhouse kick to his face. Grunt wasn't knocked out, he began to try and bring himself back up. But the Elite was already aiming his plasma rifle at his head.

As he made to pull the trigger on the lumbering space dinosaur several shots rang out, one after the other. The Elite's shields popped and the Alien felt each successive shot slam into his abdomen, specifically near his hip. Zaeed looked upon his handiwork through the scope.

"Dumb lizard owes me big time for that." He grumbled.

Clutching the bleeding body part, the Elite forgot all about the Krogan situated on the ground, who had now come around and stood back up. Grunt delivered a head butt to the Elite, forcing him down to the dirt. Then, as a coup de grace, Grunt slammed his huge foot onto the Elite's far smaller head. The one eight foot tall alien was now about 7.6 or so.

The second Elite had begun to run for the safety of the second building, where most of the remaining Covenant forces were situated. He fired his Plasma rifle back at the Krogan as he ran, turning fully only once to get a better shot. He hadn't noticed the air in front of him had been moving unnaturally or the vague human shape that had crossed his path. As he was turned a bullet shot rang out that ripped through the Elite's shields from behind. Kasumi appeared out of thin air as her cloak deactivated and the Elite collapsed at her feet.

"He almost barged into me," she mused "honestly people these days. They need to watch where they're going more carefully!"

She heard someone call her name. Looking behind her she noticed Jacob and Mordin were taking cover by the corner of the structure that housed the comm. array controls. Considering they were on the other side of the battlefield now they must've run a long way. Kasumi rushed over to them to see what they wanted. She had a guess.

"Alright," Jacob started "array controls should be just up there, on the roof. We reach them we get our air support to take down that Corvette. Problem, over a dozen angry little gas suckers and bird-faced assassins inside blocking the way. They won't give this place up without a fight. We're gonna need to strike hard and fast."

Kasumi took one look at the building and noticed the balcony overhead that led via staircase up to the roof. She had an idea on how to bypass most of the aliens inside.

"You work your way up from the bottom then. I'll go for the array switch."

Taking a running start, Kasumi jumped at the balcony overhead and pulled herself up just as fast. Her arrival did not go unnoticed as a Skirmisher on the balcony saw her rise up from below. As he moved to aim his gun at her, Kasumi kicked the weapon away and into the wall where it discharged a needle. Then, putting her foot back on the floor once more, she spun towards him to deliver a chop to side of his head. With her other leg now, she kicked the alien over the side and turned back to where the stairs leading to the roof were. She rushed up, Kassa locust locked and loaded. A Grunt bounded down the steps to find out what the commotion was, it received a pistol whip to the side of the head and tumbled over the guardrail to the ground below.

Kasumi emerged on the roof and fired several shots at a Skirmisher who had been readying it's gun in preparation for her. It did him no good as the rounds shredded his body. Finished with him, Kasumi kept running, firing on a Grunt who was blasting away with a needler at her. The rounds caught him in the neck. The tiny alien began to choke on its own blood as Kasumi kept running to the control panel at the back of the roof. Standing in her way was one more Skirmisher who fired away with its needler rifle, hoping to land enough to make her explode in a violet ball of pinkish-purple death. But Kasumi slid towards her target, popping up in front of the alien to deliver and uppercut that sent the creature flying over the controls and down to the ground. The Skirmisher landed on its back with a satisfying thud. Kasumi activated the controls and the array sprung back to life.

"Command and control re-established," Dot chimed over the comm. "Redirecting nearest available longsword strike team as we speak. Pending arrival time unknown, will update when possible."

Kasumi, very proud of her work, beamed at the now working comms array. She had certainly earned whatever Shepard was paying her today. Two objectives accomplished by her hand. The thief felt rather satisfied. She was only brought out of her thoughts by a shotgun round expunging into a fleeing Grunt rushing up the steps. Jacob and Mordin arrived to find Kasumi had accomplished the objective with little to now hassle.

"Damn girl," Jacob commented "you're unreal."

"Covenant unsuspecting of small human females." Mordin observed "Easily lulled into false sense of security. Similar to initial feeling of STG operatives by other species back home. Never saw you coming."

"I aim to exceed expectations." She said smiling

Jacob smiled back and then aimed his shotgun behind a pile of boxes on the roof.

"By the by you missed one." He said

A Skirmisher leapt out of the shadows screaming, only to get blown away by Jacob's shotgun. As the body fell to the ground below, Kasumi just shrugged.

"Well no one is perfect I guess."

* * *

><p>The whole team regrouped with each other down below as another Pelican landed nearby with more transport for a speedy return to base. Shepard was happy with the victory at Farragut, but he wasn't happy with two of his men. Grunt and Thane did not receive a warm welcome from their returning commander.<p>

"I do not know what you were thinking rushing at the damn hover tank throwing fireballs at us," he shouted at Grunt, his face so close they were practically touching noses "but you're damn lucky you didn't get turned into goo by them! Garrus had snipers in place we could've taken out the crew with limited risk!"

"I saw an opportunity to destroy the enemy and I took it." Grunt replied simply "I thought you'd congratulate my initiative."

"There's a difference between initiative and moronic stupidity!" Shepard corrected them furiously "You put yourself in danger along with the rest of your krant by being reckless! You do not pull any of that shit again unless I or someone of higher rank tells you to! Is that understood?"

Grunt looked down to the ground, a gesture of submission followed by a lowly growl of annoyance.

"Yes battlemaster." He replied "I will... temper my actions."

Shepard nodded, his nerves somewhat calmed. At least Grunt was still seemingly behaving like he should. He was impulsive and did stupid things. At the very least he got the job done and the Revenant was taken down. Shepard just wished he hadn't done something that nearly got him killed.

Thane was a different story.

"Krios I expect this kind of rash behaviour from Grunt, but you?" he said as he marched over to look the assassin in the eye "Running out into the field. Alone. No back up. No reason given. Disobeying direct orders from the XO. Were you trying to kill yourself and piss me off? Because you at least accomplished the latter on that manner."

Thane explained himself succinctly and simply as he usually did.

"The Elite Major was spotted leading the initial assault." Thane explained "He had killed many Marines as we fell back. Most of them were disarmed and executed with their hands behind their heads."

"Then he died as he should have." Samara commented

Shepard looked to her with a face that said it all. Samara didn't need to read minds to know what it meant. "You're not helping. Shut Up." Quickly, so as not to anger the commander further she added to her statement.

"Still," she quickly added "it would have been wiser to wait before tracking him."

"I could not risk him escaping." Thane responded "He needed to answer for his crimes."

"I don't disagree," Shepard explained his voice in a low threatening tone that was steadily rising "but the action was reckless nonetheless. Chances were he was going to stay here for the duration of the assault. We would've found him easily. There was no need to go rushing off on a crusade! You're no good to me dead Kiros, no one on this team is. Now get your head back on straight before I smash it back in properly! You're supposed to be a professional, act like it. No more heroics! Understand?"

Thane just weakly nodded and Shepard stomped off back to the hammerhead.

"Move out people, show is over." He told his crew

Jack could only compliment with a "Damn" as Shepard headed back to the vehicle. Kat and Six were perplexed by the whole scene and looked over to Tali nearby.

"He always this mad?" Six asked

Tali didn't answer for awhile. What could she say? Shepard had gotten angry before, tons of times, for varying reasons. But blowing his top like this, it wasn't how he commanded. Not at all. Then again, he had been on edge lately. He admitted as much to her before. She still didn't know what was wrong.

"Not... usually." She finally answered "Why you ask?"

"I just got the impression he was a bit more relaxed I guess." Six explained

"Doesn't matter now." Kat told them both "We need to get back to sword. Carter will want us to regroup to take down that Corvette."

Without saying anymore the Spartans departed for their vehicle and Tali hers. Everyone else climbed into whatever vehicle they could grab, including the now liberated Revenant. With just a push, they righted it and the alien vehicle was ready for service once more. It was a short ride back to base, but they needed to be ready in case of anymore surprises from the Covenant. The Corvette was not gonna be easy to take down.

* * *

><p>Riding back to base along the path Garrus' team had used to get to Farragut; Dot came back over the channel with a warning. The Covenant weren't finished yet.<p>

"A few drop ships managed to slip through our AA net." She explained "They at least three Revenant's at the gate to Sword Base and left immediately afterwards. They are attempting to breech the walls and renew their offensive with a contingent of ground troops. Also, a small fighting force was dropped within the walls. Additional UNSC forces have been moved to the courtyard to assist in repelling the counter-attack before they flank behind our lines to the inside of Sword base."

"Any good news?" Shepard asked exasperated

"A message from your ship board AI Commander Shepard." Dot replied, an inflection in her voice that sounded somewhat cheery "Your pilot has been helping to clear the skies of other Covenant drop ships. He is offering support to our forces in the area in an attempt to keep similar counter-attacks from penetrating our lines."

Well, at least there was some good news. Joker was the best pilot around; he'd keep those drop ships at bay long enough for them to take down the Corvette. But first they needed to deal with the Revenants. The miniature hover tanks were among the rocks and the wreckage of the two Wraith tanks, lobbing plasma charges at the gate in an attempt to bust it down. It did very little. The gate was built to withstand such explosive blasts. It would take a long while before they managed to break through it.

They were so focused on destroying the gate the mass convoy of vehicles got the relative drop on them. Firing the first shot in the attack was the hijacked Revenant tank driven by Zaeed. He wasn't much for tanks though, so his aiming was pretty off. The plasma slammed down near the passenger side of one of the Revenants, prompting him to respond with his own plasma attack. Zaeed motioned the Revenant back around a rock face to avoid the blast, as Garrus riding shotgun fired his Assault rifle at the Elites on foot around them as they tried to defend their Revenants.

The Hammerhead and Warthogs all stayed in tight formation with each other as the bounded around the corner onto the main road. They split up when the Revenant's began firing on them, they couldn't risk one shot taking them all out. As the Hammerhead rushed down the middle, the Revenant fired again. Shepard pulled the stick to the side and then hit the Hammerhead's jump button. The vehicle lifted up into the air several feet circling the Revenant as the momentum carried it. Tali targeted the miniature tank below as they began to descend back down, each missile slamming into the side of the miniature tank, damaging it further.

As blue sparks of fire began pouring out of the damaged miniature tank, the two warthogs came at the vehicle from its side. Miranda, Jack and Grunt has taken the second Warthog with the machine gun. Kat, Six and Jacob had piled into the newest one an incoming Pelican had dropped off for them when they retook Farragut, a Warthog with a Gauss Cannon, and the best weapon for taking out armoured assailants like Revenants quickly and efficiently.

Six was manning the cannon, as Jacob hadn't been trained in using a weapon of such magnitude. He took aim at the damaged Revenant's engine as Grunt on the machine gun started tearing into vehicle himself. The Revenant was about to fire when the Gauss cannon round slammed into its engine and exploded. The blast, so close to them, took a toll on their shields and bounced both groups around a bit. But they survived the ordeal.

One Revenant downed, the other two regrouped to stave off the attackers, their infantry support firing on the drivers and gunners of the vehicles. Samara in her Ghost didn't give the infantry time to get in some good shots, as her plasma turrets bore into them. As they took apart one Elite, she stopped firing and boosted the vehicle into another slamming him against the hood. As she was doing so, another Elite grabbed the vehicle from behind. He tried to punch the Asari in the face, but a biotic push sent the Elite spiralling off the vehicle and down to the ground. Samara then began circle strafing the Revenant thus distracting from the true assailant.

The Hammerhead rammed towards the Second Revenant, even as it's back up tried to pummel them by sending volleys of Plasma charges to stop them. As each round hit close to the vehicle, Legion in the Co-pilot seat shouted out damage numbers to Shepard.

"Armour at 75 percent," One explosion "61," Two explosions "47..."

It was now or never, Shepard ordered Tali to fire, sending as many missiles into the Revenant Samara was circling. Each shot struck home and one the sixth missile hit the vehicle exploded into a ball of red plasma. Samara broke off from her attack and rushed past the final Revenant. The other vehicles began rushing up the hill as well. Zaeed fired plasma round after plasma round at the lone Revenant, striking each hit dead or close to it. But the vehicle was remarkably resistant to damage. It held its own, even under fire from all sides. And still kept trying to shoot back even as it's armour started to peel off and flames started to burst all over.

"Stubborn bastard ain't it?" Zaeed asked Garrus

Kasumi and Mordin were in the last Warthog, trying to keep pace. Neither were good with heavy weapons, although Thane was doing his best as he manned their machine gun. His gunfire alone wasn't gonna kill the Revenant though. Still Kasumi could piss off the pilots of the last Revenant nonetheless by tossing a flash bang out the window at them. The forthcoming flash blinded them allowing Grunt on his own machine gun to rake them with fire. Enough bullets slammed into the passenger Elite of the Revenant to kill him. The pilot was still alive though and that was what was important. As he turned to avenge his fallen comrade and kill the offending Warthog, Six's gauss cannon struck the vehicle from behind. The Revenant flipped nose first as an explosion rocked the vehicle. The Revenants were down and the gate to the base was secured at last.

Everyone piled out of their vehicles as fast as they could, there was no time to waste on these small skirmishes, and they needed to join the main battle inside.

* * *

><p>The Elite's last stand was admirable, but futile in the end. Kowalski's final DMR round to its head ended the creature's life at last. It had been a hell of a battle, many of the reinforcements they had been sent didn't make it, but the Marines could say with certainly now that they had survived both waves on the courtyard. They didn't feel much like heroes though, just lucky.<p>

And the battle wasn't over yet anyway. This was just a small lull.

"Damn," said one of the corporals "They just wouldn't go down. That one Elite killed like five of the reserve troopers before we even popped his shields!"

"Relax Ellingham." Marine Sergeant Guerro responded "Point is we held. You six are veterans now. Gonna be some commendations when we push these bastards back."

"They just seem so much stronger now." Kowalski replied "I mean Elites are tough, but shit sir it's like they're suddenly taking steroids of all a sudden."

"Stow that chicken shit talk Marine." Guerro informed with a surly tone "steroids or no we kicked their asses. If they are taking performance enhancing pills then it just means they're finally realising they got play catch up with the corps! Oorah motherfuckers!"

They all heard something rushing up the slope from the gate and pointed their weapons in response. They put'em down when they saw the Spartans rushing up with Shepard and the others. The fact they had more people with them now brought real smiles to everyone's faces.

"Damn, I was wondering if they were ever coming back." Kowalski shouted surprised.

"Hell of course they did. You think Spartans backed up by Psi-Troopers with telekinesis gonna get pasted by the Covenant that easily?" Ellingham asked "Bastard didn't know what hit them I wager."

Kat walked up to Guerro, saluting briefly before cutting got the chase.

"Situation Sergeant." She requested

"Went FUBAR for a moment but we got the Xenos on the run ma'am." Guerro replied with a hearty bit of pride "Between my marines and these boys you left here to protect the place, hell I wouldn't be surprised if they felt the smack down we gave them back up on the mother-ship they came from."

Kat did not seem interested in the sergeant's bravado.

"Casualties sergeant." She reiterated, somewhat annoyed

The prideful grin from Guerro faded and was replaced with a more serious look.

"11 dead from the initial reinforcement team, six we found here all still kicking and ready to fight along with the remainder of my squad. 12 hardboiled marines ready for action."

"What about the enemy?" Shepard asked "They been repelled completely?"

"Not entirely," Kowalski spoke up "rest of the Covenant are holed up in the storage room there."

Kowalski pointed to the big open door behind them leading into Sword Base.

"We already sent two of my boys in there to keep their asses locked down, but they've met heavily resistance." Guerro explained "Command said you were coming back to base so we hunkered down, held the courtyard best we could and waited for you to arrive before engaging whatever the fuck is in there."

A large plasma explosion suddenly came from the storage room. It was a distinctive sound Kat and Six had heard all too often.

"I got a good idea what it is." Kat responded "Move now!"

The large team of Marines, Spartans and crew members from the Normandy rushed into the storage room, guns at the ready. Shepard wasn't sure what they'd find inside, but it seemed to be bad enough that it got Kat concerned. They saw a huge beam of plasma travel across their plain of vision from the door. As they entered the large group finally saw exactly what was causing the commotion. It elicited the appropriate reaction.

"Bloody hell." Was all Zaeed could say, it was the simplest of the responses

"What in the fuck?" Was Jack's response upon seeing it. Or moiré accurately them.

Two gigantic lumbering giant creatures, with spines coming out their backs. For each of them there was a huge metal shield seemingly surgically attached to one of their arms arm and plasma weapon of terrifying size and calibre in the other. Their blue armour covered them head to toe, or what they assumed was their heads. In proportion to their bodies, the heads were about the size of full grown watermelons. They towered above them at 12 feet, their legs like pillars, their torsos like impenetrable walls. One stepped forward slightly, growling in anger as it spotted the group.

"Keelah!" Tali said in shock "What is that?"

Her question was allowed to be answered, as the giant and it's friend were momentarily distracted by the two marines that were already inside the storage room, firing on the them.

"A Hunter," Kat explained quickly "they're big, mean and they can crush a man's skull with relative ease. Stay out of their way when they charge and endeavour not to get close if you can avoid it."

While Kat's advice was sound, it went unheeded by one individual.

"Forget your caution human," Grunt grumbled as he walked up to the front of the group "I've killed bigger things than these. Watch and learn!"

Grunt screamed bloody murder and charged directly at the closest Hunter, fist held high. Shepard could only watch as his Krogan squad mate lost all sense of self-control and rational thought and rammed towards the giant aliens like a freight train. He tried to call out:

"GRUNT! WAIT! NOOOO!"

But it was too late, the Hunter turned to see the growling maw of the Krogan, and using it's shielded arm batted the bloodthirsty warrior away like he was a mere insect. Grunt flew through the air, smashing through part of a pillar on one side of the room near the marines. He slammed into the wall and collapsed to the ground. The two marines there rushed over to the big guy and propped him up. At the moment they didn't care he was an alien, they just knew the Krogan had tried to take the behemoths that had been trying to turn them into plasmic goo out of commission. It made sense to them at least to try and revive him so he could give it another shot.

Shepard was more concerned about Grunt then them. As the whole crew looked on in horror at the sight of Grunt being so easily beaten within seconds, he turned to Mordin grabbing him by the arm.

"Mordin! Go! Help him!" he said in a frantic panicked rush.

The Salarian didn't argue or stay still; he rushed as fast as he could to the downed Krogan's position. The Hunter in the meantime had turned its attention back towards Shepard and the Spartans. It armed it's plasma cannon and aimed. The group scattered into cover as the tremendous blast slammed into the ground where they once stood. Kat ducked into cover behind a large metal shield. As the ground rocked around her she looked back to the Marines at the doorway to the storage area.

"Fall back!" She ordered "You are not equipped for this! Move!"

The Marines did as ordered, but not before one tossed the Spartan lieutenant commander his shotgun.

"Give them hell ma'am!" he shouted as he ran.

Kasumi and Jacob were nearby in their own cover within the entrance way, the gravity of the situation slowly sinking in after the initial shock.

"Shit oh shit he took out Grunt and didn't even bat an eye!" Jacob shouted in frantic pauses "Holy shit man!"

"Does he even have eyes?" Kasumi asked trying to keep a cool head about the situation

Another plasma cannon shot rocked the cover Shepard and a portion of his team were using. This was not the kind of fight they were best equipped to handle at the moment. Shepard turned to Kat and Six as they huddled together. They knew more about this alien then he did. They had to have answers.

"How do we kill them?" he shouted over to them

"You need to either use some heavy weapons or some high powered guns." Kat explained "Get around them. Hit them in the gaps in their armour. You'll know it by the big orange parts."

He certainly had heavy weapons at least. That was good to know. Shepard brought out his missile launcher.

"Will this work?" he asked

"Not as big a payload as our rockets," Six told him as he looked at the weapon "but it should kill them under sustained fire."

"I won't risk it yet." Kat cut in "We're too closed in here. Too constrained. One misfire we could be looking at one of us getting shot. Stick to just circling around it for now and shooting it in the back. We have more than enough people to distract it for now."

Shepard nodded in agreement, no reason to use up the heavy artillery if heavy calibre bullets were all they needed. The Team spread out along the storage room, finding cover where they could and not daring to venture out for long as long as those two monsters were firing plasma rounds at anything that moved. Hiding behind some boxes near the doorway, Zaeed and Garrus began to plan a way to distract the thing for the others. Zaeed noticed the creature kept its neck relatively covered. He could see a bit of orange under what he assumed was the Hunter's helmet.

"Maybe if I can get in a shot to that neck of his I can make him bleed out." He suggested "Give me some cover will ya Vakarian."

Garrus took the left side of the cover and began firing pot shots at the creature's feet. The Hunter turned, staring away from Zaeed as he pointed his sniper at the monster's neck. As the Hunter charged up his cannon Zaeed fired. The shot hit. The hunter didn't even flinch. The huge alien turned its head slowly to where a stunned Zaeed just looked back.

"Ah fuck me." He groaned

The Hunter charged, shielded arm first. Garrus went left, Zaeed jumped to the right as the beast mowed through the boxes, sending them flying everywhere. Now Shepard and the Spartans were exposed, they had to move before the Hunter fired his cannon at their cover. The Hunter's partner targeted them as they ran for a small enclosed section at the back of the room where the elevator was. As the creature targeted them it was hit b a huge biotic wave. It barely staggered as the shockwave attack struck him. The Hunter turned to see Jack standing in front of him a few feet away, shotgun bared.

"Hey dipshit!" she shouted "You wanna know how it feels to get smacked across the room by a biotic throw?"

She fired her UNSC shotgun several times at the offending creature, but the lead just bounced off both the armour and shield. Jack struck up her arm, bathed in biotic energy, and trapped the Hunter within a field. She tried to push, but she strained as she Hunter was pushing back against her attack. Groaning in anger, trying to move what seemed unmovable, Jack did something she wasn't big on doing.

She asked for help.

She turned to Miranda who was behind her in similar shield cover.

"Help me already!" she shouted "He's too damn heavy!"

Miranda rushed up and added her own biotics to the fray. Both off them managed to push the Hunter back an inch as it struggled, but no more. Samara rushed up beside them to join in, trying with all her own might to force the Hunter back off his feet. Even Thane who was not as powerful as any of them tried to add his own biotic abilities to the task. Four biotics, all of varying degrees of power, and the Hunter refused to move.

As they all tried to knock the Covenant monster back, Jack felt something trickle down her nose, she knew what it was. She hadn't felt it in a long time, not since she first started using biotics, but she remembered how it felt. She looked to Miranda. Her nose was bleeding too. They were putting everything that had into this, straining their minds, muscles and implants and the Hunter didn't budge.

The alien pushed forward, digging its pillar like legs into the ground. It refused to be so easily toppled; it even slammed its shield into the floorboards to anchor itself further.

The alien grew tired of the display, armed it's plasma cannon and fired just in front of the mass of biotics. It couldn't shoot them directly as they kept his hands from moving far enough to do so, but it was enough. The blast knocked the four biotics off their feet slamming them into cover and the walls. Garrus watched from his own cover near the entrance as they all bounced around the room like ragdolls until they finally collapsed to the floor. Jack and Samara struggled to get back up. Thane was nearby the convict, lying on the ground, clutching his head. She picked him up and limped over to the cover of some nearby boxes. Samara rushed over to a downed Miranda and rushed her over to the alcove with Shepard as another plasma cannon shot impacted the area.

"We cannot move him." She told Shepard as she set Miranda down "He's too strong for Biotics. Too heavy and well armoured."

Shepard ducked his head down as another plasma shot rocked their cover.

"We need to get that thing's attention off us." He declared "Get it's back facing us so we can shoot it."

Zaeed was now in the same position as Mordin, Grunt and the two marines watching Shepard get pinned by one Hunter and another advance on their position. He turned the Salarian as he hunched over an unconscious Grunt.

"Can you get him up!" he shouted "I could use the extra firepower!"

The professor shook his head frantically.

"Several bone fractures, ribcage extensively damaged, possible internal bleeding and no doubt major haemorrhaging!" The Salarian listed off quickly "Cannot fight! Too risky! Regenerative abilities all that's keeping him stable! Could try to bring him around! Shock to nervous system could cause heart failure at this critical stage! Needs constant immediate medical attention!"

"Perfect," Zaeed grumbled "of all the days the dumbass get's blood rage from being shot up it's the day we go up against a damn walking tank!"

Zaeed tossed out a inferno grenade at the nearby hunter, hoping to piss it off enough to get it back off. The Hunter didn't even seem to register it was on fire now. It armed it's plasma cannon and just fired again. Zaeed was forced to take cover behind a pillar as the shot impacted and shook the platform they were all on.

"Get Grunt into cover!" he shouted "One shot from that there ain't gonna be anything left for you to put back together!"

Mordin looked to the marines to help him move Grunt safely. They could only risk taking him so far though, so they brought him as far as the pillar Zaeed was standing behind.

Back in the entrance way, Legion and Tali were huddling together watching the Hunter pinning down Shepard, firing round after plasma round at their cover.

"Shepard Commander requires assistance." Legion observed.

"No shit Legion!" Tali snapped back "We need to take that thing's attention off him."

"I'll help out!" Kasumi shouted out as she pressed a few buttons on her omni-tool "Give me two seconds!"

Tali knew what she was doing, she didn't like the idea.

"Kasumi no don't-!"

The thief had already vanished from sight. Tali looked over to the Hunter now. Within moments, Kasumi appeared at the creature's backside and punched straight into its exposed orange part of its body. As expected it did nothing. The creature turned slowly to look at the Japanese crook who chuckled nervously.

"Yeah I know, not my smartest move." She told it "See ya!"

The Hunter raised its shield arm, preparing to smack the little cloaked human into the pavement beneath him. Kasumi dove out of the way of the first strike, then rolled form the second strike. As she stood the creature made a swipe for her, which she flipped away to avoid. The Hunter armed it's plasma cannon once more to finish her from a distance, but it was stopped when bolts of energy struck it in the torso. Two Drones, one blue and one purple began shocking the alien. Tali and Legion looked on from their cover as the drones assaulted the monster.

"Come on Shepard take the opening!" she pleaded aloud

Shepard did take the opening. Him, Six and Noble Two left cover, Samara staying behind with her gun drawn and pointed out at the beast's back. Armed with a heavy pistol, Six unloaded as many clips as he could into the creature's back. Kat and Shepard took out their shotguns and followed up as Samara blasted away from her position.

The Hunter's back twisted and contorted with each shot as orange blood spewed out of the wounds. It made one last swipe at Legion's drone, triggering its self destruct sequence and blew up in the Hunter's face. The alien fell to the ground, propping itself up with its plasma cannon.

"Enemy down." Kat said with reserved joy

"Now for the other one and-"

Shepard was interrupted but what he saw next, the Hunter curled itself up retracting its head into the armour more than before. It hunched over and covered its plasma cannon with its shield arm. Then a protective shield rose up over the Hunter's body. Kat didn't know what it was doing, but she knew better than to let it continue.

"Kill it! Kill it now!" she ordered

Six and Shepard resumed firing on the beast's orange backside, but their weapons did nothing. They watched as the bullet wounds they created healed back up as the alien seemingly repaired itself.

"Can they do that?" Shepard asked his Spartan allies

"No they're not supposed to!" Noble Two screamed in shock and horror "They don't have shields! The Covenant never thought it was needed! And they don't regenerate! Ever!"

When the process was over, the Hunter came out of its turtled position. It faced it's would be assailants once more, roared in anger and slashed out with its arm at them. Shepard ducked away. Kat rolled forward past the thing and made a break for cover near Zaeed's position. Six followed Shepard, jumping back and running after him.

The Hunter than turned its attention to Samara and charged, she ducked for cover as the shield arm smashed through the other side and then attempt to pound the ground where she was crouching. Samara grabbed Miranda's still injured form and dove to safety. The Hunter struggled to pull his shield out, eventually opting to just smash through the rest of the alcove. Samara picked Miranda up and rushed them out of the area before the monster fired it's Plasma Cannon once more at the exit to the little area. The Asari and former Cerberus operative ducked behind one of the metal shields as the Hunter stomped closer.

Nearby were both Six and Shepard huddling in cover near Jack and a wounded Thane.

"Small arms won't work." Shepard surmised "We must use the rocket launcher. Kill it quickly before it can regenerate once more."

"I'm not sure it has enough kick to bust through that things arm shield." Six explained "We need to get behind it and fire the rocket into it this time."

Shepard looked over to where Garrus was in the entrance way with the other members of the squad.

"You still have the Arc Projector?" he asked the Turian

Garrus pulled the weapon off his back. As it expanded out of its transportable form, Garrus looked to his Commander and nodded.

"I'll get a lock on him you get behind him." Garrus told him "And make sure it stays down this time!"

Kat meanwhile hooked up with Zaeed, barely dodging a plasma cannon shot from the second Hunter as she ducked into the cover beside the old warrior.

"If his friend has regen-abilities than this one does too." She surmised "We need to take off the kid gloves."

"Never wear them myself," Zaeed protested "I gotta plan. But I need one of those plasma grenades you have."

Kat shoved the grenade into Zaeed's chest.

"Press the button on top to activate." She told him quickly "What are you gonna do anyway?"

"Knock off its backside!" he declared

Suddenly the pillar they were using for cover shattered into pieces as the Hunter smashed through it with his shield arm. The two split up, Kat firing on the thing's head as she ran. She needed to get it away from Mordin and the injured Grunt nearby. Zaeed ran the other way, leaping over the barrier from the raised platform back onto the ground and ducking into cover. He only had one shot at this. He hoped it worked.

As Zaeed and Kat made their move, Shepard and Six made theirs. Legion sent out his drone again along with Tali as added backup, Tali picking up the rear and advancing to cover with Garrus. Her Geth Plasma Shotgun was at the ready again. Shepard and Six rushed out at the Hunter, shotguns drawn.

"You aim high! I'll aim low!" Shepard told the Spartan

"Like it matters!" Six responded as he opened fire

The bullets and respective rounds did nothing of course. Shepard thought switching to cryo ammunition would at least freeze the thing in place. All they did was leave a large snowy white patch on the Hunter's shield as he ran at the two.

The metal covered arm rose up and then slammed down, forcing the two to separate. Unfortunately, it followed Shepard instead of Six and slashed the arm shield at the Commander. Shepard ducked and rolled as the metal arm passed over his head.

Thankfully, backup arrived before the Covenant could follow through. Legion and Tali's drones began their assault, just like last time the Hunter turned to them. Unlike last time it fired a Plasma cannon charge that destroyed them both instantly. Legion's drone exploded, but it was far enough away from the Hunter this time that it didn't cause as much damage. Six followed up the attack blasting away with his pistol at the creature's back. The Hunter turned to protect itself once more and aimed to lay the hammer down on Six. But it stopped when an Electric shock blasted through its system. Garrus' Arc projector shot had hit home right beneath the front torso's armour plate where some orange guts showed. As the Hunter screamed out in pain, Tali's charged Plasma shot slammed into the same place Garrus had hit the creature. The monster bent over forwards, no doubt preparing to regenerate once more from the devastating attack. It had forgotten about Shepard.

The missiles struck the creature's backside and cut into it. The Hunter never got the chance to activate it's regeneration ability. The creature's neck exploded out from its torso in wrenching pain as it keeled over and died on its stomach.

"One down-"

Shepard was interrupted by a vengeful roar from the second Hunter nearby who began charging up his Plasma cannon.

"Did we mention they get pissed when you kill their partners?" Six asked

"No, you did not." Shepard answered

The two ran for cover as the beast kept firing plasma shots at their heels. Thankfully, Shepard had someone looking out for him and the Spartan. A blue ball of flame attached itself to the Hunter's back and then exploded. The back portion of the alien's armour broke apart and flew off the Hunter's body. It's large orange backside was now exploded and a far greater target.

"Feeling a bit naked aren't we?" Zaeed asked as he armed his flamethrower "Bet you're cold. Don't worry; I can warm you right up mate."

The Hunter rushed at Zaeed, swinging it's arms around in a mad fury. The mercenary veteran dove away and slid a few meters past the beast as it charged. Then he opened up with his flamethrower, igniting the creature's back in a blazing inferno.

"How ya like your Covenant Shepard?" Zaeed shouted over to the Commander "Rare, Medium, well done or burnt to a fucking crisp?"

"Just keeping pouring it on!" Shepard ordered "Do not let him curl up!"

Zaeed followed the order to the letter; Mordin took a rest bit from helping Grunt to add his contribution. With the Hunter's backside exposed for all to see, his neural shock attack could reach the creature's nervous system. One blast of the attack from his omni-tool and the Hunter was unable to even think about curling up to regenerate. But it would only last for so long. Six rushed over and fired as many rounds from his pistol as he could into the creature's backside. He didn't let up until the trigger went click.

The Hunter eventually, at long last, fell onto its back and died staring up at the ceiling. Zaeed let out a sigh of relief as he dropped to the floor.

"God," he said panting like mad "I need damn drink real bad now."

* * *

><p>Moments later Kat was working on the elevator's controls which had been damaged in the fighting. They needed to get upstairs and finish this. Carter had phoned up and told them all that the Corvette was pounding the base. They didn't have much time before the place caved in on them. Dot reported that longswords were on the way, but if the skies weren't clear before they arrived they'd either be shot down by the enemy fighters or they'd pull off and not risk the bombing run.<p>

Meanwhile, Shepard assessed the damage done to his squad. Grunt was severely injured. He would not be getting back into the fight today. The combination of injuries he took to trigger his blood rage to what he sustained when the Hunter smacked him across the room had taken their tool. He would need to head straight to the med-bay back on the Normandy once the fighting was done.

Miranda and Thane weren't hurt as bad, but they had strained themselves trying to fight the Hunter with biotics. He had them placed in Mordin's care. No more fighting for them. Jack wouldn't listen to reason, she wanted to fight on. Shepard decided to keep her in the squad, but he warned her any problems she'd be sent back down the line to Mordin.

So that meant in total four people were being left behind now, Miranda, Grunt, Thane and Mordin who said he needed to monitor Grunt's vitals in case he took a turn for the worst. He didn't trust any of the UNSC medics to know what they were doing. He knew Krogan physiology better than them. So he wasn't coming upstairs either. They had sure walked into the lion's den like this one. They were lucky none of them died this time.

More pressing to Shepard though was the regeneration of the Hunters. According to the Spartans that had never happened before, they had never regenerated when severely injured. Hunters were walking tanks, but they had never been that difficult to put down before. Usually, according to Six, a lucky shot with a heavy pistol was enough to kill them. One round to the orange backside equalled one dead Hunter. Obviously, that hadn't been the case here. Kat and Six were perplexed, fearing new and more dire Covenant weapons and defensive capabilities more than ever now.

Shepard was scared for another reason, because what the Hunter did was incredibly similar to something he saw before. He brought Tali nearby to look at the Hunter who had regenerated from his wounds, now lying dead as a doornail on the floor.

"Keelah," she observed "all that just to take one creature down."

"Technically it's more than one creature." Six said overhearing the conversation

He walked up to the hunter and pulled off the damaged armour from its back. Tali and Shepard now got a better look at the orange flesh of the monster. It was stringy and seemed to overlap with each other. Like each strand had been stitched together. Six pulled at the creature's hide and rose up a strand of the creature's flesh to their eyes. That's when they realised it wasn't a piece of flesh.

"A worm?" Tali asked as she looked at the tiny creature that had pulled out of the Hunter's corpse.

"Hunters are made up of worms." Six explained inciting awe in the alien's biology. "They're walking colonies of the stuff. They ain't just one giant mean son of a bitch. They're thousand of little ugly bitches that make one huge unstoppable wrecking machine. That armour is the defensive wall for a living fortress on legs. And they always come in twos."

Shepard was now really intrigued, he figured Legion probably would be too. This thing was an organic version of the Geth in a way. Six left once he gave his lesson to them both, leaving the former Alliance Marine and the Quarian mechanic to work things out.

"Shepard," Tali began "that regeneration ability..."

"I know I recognized it too." Shepard agreed "reminds me of what we encountered back on Haestrom."

Tali remembered that planet all too well. She lost too many friends on that mission. She almost got killed herself in part to a Geth Colossus pounding against the observatory where she was held up. A Geth Colossus with the unique ability to curl up and regenerate from whatever damage it had taken.

"But that was with a machine, how could the Covenant adapt it to work with Organics?" she asked "You don't think they got help? Do you?"

"Who knows," Shepard admitted "more than likely they took the technology from the Geth by force or through negotiation. Sent it to someone to take a look at it and then had them adapt it for organic use. There's a few people I know who'd love to get their hands on armour that can repair battle wounds on the fly. Particularly one specific group that would go to any lengths to do so, even if it cost human lives to accomplish it, even if it meant helping out aliens bent on the destruction of mankind."

Tali filled in the blank for him.

"Cerberus." she said "So, maybe the Illusive Man really did give the Covenant the information on us."

"I'm not sure, but wherever the Covenant got this stuff from I want answers." He told her in a serious tone "We need take this armour with us. Find out what makes it tick."

Tali looked over at the broken piece of armour Six had pulled off for them.

"Not gonna be easy to convince them hand it-"

She didn't get to finish their statement.

"We won't tell them. We'll smuggle it out after the battle." Shepard told her "If they spot us we'll tell them it's a souvenir. Nothing more."

Tali was a bit shocked at the suggestion. It was resoundingly un-Shepard like.

"You... you're going to lie to them?" Tali asked in disbelief "Just outright lie to them. But what about trust and..."

"We need to find out why the Covenant are after us and what they were doing in our universe Tali." Shepard told her sternly "We need to find out what else they stole to boost their forces here. I'm not gonna get stonewalled here. If we find out any useful information we'll share it, but right now I don't trust Ackerson period. He gets wind of this he'll take it away and we'll never find out the answers. He'll hog to himself and use it for whatever agenda he has."

"We could just tell Noble Team or Holland maybe..."

"They won't know what to look for and they don't trust us enough to understand why we need to look it over." Shepard explained "I feel bad about it too okay, but I'm sick of not knowing what we're dealing with here. I need you to figure out where the Covenant got this tech. When we find out, I promise I'll tell them what we learned. But if we're right, and this is that same Geth technology modified for organics then we're the only ones who are gonna be able to figure it out. You're the only one whose gonna be able to figure it out."

Tali looked back down at the armour, still conflicted about this plan. She didn't want to lie to the Spartans, they were pushy but they allies. They didn't trust her fully, but that didn't make this any less underhanded. She let out a relenting sigh.

"I guess this means we won't be having any private time later huh?" Tali asked him, feeling a bit dejected.

Shepard didn't answer right away and just turned his head to the side slightly. He looked back at her briefly before saying the ever increasingly common answer he was giving her.

"Rain check?" he asked

Tali just nodded and Shepard left. She did as asked; she packed the armour part into a spare container, marked it, called Joker for shuttle and asked him to have some security teams pick the thing up. She felt dirty all the way. At least Grunt, the most seriously injured of the team got a ride back to the Normandy early with Mordin. That and thankfully she didn't have to lie to anyone and say it was a souvenir, but it still didn't feel right cutting the Spartans out of the loop.

Kat finally fixed the elevator controls at last and they were on their way up. The Corvette, their final objective, was just above them.

* * *

><p>A single Grunt was watching the elevator door when they opened wide behind him. A shotgun pointed directly in his face as he turned and blew his head off. Jack walked out, the gun still smoking as the remaining Normandy crew members still standing stood beside the Spartans.<p>

"Please wait until an ONI representative comes to escort you." Chimed a female voiced pre-recorded message.

As it said that, a lone Elite and several Jackals opened fire on their position.

"I severely doubt that." Kat quipped at the message.

The team rushed the proverbial barricades, Kat tossing as many grenades as she could down the long corridor at the ONI security checkpoint that had been overrun by the Covenant. The elite began to fall back as an overload blast hit him, popped his shields and left his body vulnerable to a shotgun blast from Jacob at point blank range. The Elite slammed back into the wall as his Jackal comrades raced to escape the onrushing tide of enemies. Shepard launched a shockwave that tossed the Jackals aside like bowling pins and they rushed onward through the corridors to the main hall where the rest of Noble team were situated.

When they arrived the entire area was soaked in blood, both alien and human alike. Jorge was up front, blasting away with his chain gun non-stop trying to hold back the tide of aliens rushing at them. Carter looked over to the others and waved them over as a fresh wave of Grunts and Elites rushed down the stairs at them.

"Emile is up top trying to clear out the Covenant so we can bomb that Corvette to hell!" he shouted over the gunfire "Get up these floors! Support him! We will follow! Six you're on point!"

The Spartan lieutenant nodded and took off, Jorge clearing the way for him as he rained lead down on the batch of Grunts coming down the stairs. The Normandy crew followed him and Jorge and Jun soon joined the fray along with several other Marines backing them up.

They entered through the nearest stairs to their right as a group of Grunts were trying to flank the defensive position, using desks in the room as cover. Six had no time to bother with them. He fired his shotgun at them. One slug for each of the snivelling little cowardly aliens, three in total, and each went down screaming in pain and gargling blood. He bounded up the steps to the second level and was met with sniper fire from the room across the walkway on the other side of the of the main hall. Garrus and Jun however were there to lend a hand from a floor below. They zeroed in on Skirmishers and their needler rifles. One shot to each of their eye sockets sent them tumbling backwards dead. Six was free to press on.

As he did Legion closed in from the rear and provided support as they made their way to the second floor. Three grunts rushed out from behind a corner, firing fully charged plasma bolts. They hit Six, but while his shields were dropped it didn't slow him down. He batted his shotgun's butt into the nearest one's head and followed up by shooting his partner. Legion got the third one, pelting it the creature's side with rounds.

Tali rushed up to the next doorway and activated her combat drone to empty out the next room a little. The little purple drone entered and began zapping away. Grunt had their cerebellums fried within two zaps. Three were dead before a lucky shot from two incoming Elites killed the drone. Jorge rushed into the room his chain gun firing at full blast. He ripped apart two Grunt as he stormed in and then tore the shields off the Elites as he pressed forward. The chain gun turned one elite into Swiss Cheese. The other leapt towards the guardrail near the floor's window and tried to take Jorge out from the side. But Noble Five was not so easily defeated. He slammed the barrel of his gun into the Elite's face and then stuck it into the alien's gut.

"Get off my planet!" he shouted as he pulled the trigger

The close proximity of the chain gun tore a giant straight through the Elite. His legs stayed on the second floor, his upper body fell down over the guardrail to the first.

Six pressed on, the others at his back. An Elite Warrant Officer jumped out from behind his cover to try and perforate the Spartan with Plasma fire. Instead, Tali leeched his shield away with an shield jack attack and left Six the opportunity to tackle the Elite to the ground and pump a single shot into the alien's head.

The third floor was next and it was across another walkway. On the end, Grunts and Elites were streaming down to attack them. A Skirmisher was taking up a sniper position. Legion activated his Geth Shielding and provided cover for Six as they made their way up the walkway. The Geth Plasma Rifle tore apart the grunts racing towards their doom.

When Legion's extra shielding finally gave out, Six took point again, rushing up to the Elite and his Skirmisher buddy at the end of the walkway. He used his pistol to blow the brains out of the Jackal as he got close. Then he grabbed the bird-brained alien's body as a shield for the Elite's plasma rifle. He then kicked at the alien officer, threw the Skirmisher aside and unloaded a shotgun shell into the Elite's body. They kept moving.

They had by now left many of desk adorned rooms behind and entered a sever room of sorts with red lights adoring the computers built into the walls. Behind one of those walls was another set of stairs leading up to the fourth floor. They were almost to the roof.

The marines now led the way, marching up the steps with Assault rifles at the ready. As they turned the corner a pack of Grunts were waiting. Samara bypassed Six and the others and rushed to the Marines aid as the Grunts opened up. The Justicar launched a devastating throw field attack that sent the Grunts flying into the walls. The remaining Covenant nearby on the floor saw the carnage and began to run across the final walkway to the fifth floor. But Samara wouldn't have that. She pulled a fleeing Jackal towards her, held him in place and then tossed him off the side of the walkway as she made her onto it. The Marines of course followed her in step. Six close behind with the others and Shepard by his side. Another throw field from Samara sent the Jackals guarding the entrance to the floor hurtling back into the wall. The way was all but open to the roof.

Jack, eager to get in a swing of the action rushed up to join Samara at the end of the Walkway. When she did, an Elite rushed out, armed with a concussive launcher. As he aimed the weapon at Jack, Samara grabbed it and pushed him into the adjacent wall. The Elite was unhurt and roared at the offending Asari. Then a shockwave struck him from the side, causing him to tumble sideways. Jack screamed as she rushed up, a biotic punch slamming into the Elite's skull. He flew black into another wall and gave Jack enough time to pump him full of lead from her shotgun just to be safe.

Six and Shepard were the next to arrive followed by Legion. The next room over through a hallway was packed with Covenant. Grunts mostly. To clear them out and stop their wild plasma blasts from doing more harm, Six tossed in a grenade or two. The explosions ripped the little creatures apart and they moved up.

A giant leg suddenly shot out and kicked Six in the shoulder. It was another Elite. This one clad in gold armour with a very fancy helmet resting atop. One with huge plate like horns that made his head look ridiculously huge. It was an Elite General and his Plasma Repeater rifle was aimed right at Six's head.

Luckily, Shepard was there to back him up. Charging straight into the Elite General with his biotics, the alien was forced away from Six, misfiring his weapon into the ceiling. As he staggered around, Six and Shepard unloaded into his with every round they could muster in their shotguns, it may have been overkill but neither was taking any chances.

"Six move it," Carter shouted over the comm. "We need those banshees out of the air. Support Emile!"

"On it sir!" Six reiterated

The next room was on fire and with good reason, the adjacent roof had been bombed to kingdom come by the Corvette. When they said roof, they assumed it was the actual roof, not the roof created by the covenant.

Jack rushed in sending a shockwave attack to send the Jackals defending the area flying, Zaeed followed suit shooting as many of the downed aliens till he thought they were good and dead. Emile came over the comm.

"Bout time Six!" he said "You bring our Xeno buddies with ya?"

"A few yeah," Six replied as he rushed down the half destroyed corridor to get a view outside "How's the situation up here?"

Six came out onto the roof to see the Corvette directly over his head. For being such a small Covenant vessel it was still impressively big. Even Shepard was a bit off put by the size of the ship as he rushed out to see it.

"Would be better if you picked up a rocket launcher and started shooting!" Emile answered

Six looked to the side and saw a stockpile of rockets. He took one launcher; Shepard had his own so he passed the next over to Legion the only other person up here with them. Zaeed ran up along with Jack and the others followed. Zaeed got the last launcher, but there weren't enough to go around. Everyone else would just have to cover them as they shot down the banshees.

As they began to line up and take aim at the banshees a lone drop ship, one of the bigger more heavily armoured ones, rushed through the fire and started landing Elites on the field. When they touched down they turned invisible and started firing on the troops.

Tali wasn't having that at all. Along with Garrus and a combined Overload and Shield Jack attack they managed to disable one of the invisible Elite's cloaks and allowed Jacob, who was nearest to it to blow it's head clean off. Another cloaked Elite tried to sneak around to kill Jacob with a blow to the back of the head. Then he got tapped on the shoulder. He turned to see now one there, and then he got a punch to the jaw. Kasumi materialized in front of him.

"Takes a cloaker to spot a cloaker." She smiled before she kicked the Elite in the stomach. The Alien shambled to the edge of the roof and Kasumi unloaded as many rounds as she could into the Alien's body.

Zaeed focused on the drop ship, firing as many of the rockets as he could into the side of the vehicle. It opened up its plasma turret at him, Forcing Zaeed to seek cover while he reloaded the next shot into the tube. He fired again and hit the vehicle's engine. Destabilized, the drop ship veered off smacking into a banshee before it exploded.

Shepard missile launcher had a built in lock-function. As he filled the air with missiles, one by one the banshee blew up and fell out of the sky. His missiles crisscrossed with Legion and Six's, as the Banshees started to burn up in the air. The enemy aircraft tumbled and rolled to avoid, but in the end they simply cascaded to ground in flames or exploded in a beautiful ball of plasmic fire. Beautiful for those watching the fireworks of course.

When the skies were clear, Emile shouted out with glee at the achievement.

"That the way we get it done Spartan!" he cheered

Auntie Dot rang in once more.

"Longsword bombers on approach." She said "Orbital defence will take the shot once Sword Base is in clear."

The sleek black bombers flew out of the smoke surrounding the base and began to fire on the Corvette. With no air support the ship turned tail and ran. The bombers followed, for awhile. After a few seconds they veered off. Six watched with Shepard and his crew. Thinking the Covenant perhaps thought they were in the clear, they were gonna live. What a surprise they were in for. No one attacked an ONI Base and lived to tell the tale. Not when the Spartans were around. Not when there was an orbital MAC gun around.

The huge space born shot came out of the clouds, piercing the bow of the Covenant ship. The huge explosion that followed rocked the alien vessel and it soon tumbled into the waters below. For Shepard and his people it was the first time they saw a MAC gun in action. They were all rightfully impressed.

"Damn, we need one of those." Zaeed commented.

Everyone filled out of the are amore less, barring Shepard, Legion, Tali and Six to watch the Covenant ship collapse into the waters and sink.

"Beautiful huh?" Jorge asked as he walked out of the shadows "Someone should take a picture."

"This platform has an imagery intelligence gathering device installed." Legion perked up "If you wish, we can provide you with said picture."

Noble Five just chuckled a bit.

"Go ahead if ya want robot." He permitted "I'm just enjoying the view."

The purple flames the ship was giving off made for a beautiful yet haunting sight against the water. Tali and Shepard were enthralled to say the least. Staring at the burning hulk as it sank. For a moment Shepard looked to Tali, who didn't seem to be enjoying the victory as much as he thought. Her shoulders were slumped and she just seemed to be staring out into nothing, completely entranced by the fire. He suddenly remembered what he had asked her to do not minutes before this. Sensing an opportunity to calm her nerves, he reached his hand out and grabbed her when no one was looking.

"You did good." He reassured her, both concerning the mission and the Hunter armour.

"I hope so." She said, not sounding convinced concerning the latter.

Jorge had his own congratulations in store for Six.

"Nice work by the way getting up here." Jorge told him "And taking back the base."

"I had help." Six said turning to Shepard, Tali and Legion.

Shepard didn't get to respond much beyond a modest shrug and a smile. Carter called over the channel.

"Five, Six, Normandy team," he said "get down to the science wing. Halsey wants to debrief us. Command says we're all hers."

Jorge, seemingly surprised phoned back Noble Team's leader

"Roger, did you say Halsey sir?" he asked, seemingly anxious to know if it was true.

"I did." Carter told him "So don't keep us waiting."

Jorge seemed somewhat excited, or what passed for excitement concerning Spartans, but the Normandy team was confused.

"Who is Halsey?" Shepard asked

Jorge was more than happy to fill Shepard in.

"Dr. Halsey is an AI specialist and top ranking ONI scientist." He informed them "She's the one who started the Spartan II program."

Tali was a bit put off by the term, AI specialist. Her brow furrowed as she remembered how AI were given seemingly free reign in this world. She should've realised there had to be fields concerning that practice in greater supply in this universe, considering that AI were legal. Still, the prospect of talking to her, about AI, it intrigued her nonetheless.

Shepard just wanted to know why she wanted to see the Normandy team as well as the Spartans. If she made the Spartans it made sense she wanted to see them. Why'd she want to see them? Was she another of Ackerson's cronies? Noble Five seemed to trust her, or at least admire her.

"Anyway, command doesn't need to tell me to see her," he explained as he led the group away from the crashing Covenant ship. "I've been hers half my life."

Shepard followed in pace with Six and Five, curious as to why this Halsey was so important. He'd find out soon enough.

* * *

><p>Legion filled Shepard in best he could about Spartan IIs when he asked. The Geth told him what Six had told him. The IIs were first, Noble Five was one. Spartan IIIs made up the rest of Noble. The other details about the III's being expendable shock troops was disturbing to Shepard somewhat, but he supposed in a sick sort of way it made sense. Sacrifice a few for the many. That's what he did when he saved the council back on the Citadel right? Sacrifice a few Human lives for the sake of the 10,000 aboard the Destiny Ascension.<p>

Of course another question had been raised, Noble Five said Halsey made the Spartan IIs, not the IIIs. Why was she cut out of the secondary project? Maybe he'd have time to ask her at some point.

Right now it sounded like Halsey was doing the asking. A terse and very direct female voice filled the room as they entered the science wing, everyone was there, Noble Team and active uninjured Normandy crew members. Behind a thick plate of glass in what looked like a sealed off section of the wing was a woman in white lab coat of sorts. One with a hood and similar in make to the man they found dead at the Visegrad. Of course the woman wearing it was in far better condition than him. She was rather old, possibly in her sixties, yet still seemingly rather spry for her age it seemed.

At first she was too busy berating Noble One to see any of them enter.

"I requested your assistance Commander and I do not need a report about what happens on my own door step. What I do need to know is a detailed account of your previous engagement..."

That was when she noticed Shepard and Noble Five. She stopped talking almost instantly and looked at the huge Spartan II with a mix of pride, reverence and nostalgia. She didn't smile, but she was evidently pleased to see the big super soldier.

"Jorge," she said aloud "it's been too long."

"Ma'am." Jorge responded simply once he took off his helmet

Halsey looked the Spartan over a bit, and was considerably bemused at Jorge's appearance. She knew that was not how he looked when they last saw each other.

"What have you done with my armour?" she asked, particularly eyeing the big cylindrical object attached to his chest.

Taken a back, and looking like he had gotten caught with his hand in the cookie jar it seemed, Jorge answered meekly.

"Just some... modifications I made, ma'am." He replied timidly, or what past for timid with him

"Indeed," she replied with a raised eyebrow and the closest she came to smiling throughout the conversation. She then turned to Shepard. "And this must be the growingly infamous Commander Shepard."

"Dr. Halsey I presume?" Shepard asked with a smirk

The doctor just rolled her eyes, annoyed at the one billionth time she had heard that greeting.

"Quite. I appreciate your services Commander, you're proving to be a valued ally." She greeted simply. She then turned back to Carter to continue her original line of questioning. "Visegrad Relay, it's data center was home to one of my xeno-archaeologists, Doctor Lazlo Sorvad, perhaps you could shed some light on his death?"

As per usual, Carter replied matter of factly, as militarily by the book as possible.

"If he was a civilian male in his mid to late sixties he died with a Covenant Plasma Sword through his abdomen." Carter answered without batting an eye

Halsey was now properly intrigued.

"Elites then?" she reasoned

"They engaged us as well." Jorge jumped in eager to tell the story it seemed "It was just after we found your scientist's daughter ma'am. She was hiding in the-"

Halsey cut him off before he continued the harrowing tale. From the looks of Emile, in the corner he was happy about that, not wishing to hear Jorge prattle on about civies.

"Irrelevant." She said in a stern voice to Jorge "The Elites. Tell me about them."

After a second of composing himself, Jorge did as asked.

"There were three of them." Noble Five replied at once, almost like a school kid being asked a question by their beloved teacher "Zealot class. One got by us. The leader from the looks of him."

The Normandy crew just watched on in silence, not adding anything to the conversation as of yet. They figured this was something between eh Spartans and Halsey. For her part the old scientist seemed disturbed by the information.

"Are you sure it was Zealots?" she asked

"Armour configuration matched." Jorge confirmed

"Shield strength too." Six added quickly

Before her next obvious question came up, concerning why they let one get away, Carter fielded the answer.

"I gave the order not to pursue, our primary objective was to get the relay back online."

This answer did not at all please Halsey, she scrunched her face up in irritation, shaking her head. A range of emotions could be felt, disappointment, disgust and resentment. It was hard to gauge exactly which one was more prevalent.

"Primary objective?" she asked in an increasingly hostile and mocking tone "Commander are you a puppet or a Spartan?"

Everyone in the room was taken aback by the sudden turn in the conversation. They didn't assume Halsey was a nice person, she didn't seem to show that, they were just surprised someone was talking back like that to a Spartan. Noble Team especially. Even Carter responded with a surprised and confused "ma'am?" concerning her response. She explained her displeasure promptly.

"There are those at ONI, myself included," she began "that believe the Covenant dispatch Elite advance teams to hunt down artefacts of value to their religion. These teams are small, nimble and are almost always Zealot class. No doubt they came to the station for the abundance of ONI excavation site data, concerning this base in particular."

She then stared at Carter, looking exceedingly frustrated.

"And you let their leader get away." She concluded with a frown "Makes me wonder what ONI taught Spartan IIIs during training concerning initiative."

Before Carter could rebut, a small sound of someone clearing their throat was heard in the corner. It was Garrus. Shepard shook his head, he knew what he was gonna do and he seriously did not think this was time. But Garrus was a stubborn Turian and spoke his mind when prompted.

"I attempted to pursue the zealot leader actually." He said "I managed to wound him, but Noble Lead redirected me and the rest of my team to follow his men after the two still inside the base. I had to differ to his command because of prevailing circumstances."

Halsey raised an eyebrow at the scared alien, Carter and most of the other Spartans just looked at him with distain. Shepard only sighed in exasperation at Garrus' bluntness.

"Oh why did you have to go there?" he thought to himself

"And you are?" A curious Halsey asked

Garrus stood upright and at attention.

"Garrus Vakarian, former C-SEC, Current Gunnery officer of the SR-2 Normandy, one of Shepard's squad leaders whenever he is absent."

Halsey cocked her head from to side slowly, examining Garrus carefully.

"And what exactly are you Mr. Vakarian?" she requested

"Turian ma'am," Garrus explained "from Palaven. You wouldn't know it's not in your universe."

Halsey took a moment before shrugging slightly.

"Hmm, yes I heard that was the explanation for how you arrived here." She replied turning to back to Noble One "Interesting that the alien showed more initiative than you Commander in the given situation."

Carter responded adamantly, refusing to admit he made any other choice but the right one.

"Data retrieval was not a command directive. Even had we known any of this, we had far more pressing matter to attend to."

"Like warning the planet." Kat added, backing up her commander

Halsey was unmoved by the justification as she walked up closer to the glass, not even acknowledging the reasoning behind Carter's orders.

"Professor Sorvad's final entry in his field notes made reference to a latchkey discovery." She looked up coldly at Carter and reiterated her point "Latchkey. Not a word he would use lightly."

Tali turned to Shepard and whispered a question.

"Is that something big?" she asked

"Sounds like it, never heard the word before." He admitted

Halsey continued unabated.

"So let's hope the data module your lieutenant commander stole contains it." She said as she stared at the Spartan second in commander.

Kat pulled out the data disc, trying her best to put on a brave face and not look ashamed. Halsey pushed out a small metal box in the middle of the glass window. It was a container to pass object through without risk of contamination. She berated Kat as she handed it over.

"Before you ask I was alerted the moment you tried to access its contents. As I am with any unauthorized tap. I also received some fascinating data on one of your attempted hacks that was... unfamiliar." She explained, looking at Shepard's team "Alien, if I do say."

Legion didn't bat and eye, but Tali was a bit nervous. They had just been fingered for trying to break into ONI classified data. Something she wanted to avoid. She quickly tried to cover their tracks.

"We were unaware it was so important to you." She assured the good doctor "We were just curious to see what was inside. We meant no harm."

Halsey directed her displeasing look to Tali now.

"Curiosity is a very endearing trait, unless it infringes on another's privacy." She told the Quarian "Or do they not teach that adage where you come from Miss..."

"Tali'Zorah Vas Normandy ma'am." Tali replied a bit more sternly than before, the implied insult to her people set off her more defensive instincts. "And yes the Quarian people do understand privacy, but Sorvad went through a lot to preserve the data from being stolen. We wanted to know if it was what the Covenant were after."

Halsey didn't continue the conversation with Tali, she picked up her data module and eyed it, continuing to berate Kat.

"That information is classified tier one, I could send you to the brig for interfering with my work." She informed her

"Maybe you'd like to join her." Carter told her tersely

Now it was Halsey's turn to be taken aback.

"Excuse me?" she asked seemingly offended

"We're under Winter Contingency. Civilian interference in Spartan operations during such times of crisis are grounds for a similar punishment."

Threatened, Halsey responded eve more defensively than Tali had just moments before.

"Are you threatening me Commander?"

"Just making an observation ma'am. Best take it under advisement."

With that done Carter left, as did most of the other Spartans. Jorge stayed for a moment before Halsey told him to leave. Shepard remained along with his crew to ask the obvious question.

"And I'm here because?" he asked

"One because one of your team mates tried to access my module," Halsey replied still eyeing her data module "and two I wanted to see if the rumours of a human commanding aliens circulating through ONI were true."

Shepard was a bit annoyed at her attitude. Tired of being jerked around by ONI operative enough today he made a move to leave.

"Well you got your answer, we exist." Shepard told her coarsely "Maybe we could do lunch sometime."

As he started to leave Halsey called out to him.

"I would like to see you in my office later commander," she told him "there are number of things I think we should discuss."

Shepard turned slowly, his suspicions aroused.

"Such as?" he asked

"A number of things," She repeated in her reply "these biotics the security cameras have seen you displaying, your team mates, your ship, I'm sure you have questions as well."

"Not enough to make me go running to ONI for answers." Shepard replied fiercely "I've met enough of your fellow ONI spooks to know not to trust them."

Halsey cocked an eyebrow and peered over at Shepard, she knew who he was talking about.

"Ackerson?" she asked, receiving a nod from Shepard "We're not all asses like him Commander. You can be assured of that. I Understand you want us to trust you, but that is a two way street. You need to be willing to trust some of us as well."

Shepard was not at all convinced that the old scientist behind the plated glass like a female slightly more clean version of Howard Hughes was trustworthy material. She wanted something, he knew it. Something from his crew or ship, he just wasn't sure. Ackerson wanted his ship, why would she be any different?

"Give me one good reason to trust you?" he demanded

She responded with a very slight smirk and cocky tone.

"Because I haven't alerted ONI and UNSC officials to the fact your shuttle is transporting covenant technology to your ship under mysterious circumstances."

The whole crew turned to Shepard, a bit awestruck at the accusation. No Spartans were around to hear it, no UNSC or ONI staff either. But the crew heard it, and it was shocking to them. Shepard? Pulling a fast one on the UNSC? That wasn't him at all. He tried diplomacy first, tactics like that later. It's how he acted all throughout this mission, cooperating with the UNSC. Now this? To say the crew were perplexed by this un-Shepard-like behaviour was an understatement.

Shepard could only respond one way.

"We'll talk." He said in a low tone "As long as you don't say anything more about that."

"I didn't plan to." Halsey assured him "I can only assume your reasons for this action are completely in all our best interests. But if telling you that I haven't blown the whistle on you to Ackerson is enough to convince I'm not with him or his cronies, then so be it. Come to my office tomorrow. I still things to wrap up here for a few days. Since your people will only be able to travel within the boundaries of the ONI sword Base facility and your ship I do expect you to be prompt and on time of course."

"Of course." Shepard replied seemingly annoyed "I'll be on time."

"Very good, pleasure to meet you commander and your..." she paused for a moment and observed the Normandy crew "... very... distinguished and unique crew. We're lucky to have them I think."

Shepard turned to leave, the jubilation of the day's victory completely gone now and his crew, every one of them giving him looks of varying nature.

"Yeah, you are lucky to have them." Shepard told her as he parted, the crew following him "Best damn squad in the Galaxy."

He was going have a long talk with everyone no doubt when they got back to the Normandy. Over so many things he couldn't even begin to list them. Even if this small victory was diminished. If there really was a relic here, and the Covenant knew it they'd be back. Halsey pretty much admitted something was going on here. One thing was for sure. This whole invasion business was going to get worse before it ever got better.

* * *

><p>AN: See? If this was all one chapter you'd have to sort through over 80 pages! That my friends is WAYYY too much. Anything above sixty is too high for me.<p>

Anyway, Dr. Catherine Halsey, the brain map for Cortana and mentor to John 117 or the Master Chief has made her glorious appearance. When people say to me, "Halo's just a stupid gay ass game with space marines and shit that has no compelling story and sucks balls lolololol!1!11!" I would point to Halsey as an example of how untrue that it. This is a character, much like Mordin, who did horrible things for what she believed was the greater good and spent the rest of her life trying to reconcile with her guilt. More importantly, every child she helped kidnap to create the Spartans she loves dearly. It's strange sort of mutual reverse Stockholm Syndrome. She gave these children the chance to do something great at the cost of their childhood. Why they accepted so readily? I guess it's like the Matrix, at a young enough age kids aren't as attached to their surroundings as they should be so they're easier to detach from the current environment and place into a new one.

Halsey in turn came to see these children as her own in a way. Of course John shall always be her favourite no doubt. As a secondary mother figure she plays a huge role in his life, almost as big as Cortana does eventually. But that's something for another story. The point is Halsey is a prime example of Halo being more than just another stupid corridor shooter. She's right and she's wrong, ethical and yet immoral at the same time. She's probably the most complex of all the characters in this universe, although the Arbiter is a bit close concerning his arc through the games.

You may have noticed there's some trouble in paradise among the Normandy crew. Shepard is getting pushed the edge as things are starting to mount concerning his supposed allies and the Covenant threat that is now actively hunting his friends Therefore he is acting more like a Renegade than his established Paragon persona. Grunt is getting more and more bloodthirsty/savage and in the canon of this Shepard's story this is the first time Grunt has ever slipped into blood rage so none of them were prepared for it. Thane is getting reckless and not acting as professional as he should, slipping back into his lone wolf persona. Jack and Miranda are still at each other's throats, even as they try to work together. And lastly, Tali and Shepard's relationship is starting to feel the strain of being lovers in the middle of a war. Shepard's becoming distant and the honeymoon as it were is starting to unravel.

Why is this all happening? Because any good family, even the best of the families, even the closest of families, there is friction. I know that better than anyone. The Normandy crew have become family over the course of their adventures. Now it's time to put it to the test, and that means a family argument. Or arguments concerning a dozen reasons for what could set it off. The strains of this new kind of war are gonna test them, in more way than one. Whether they can come together and face these problems is up to them.

Oh and last chapter you probably realised this Shepard is a fan of Star Trek. In the canon of the story, that is what inspired him mostly to become an Alliance Marine in the hopes of commanding his own ship one day like Kirk, his childhood hero. The other inspiration was his mom. Why not his dad? That's complicated and best reserved for another time. So Shepard grew up with a romanticised version of how space exploration should be. Then the Skylian Blitz happened and that all collapsed for him. Why? Meh, that's for another chapter.

So, any theories as to how the Covenant is getting all these wonderful toys? Is Cerberus really going that far to destroy Shepard's crew? Or is this leftovers from the last Shadow Broker's attempts to survive the coming galactic apocalypse? Well I know what it is... but I'm not telling it!

Read and review folks, just don't ask for spoilers. You won't find out the truth until chapter nine. My lips are sealed till then.

PS: Holy shit guys did you see those new demos for Mass effect and the Halo 4 trailer? Awesomesauce! Can't wait to play to revamped anniversary edition of the first game. Year of the Chief baby!


	7. Damage Control

Chapter 7: Damage Control

**July, 25****th**** 2552**

As a picture of a Turian with white tribal facial tattoos faded from the screen, the narrator returned to lead into the show's next segment as a file with a familiar human's face was panned into view.

"So if Saren was not responsible for the attack on Eden Prime, nor the death of one of his closest friends, who is really to blame? The answer may lie in the only person who was there. The now infamous Commander Shepard, the first human spectre and supposed hero of the Citadel. After the attack on the human colony the Commander accused Saren of working with the Geth. An accusation he had no proof for."

The picture shifted to a re-enactment of the hearing that was held within the Council chamber, as a regal and proud hologram of Saren stood over a rather dishevelled, angry and insane looking Shepard. Why any human actor would take this insulting role beyond a pay-check was baffling.

"What exactly would lead such a prominent human to this conclusion? Jealously perhaps? Desire to force himself into the ranks of the Spectres when he was unqualified? Or maybe he was simply the patsy of the Alliance to advance their own goals. Whatever the case, it has become increasingly clear Shepard was mentally unstable, touting claims of a coming invasion from dark space supposedly from malevolent machines bent on destroying us all. And that Saren himself was a part of this plot. How is it possible that this human became so mentally fragile?"

The image shifted to archival footage of the Skyllian Blitz on Elysium, with hundreds of pirate and slavery ships descending from the sky.

"The answer lies in his past. Touted as a hero by his people for his actions on Elysium, Shepard supposedly made a heroic stand against slavers and pirates to save civilian lives. This obvious propped up human propaganda conceals the truth, that the young human Commander was failure as a leader, who lost a quarter of his squad due to his negligence. Only surviving because of luck."

The scene shifted again back to an Omni-Tool playing a recording.

"But what of the evidence Shepard brought to trial? Of Saren admitting all? We have found evidence to suggest this recording was in fact forged for Shepard by an agent of the mysterious Shadow Broker."

The scene shifted to photographs from the Citadel, of both Shepard and a Quarian in an alleyway.

"This archival footage shows Shepard meeting with a Quarian, identified as Tali'Zorah nar Raaya. Records show she had been in contact with the Shadow Broker and a number of his agents leading up to this meeting and she in fact was the one to present the evidence to the council in person. Could it be possible that this Quarian was a Shadow Broker agent? One that made a deal with the Alliance to discredit a well known and respected Spectre for some unknown shared agenda by forging evidence against him? Would it be any surprise considering the underhanded and vagrant nature of the Quarian people? The fact Shepard associated himself with their kind only proves further how truly unqualified he was for the Spec-"

A fist slammed down on the console's keyboard in anger, stopping the video instantly. Shepard breathed in and out of his nose rapidly, fuming at this so-called documentary and that self-indulgent unabashed Saren Fanboy of a Narrator.

"Fucking god damn separatists," he growled "not enough to hate on the Turian Hierarchy ya gotta admire a rogue spectre who killed countless people."

Shepard removed his fist from the now cracked keyboard on his monitor. He was gonna need to get someone to fix it, again. He fell back into his chair as he looked around his quarters and back to the large screen that was now blocking his model ship collection, the image frozen on what was his own face.

He knew he shouldn't have watched this, especially now. But something compelled him to look at it. He had heard about "Saren: A Hero Betrayed" from Donnelly and Garrus down in engineering one day. The engineer and Turian were talking about this movie a bunch of Saren's admirers and supporters had made in an effort to discredit Shepard and boost up their hero's name. They had watched it out of curiosity, both of them were appalled. They were talking about all the inconsistencies of the movie when Shepard had overheard them. His curiosity had been peeked and he inevitably ended up downloading it off the extranet. He turned it off long before it even got to the part that talked about him. The moment it started claiming how the Alliance had it in for Saren ever since he had "proved" humanity wasn't ready for the Spectres the first time they had tried to get someone recruited was enough to piss him off. This second viewing was even worse, because it was dragging Tali's name through the mud as well as his.

The part that was nagging at him at the moment was that they had brought up Elysium. As if they were qualified to judge him on that. They weren't there. Only he could judge himself on his actions during that battle, it wasn't their place to do so. The fact their conclusions and his on the Skyllian Blitz were similar though, that was the most depressing. It was almost as if they had made that scene just for him alone to see. Just so they could point a finger at him and the mistakes he made during the defining mission of his life. His first command, his first failures and triumphs on his own merits, the producers of this hack cinema piece were drudging them all up to smear him with it. And the worst thing, a part of him agreed in some way.

He went for the drawer next to him. Inside was a small bottle of bourbon he'd been saving.

"Tali would kill me if she knew I still had some of my stash left." He thought

She'd be right to. He had promised he was going to give up the hard liquor. He was a recovering alcoholic. He knew this was not the time to go back on the sauce. That he'd be disappointing everyone if he did. But right now that promise was starting to waver in the face of everything. He was feeling stressed beyond measure, his team was getting disgruntled and they had been drafted into a military just so they'd be easier to spy on.

Now some nosy doctor wanted him to talk to her. He had a suspicion it had something to do with biotics, she had made explicit reference to it after all. He did not like the idea of being interrogated, but Halsey also said he'd be able to ask his own questions. Maybe it would be best not to think of this meeting like an interrogation. Still, he couldn't help but make the comparison.

Why not give them the satisfaction at this point? Let go of sobriety for an hour or two just to spite the doubters back in his universe. Maybe they were right all along anyway. Maybe he wasn't cut out for this job after all.

He went for the lid, but hesitated. Perhaps this would make him feel better, just to give in. He originally just kept this as a reminder of his mistakes, proof he could fight the temptation. That's what he told himself. Giving in to the temptation now, he knew he'd feel horrible later for it.

Suddenly there was a knock on his bulkhead door, and Shepard scrambled to put the bourbon back in its hiding place.

"Come in!" he called

As the doors opened in stepped in Yeoman Kelly Chambers, her red hair sticking out like a thumb among most of the regular crew members. Her usual perky smile though was a bit more sullen as she walked in.

"Hello Commander." She greeted "Feeling well?"

Shepard sighed, he had a feeling as to why she was here. It had been a few hours since he last saw the crew, during their meeting concerning the Covenant tech they had technically "stole" from the battlefield. No one really condemned the action, but they all made reference to how it was uncharacteristic of him. Even Jack said she was a bit shocked. Kasumi seemed a bit surprised she hadn't thought of it first. Miranda for her part thought the action was pretty risky and everyone agreed considerably with her, even Jack. It was suspicious behaviour that Ackerson could potentially use against them if he ever found out. Holland certainly would have a million questions as to why they weren't informed.

Shepard told them all he understood, but he thought it was worth the risk if it helped them find out what the Covenant had been doing in their universe. They all left, voicing concern nonetheless. Someone, probably a certain Quarian, sent Kelly up to check up on him.

"Did Tali ask you to visit?" he asked somewhat upset

Chamber bit her lip and shook her head.

"Actually it was Tali, Miranda and Garrus who all asked me to come up." She explained

Great it was a conspiracy then, Shepard thought as he let out an exasperated sigh.

"Fine, I guess while you're here I can at least ask for a status report." He said as he got up from his desk and walked over to the couch in the corner, Kelly following closely. "How's the crew holding up?"

"Better than you'd imagine." Kelly replied "Gardner is hoping that we won't have to worry too much about the dextro-amino acid based food supply for awhile. He's having difficulty trying to figure out how to explain the situation to the UNSC rationing board. Which, he's pissed off about having to go through now because we're under their jurisdiction. Hawthorne really wants to get a hand on one of those hand-cannons he's seen some of the UNSC troopers using."

"So he's a jarhead no matter the universe." Shepard said bemused as he sat down.

Shepard thought it was some kind of protective complex, a few of the crew members still laughed about his attempt to help Joker during the Collector's abduction of the crew. It lasted about five seconds before he got punched in the nose and thrown to the floor. At the time it was scary, in hindsight hilarious.

"Joker seems to be taking things in stride, as usual." Kelly continued "Rest of the crew are mostly just curious about this place, worried about if we'll ever get home, but they're behind you nonetheless. Oh and last I heard Grunt and Thane have been recovering nicely."

Well at least there was some good news today. That took the pressure off Shepard's mind a bit. Still he laid his head back on the sofa in preparation for the rapid fire questionnaire to come. Same routine as always, Kelly would get out her omni-tool's note function, sit down with her legs crossed and start playing shrink. At least he didn't have to pay her extra for the service... not that any of them were being paid since quitting Cerberus.

"So enough about them for now, how are you feeling?" she asked as she sat down, legs crossed omni-tool at the ready

"I'm fine," Shepard lied "couldn't be better."

"You're not acting fine." Kelly pried "You've been rather aloof and disgruntled since you got back from Sword Base."

"I'm getting blackmailed by some reclusive Doctor I've just met today and some of the people on my team are acting like they're frickin' Blasto the Hannar Spectre." Shepard explained growling "So yeah, I guess I ain't doing so hot. Ya got me there."

Kelly typed something down her Omni-Tool as she continued the session, she kept her professional demeanour throughout. Shepard respected that, he wasn't exactly being very polite during this session and he knew it. Still didn't stop him from hating it.

"The mission does have everyone on edge." She told him "Wormholes, alien religious extremists, its understandable there would be some stress concerning the people involved."

"I don't need people acting like heroes on my behalf Kelly." Shepard responded "I need them acting like soldiers here. Grunt's lucky to be alive. Thane's lucky I'm letting him off so easy. Don't get me started on Miri and Jack, they can't stop bitchin' for a damn moment."

"And you?"

Wade admitted he walked right into that one. No matter how hard he tried to deflect this conversation onto others Kelly was gonna keep it centered on him.

"I'm just stressed out a bit okay." Shepard responded defensively "Too much shit piling up on my shoulders is all."

"That's not the whole story Shepard," Kelly told him with a concerned look "if it was then the people who care about you wouldn't be so worried. You lock yourself up here for hours, doing who knows what. You shout at the crew like a drill sergeant when they screw up whereas before you'd be firm but less aggressive in your reprimands. More often than not you'd try to reach an understanding and be diplomatic."

Shepard just turned his head to side, glowering at the floor.

"So I snapped, I think I had a right too given the situation."

Kelly wasn't dropping it though. She knew something was wrong, and Shepard wasn't doing a good job hiding it.

"Tali told me you're still having the nightmares." She said, concern in her voice still present and growing "Are they getting worse?"

Trapped now, with no real response to that question, Shepard relented.

"Yeah I guess." He said solemnly "Harbinger and Sovereign have been added as running commentary. They mix their little threats and lectures together. Soon enough it's hard to distinguish who is who. Although Sovereign's voice will always be a bit deeper I guess."

"What else happens?" Kelly asked pleadingly "You can tell me."

Shepard turned to look back at Kelly, taking a deep breath.

"I'm seeing them die in succession now." He explained "They either get turned to Husks or... worse. Garrus bleeds out and Husks starts eating him. Mom gets turned into goo and absorbed into the human Reaper. Tali melts away in my arms screaming. If I don't wake up in a cold sweat gasping for breath because I'm screaming so loud at that point I do when it's my turn to get turned."

Kelly, now shaken a bit turned to her omni-tool once more, adding to her notes quickly.

"Your fear of losing them all," Kelly began "it's becoming stronger. Tali's especially from the sound of it."

"Well duh Kelly I figured that out." Shepard responded dismissively

"But I don't think it's about losing her to the Reapers is it?" Kelly asked in follow up, ignoring the crass remark "Things haven't been going too smoothly from what I understand."

Shepard sat upright abruptly.

"What? No we're great! Everything's wonderful! Couldn't be happier!" He declared adamantly "What makes you-"

"I can see it in Tali's body language Shepard." Kelly told him sternly "Don't act like you don't. You can read better than I can."

Shepard flopped back down onto his elbows. Right now he wished his initial feelings, that Kelly was a bit of an airhead, were true. He hated being psycho-analysed.

"When's the last time you two actually took time out for yourselves?" she asked

"My love life-"

"When Shepard?" Kelly insisted

"After the Suicide Mission I guess." He relented with a great sigh.

Kelly shook her head. That had been at least over a month ago.

"I've been busy!" Shepard was quick to add in his defence "I just got hit with the full-scale of what we're facing. I had things to prepare, I needed to be ready. We all need to be ready."

"You can only do so much to prepare," Kelly told him "you're only one man."

"Yeah the one man outside this ship who's been actively trying to stop this invasion!" Shepard shouted as he stood up and began to pace around the room "Anderson is on the Council and even he's getting stone-walled! I know Admiral Hackett at least has been keeping the Alliance off my back so I can do my job! Wrex is getting his people ready, but it's hardly gonna be a game changer in the grand scheme of things! The Migrant Fleet is too busy with their own politics to worry about the coming apocalypse! And Liara is sifting through the Shadow Broker's files as fast as she can but she's only one woman! And I can't reach any of them period now cause I'm stuck here!"

Shepard's rant finally petered out as he let out his breathed in and out slowly to calm himself. He turned back to Kelly and slowly walked back to the couch.

"I'm feel like I'm the only one doing anything Kelly." He explained sounding tired "I know you guys are trying to help, but at the end of the day I'm the one who runs this ship. If we aren't ready it's gonna be my fault not yours. On top of all that I got the Covenant running around back home and I'm not even sure why they're there or who is helping them get all this tech. It just doesn't leave much time for leisure is all."

Kelly placed a sympathetic hand on his shoulder from across the couch, catching his attention. As he turned she leaned back in her seat.

"I know it feels like it's a lot to take in," she told him "but you can't face this alone. You can't let all this keep you from living your life. You can't let it dictate your actions. You keep sheltering yourself off with all of this, avoiding Tali, this relationship won't last."

Shepard's head drooped close to his knees.

"I just don't know." He said seemingly confused beyond measure "I wanna spend time with her more, but I keep pushing myself away. She offers to watch Star Trek with me and I blow her off. Don't ask me why I did it, I don't know. It's more complicated than all that I think."

Kelly didn't add to her notes, but her voice dipped to a serious tone as she responded to the Commander.

"Shepard you're gonna have to ask yourself," Kelly told him with a caring expression on her face "do you love her?"

"Of course I do." He responded fervently as he turned his head to her "More than anything."

"Then you need to prove that to her." She told him sternly "And not just by saving her constantly when things go wrong in a fight. You need to let her back in. Or you're going to lose her. She needs to know you'll let her be there for you."

Shepard knew Kelly was right, his head knew it, his heart knew it. But he wasn't sure if he could let her in, if it was right to dump all this on to Tali. He just wasn't sure if it was fair to burden her with all his doubts and fears. Kelly was right though. He'd have to settle it eventually. Maybe he'd see about it tomorrow, when he had the time.

* * *

><p><strong>July, 26<strong>**th****, 2552**

"Authorities still refuse to comment on the exact nature of Reach's off-world communications problems which are widespread across the planet." Said the news anchor on screen "However in a press conference today, UNSC military officials have said a small insurrectionist force is active in the region. To prevent communication with any other cells outside of Eposz on other parts of Reach and block the insurrectionists off from further orders, the military has sanctioned a communications blackout as well as a planet-wide no fly order to prevent any potential escape. It is-"

The screen flickered off as Holland pressed down hard on the remote's button.

"You honestly think people are gonna buy this?" he asked as he turned to Ackerson

"The public will believe what it wants to." Ackerson informed him "We can't have Winter Contingency become public knowledge for the time being. We don't even know if this invading force is that big anyway, it could be just a raiding party. If that's the case than we'll isolate them and cut them out like the tumour they are. We don't need to institute widespread panic to do that."

Holland and the other Joint Chiefs, as well several assembled Admirals and Generals from the Navy and Army had assembled in a small meeting room within an underground ONI facility, somewhere in Eposz. The Joint Chiefs of Staff had called the meeting to properly discuss their response to the Covenant invasion. As well as Ackerson's apparent desire to not inform the civilian population of the fact Winter Contingency had been declared.

His reasons were more self-serving than noble, and everyone knew it. They were trying to ring it out of him.

"Don't you think the public has the right to know what we're dealing with here?" Holland asked

"I think they'd prefer to be blissfully unaware of the fact they're facing annihilation don't you?" Ackerson asked "Insurrectionists are bad but at least they don't glass planets."

"They're also not here." Added one of the admirals "For all we know the Covenant are sending assault carriers by the bushel to do just that, how's your communications block out going to hide that little factoid from the populous when it becomes apparent?"

"By that point gentlemen I think it will be too late anyway." He replied "The ruse will have served its purpose."

Holland stood up abruptly from his chair in anger.

"And what is that purpose Ackerson?" he demanded to know

"Operation: Red Flag gentlemen, or have you forgotten?" the ONI colonel informed them all "Our best shot to win the war cannot be impeded in any capacity. My superiors have instructed me to make sure this plan goes according to the letter. We can NOT be obstructed. Not now. Not at this critical phase. The Spartan IIs are arriving in a matter of weeks. The Pillar of Autumn is not far ahead. I will not have this opportunity wasted. They must not become aware of the fact that the Covenant are on Reach."

"Because no doubt they'd want to get involved hmm?" Asked one of the Generals as he drummed his fingertips "We could use some more Spartans in my opinion."

Ackerson eyed the General with displeasure.

"You wanna throw resources away on killing a small raiding party? Be my guest, meanwhile it would be in the interests of all humanity to stay the course we have decided upon." Ackerson informed him "We keep this quiet, we keep this low key. We continue this operation as planned while our other operations clear Reach of hostiles in relative peace. No media attention, no trigger happy locals running into the fray-"

"What about evacuation?" asked Admiral Gravelston, finally speaking up at long last "If a Covenant fleet is on its way we need to get as many people off this rock as we can afford."

Ackerson refused to budge as he now gave the stink eye to the admiral.

"There is no evidence to suggest that Gravelston." He replied "We must act on the information available. We have detected no large ships in the vicinity of Reach, it must be a smaller force that's here. We can handle it. We do not need to throw people into the meat grinder on this one. Now is the time for precision gentlemen not a blunt instrument. Evacuations would eat up resources needed for the operation. For now it's safer for them all to remain anyway. If the Covenant followed one of those ships back to Earth-"

"You do not need to remind us of the Cole Protocol Ackerson." One of the Joint Chiefs, General of the Army Mathias Abernathy, responded "We've all read it extensively. We also understand why you've put so much stock in Red Flag. We all hope it will succeed. If you feel that localizing the knowledge of Winter Contingency is best to keep this operation on track we will allow it. But we reserve the right to rescind the order if we deem it necessary. Also, we will call additional forces if the situation proves more dire than first imagined in an attempt to make sure Red Flag's resources are not used too greatly."

Ackerson merely nodded, probably thinking it was the best he was going to get. The room full of officers now turned to the other matter at hand, actually getting the Covenant off Reach. The importance of the task could not be understated. This was the last planet between the Covenant and Earth, if it fell there would be nothing left to stop them from reaching it. There were strongholds within the home solar system Sol that would slow them down but they could easily bypass them. Reach was the last real stronghold and the most important as it was supplying most of the ships and weaponry they needed to continue fighting.

Even if this was just a small raiding party, a fleet would come eventually. When it did they needed to be ready for it. They were caught unawares by this task force, but they had contingencies prepared for these occasions.

"We've already set in motion what we feel is our best option." Fleet Admiral Dresher of the Joint Chiefs began "A joint military operation that will penetrate into what we have dubbed the dead zone. Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine elements will all push towards the center of what is presumed to be their main base of operations. We take out their foothold, and the tumour, as Mr. Ackerson has called this incursion, will be cut out."

"What about civilians in the area?" asked a Marine General "Any word on them?"

"We can only presume most of them in the area are already dead." Holland replied, melancholy at the prospect. "Whoever is left alive is, unfortunately, on their own."

There was a sombre and depressingly silence within the room, more of their people dead they couldn't help even if they wanted to. If they went to the dead zone without knowing precisely what they were facing it was going to be massacre. They couldn't risk men for them.

"Let's hope there's a little bit of soldier in them then." Said Abernathy solemnly "In the meantime we'll need to gather up the necessary forces for the attack, and get proper reconnaissance of the area."

"Easier said than done," admitted General of the Air Force Andrew McCarran "Satallite imagery over the area is spotty at best and I'm not risking sending planes in. Our best advantage right now is that they don't know we know exactly where they are. If we get spotted they'll have time to prepare their defences more thoroughly. We need eyes on the ground to prepare for our assault. Locate anti-air batteries, troop strength and positions. Then we can call down airstrikes, MAC rounds if need be."

"We should also consider some of our more recent assets for the assault." Dresher pointed out "Ones with considerable advantages over our enemy. Commander Shepard and his crew of aliens, should we include them?"

Another awkward silence covered the room, followed momentarily by huddled whispers and grumbling between he assembled officers. Eventually Holland stood up.

"From what I understand Shepard's team played a significant role in saving Sword Base." He began "Noble Team can attest to their prowess and says Shepard's crew was instrumental to the base's defence. I'm also assuming, Fleet Admiral sir, that by advantages you are referring to some of the Normandy crew's seemingly psychic like abilities?"

The question was met with a nod from Dresher.

"Then I can confirm they are not rumours, they do possess these capabilities." Holland continued "Noble Team's report says these powers are called biotics, they utilize something called Mass Effect fields against enemies in various ways. The full extent of these powers is not known."

Adding to the conversation, Gravelston stood up quickly and offered his own knowledge of Biotic abilities.

"When Shepard was under my care he showed me a demonstration of his own powers." He began "I can attest that they are in fact unlike anything we have ever seen. Not even the Covenant would have an effective counter-measure to this."

The Joint chiefs all looked seemingly intrigued by this news. The confirmation of the existence of these powers only led them to the conclusion that Shepard's team, while still suspicious nonetheless, could be useful to them in this assault and beyond.

"Do we know how these abilities are acquired?" asked McCarran to both Holland and Gravelston

"I sent a message to the Commander," Holland replied, seemingly disgruntled "asking him for that very information. His reply was 'Don't bother. You don't have the time.' He didn't specify exactly what he meant."

Grumbling among the officers broke out once more before Abernathy called them back to the subject at hand.

"Shepard may indeed have a point, we'd need a list of candidates and people to properly train a force of these soldiers. We don't even know if this ability can even be obtained period by us. It could be a fluke of birth or genetic tampering with alien biology." He explained stoically "In any case the matter at hand is getting the Covies off this planet. If we can't make our own 'biotics', as they're called, then I suggest we use Shepard's men instead."

Ackerson was the first to stand up and protest the notion.

"You're not honestly going to trust them to get involved in this sensitive operation?" he asked lividly, receiving cold stares from each of the Joint Chiefs.

"We need all the assistance we can get for this assault Ackerson." Dresher reminded him "We can't play kid gloves now, not with defending Reach. You worry about Red Flag and keeping the local populous of this planet in the dark for now. Our concern lies with actual military operations. Rogue element or not, Shepard is an asset we are not going to neglect as long as he cooperates. So far he has."

"The the Normandy and its crew are too great an advantage to squander, despite our suspicions of their origins." McCarran added "We will use them as we see fit and deal with them ourselves shall their usefulness be put into question."

"Just as we do with you Colonel." Abernathy added "Never forget that."

Ackerson slumped back down in his chair. As the officers continued their little pow-wow without his interruption he sat and stewed. He hated being neglected by these people. They didn't understand how truly important he was. How they all needed him more than Shepard's band of merry xenos. He was still angry over the way they had shut down his attempt to strip the Normandy and whatever weapons it had for parts. Now they would have to negotiate and trade tech with Shepard when they could've got it free. And Shepard, that smug arrogant little bastard with his stupid looking non-regulation facial hair, he couldn't let him get away with mocking him.

He needed to by-pass this little roadblock they set up, a way to get Shepard back for trying to stifle his efforts designs. To convince these pompous Joint Chiefs they still needed him. Perhaps the answer lay in these biotics they were so fond of.

* * *

><p>The Hunter armour had been laid out on the table for all to see. Tali and Mordin were presiding over it on one side of the slab, their many examination tools nearby, and Shepard on the other side looking down at the piece of metal that had so intrigued them. After a full day of running diagnostics, examinations, observations, test and various experiments they had finally seemingly cracked what they were dealing with. It was relatively easy to do so, since their suspicions were confirmed. They had seen this before.<p>

"So it really is the same armour the Colossus on Haestrom had?" Shepard asked

"Yes and no," Mordin replied "similar but highly different in function. Also improved design, possible addition of pre-existing Covenant technology into Geth technology. Most ingenious. Jumbled mess of technologies. No doubt difficult to interface. Clever nonetheless."

Mordin's usual excited attitude helped the point somewhat get away from the professor. That was why Tali was here, not just to help but to get things back on track when needed. He looked to her and she quickly filled in the gaps Mordin hadn't exactly filled.

"It runs on a similar nanotech principle to the Colossus." She began slowly, but with reverence for the material in front of them nonetheless "Tiny little machines repairing damaged material at a lighting fast pace. But whereas the Colossus repaired damage to its synthetic body and shields, this armour's repair protocol fixes organic flesh. It mends damaged tendons, speeds up the regeneration process. As long as the damage isn't more extensive than the Hunter can handle it can survive. So using hand-cannons and shotguns won't work so well, as we saw when we fought it."

That meant the Hunter was inevitably tougher to kill, like a Vorcha on steroids and with a really big ass gun on its arm. Just what I always wanted, Shepard thought to himself disgruntled.

"And the shield?" he asked

"Tech from this universe," Mordin explained enthusiastically as he pointed at a large oval shaped device attached to the inside of the armour "an over-shield if you will. Similar in design to the one you encountered in fight with Shadow Broker, but looking through UNSC archives discovered truth. Armour upgrades used by both Elites and Spartans, involve covering wearer with protective shield when crouched. Invulnerable during period of activation. Impossible to penetrate. Integrated into regeneration protocol systems of this armour to keep Hunter from sustaining further damage during procedure."

Shepard had to admit, Mordin was right to call this ingenious. Of course the Geth did half the work, they just reverse engineered it somehow to be used with organics. Probably involved changing the nanotech's programming. Whatever the case, their suspicions were confirmed. The Covenant were stealing tech from their universe.

"This just reinforces the dire situation we're in." Shepard said as he eyed the armour, incensed at what it represented. An enemy that was different yet using the familiar to try and kill his people. Using his universes' tech to try and kill his crew "We're in an arms race here. We've delayed it long enough, we start upgrading today."

"Agreed." Mordin answered quickly "Suggest looking into armour ability nodes. Like the one on Hunter. As well as weapons. Give to Jacob. More than qualified to adapt them into current systems."

It was a start at least. Shepard knew they were gonna need more than that to take the Covenant down. So far their biggest advantage was biotics. Maybe the UNSC had a way to boost their powers. Even so Shepard would have to be careful when approaching them about it. Also the Hammerhead could use a few extra weapons. If he missed anything about the Mako it was the machine gun they packed along with the cannon. Surely the UNSC could spare something like the Gauss cannon he saw in combat yesterday. Properly installed it could be exceedingly effective. Bigger explosive rockets and missiles wouldn't hurt either.

Shepard wasn't ruling out the possibility of using the slug and bullet based weapons of the UNSC to better effect though. As long as they found a way to upgrade them, maybe they could add extra kick to the technically more primitive firearms. No doubt the UNSC also had some heavy weapons they could share as well. Overall it depended on how much they wanted his own guns. He briefly thought about bringing out the Cain to show off, but he honestly wondered if he could properly demonstrate it without killing somebody.

He turned to Tali, still thinking about what Kelly had told him, shifting the conversation to matters related to the ship.

"Holland pulled some strings, he's giving us a slipspace drive as I requested." He told her "We're gonna need it now that there are no Mass Relays to propel us around the galaxy like we're used to."

Tali looked at Shepard wide-eyed, if it weren't for her mask her mouth would probably be hitting the floor, so to speak. New technology, new ship technology in the form of a portable mass relay so to speak. She had hoped she'd get it, but she never thought it would be this soon. Shepard smiled as he saw the look on Tali's face brighten up in front of him. A nice change from when last he saw her and she was looking rather discontented. It was good feeling to know he could still make her smile.

"Surprised we got it as quickly as we did." Tali said astonished

"Holland said it wouldn't matter," Shepard explained "Covenant ships are faster than the UNSC's. Their slipspace generators are superior, so even if we were planning to double cross him the Covenant wouldn't bother taking our info. He's kinda hoping we can also bring our own technology to bare, make their slipspace tech better so to speak. Another reason we got it so quick. He also said something about even if it was somehow better than theirs they wouldn't take it anyway."

This caught everyone a bit off guard, confused as to why Holland was suggesting the Covenant would pass up on stealing human tech that could be seen as better.

"Why'd he say that?" Tali asked

"Didn't specify, said I should just read the Covenant files." Shepard answered "In any case it's also why we're getting new shielding. We should be able to absorb the plasma bolts better this time. No more scalding on the armour and no need to worry about a direct hit vaporizing us completely. Well, for at least one direct hit. We're still a tiny ship compared to what the Covenant has. Miniscule even. It's better if we try to rely on stealth systems if we can. See if we can interface our own shields with their upgrades, make them stronger."

Shepard picked up the Hunter armour and eyed it more closely, creasing his finger along the edge.

"We're also getting re-fueled and re-supplied. Along with other ship upgrades coming in. May even get tougher. slihgtly bigger thrusters to accommodate for the new gas." Shepard explained matter of factly "Hear it packs a wallop, very potent, but it's the closest approximation to the stuff we use back home. I'd like to have a good supply of it to last us a while Or we could always see how good their helium -3 supply is and mix it with hydrogen or vice versa. Which ever is more viable. Also they said something about coolant too, not sure they gave me a big old list of potential re-supplying and re-fitting options. Go through them with the engine crew see what works best."

Tali nodded in compliance, eager to get started on the upgrades herself. She had a nagging question though.

"Where will you be?" she asked, hoping the answer did not involve the Captain's quarters again, doing who knew what.

Shepard only sighed as he placed the armour down and began walking to the door.

"First I'm gonna see Grunt down at Medical." He explained sounding frustrated "Hear Chakwas is finally gonna let me see him. Then it's off to Sword Base, and Halsey."

The last word in that sentence sounded more disgruntled and angry than anything else had during the conversation. Shepard did not like the prospect of this coming meeting. No one did.

"Why give her the satisfaction?" Tali asked in a fervently disgusted tone at the mention of the mysterious doctor "She's blackmailing us. You're not one to give into demands that easily."

"When we're hanging by a thread I don't have a choice." Shepard admitted to her as he turned back "I may not like ONI or this Halsey character, but I don't wanna make them enemies. That and I should at least hear her out, who knows maybe she'll actually give us something to use instead of stonewalling us. Besides, I have to come clean about the Hunter armour at some point. Might as well be to the one person outside this ship who knows I have it."

Shepard continued walking out of the room, only looking back to talk to Tali once more.

"Slipspace Generator arrives in less than an hour." He told her with a smirk "Try not to salivate all over it okay? You'll drown yourself in your helmet I'd imagine."

Shepard left, leaving Mordin and Tali alone. The Salarian stroked his chin.

"Making sarcastic comments. Jokes. Humor." He noted "Improvement in personality from yesterday. Definitely more at ease. Possibly needed moment alone to calm nerves."

Tali was happy that Shepard seemed a bit more like his old self just now, but she couldn't agree fully with the professor.

"I don't know," she responded solemnly, a bit of concern in her throat "it sounded a bit forced."

Mordin's words hadn't meant to be discomforting, but there was also something else the Salarian had said that had brought her unease. She didn't voice her problem with the Professor's choice of words, but "Moment Alone" implied moment without her. Her stomach crumpled up at the thought, her joy at the prospect of Slipspace technology diminished.

* * *

><p>Grunt felt angry, but only at himself. A Krogan super soldier bed ridden this long, pathetic. He hated every moment Chakwas forced him back down to the slab in the past two days. Threatening him not with sedation but getting the Commander to come down. Grunt always complied after that. He didn't want to face his battlemaster. Shepard was human, but he demanded respect. And obedience. He had been given neither at Sword Base.<p>

The Krogan looked to the side and saw Chakwas talking with Shepard. He didn't look as mad, but knowing his battlemaster that could change on the fly given the situation. He thought he could hear Chakwas tell the Commander to "Go easy on him" and "He needs rest right now."

Both suggestions disgusted Grunt, he deserved no pity, not now. He had been coddled enough already.

Shepard stepped up to the wounded tankborn Krogan as Chakwas walked off to give them privacy. There was a long silence as Shepard stared at Grunt in the med-bay. The Krogan kept avoiding eye contact.

"Well," Shepard began, sounding rather mockingly sarcastic in his tone "what did we learn yesterday?"

Grunt gave no answer, not even a grumble of discontent. Shepard just marched in front of him, forcing the Krogan to at least stare at him in the chest.

"Well I'll tell you what we learned." He began to lecture, keeping his sardonic tone all the while, as if he were a disappointed parent to their shamed failure of a child.

Grunt didn't argue. After all, it was what he deserved to be addressed as. He probably deserved lower though.

"We learned that blood rage does not equal invincibility." The Commander continued "We also learned that it's best to listen to the Salarian doctor who knows your biology better than you do. And finally we don't charge head long into the gaping maw of a walking tank armed with a plasma cannon in one hand and a metal slab it uses as a billy club in the other."

Grunt still didn't answer, accepting the listings of his mistakes and failures during the fight. Accepting he had lost control. He wasn't accepting so far of Shepard being so lenient. Why wasn't he punishing him more? His battlemaster provided the answer.

"I'm not gonna reprimand you," Shepard assured him "I think you getting your pride being hurt is punishment enough. That and you probably already feel like shit and are regretting your actions anyway, like any true Krogan would in this situation."

"I deserve a greater punishment Battlemaster." Grunt argued "My pride besmirched your honour and that of my krant. "

"It was blood rage, the plasma got to your organs, and they got burnt." Shepard assured him "It happens to all Krogan eventually. How you avoided it for this long, I'm honestly shocked. In time you'll learn to control it."

Grunt still didn't feel it was right to get off this easy. Krogan who disappointed their battlemasters tended to receive some kind of harsh punishment. Battle plunder would be taken from them, they would lose breeding rights for a few days or weeks, their flesh would be marked or scarred deeply, sometimes they'd be thrown into a varren pit and required to fight their way out to prove their worth. Surely he deserved some kind of similar treatment for his actions.

"My actions were foolhardy and stupid," Grunt responded "I was a wild mindless animal, a rabid dog as you said. I deserve some form of punishment."

Shepard turned back to Grunt, he sighed exasperated. There was no sense in arguing with the Krogan, he'd probably just punish himself if he didn't.

"Fine," Shepard began "I'm confining you to the ship so you can reflect further on your actions. That good enough?"

Grunt just nodded, he hoped the discussion would end there. But Shepard was a talkative human, it rarely ever did just end with him. The Commander pulled Chakwas' chair and sat in front of the tankborn Krogan.

"Thing is though I think it was more than just blood rage." He admitted "You lost your self-control, but plasma burnt hearts and lungs alone didn't make you try to pound that Hunter's face in. Mind telling me what's wrong?"

Grunt looked away once more from Shepard, refusing to make eye contact.

"No, nothing." He said shakily "I have clan, food and enemies to fight. I am content. We went over this before."

"That was then," Shepard reminded him with a stern look "lately though you've been a bit more mouthy than usual. First you're arguing with Gardner over Ryncol. Next you're rushing down an alien ship's corridors to tear apart the highest ranking bad guy in the room. Even under blood rage you rush in to try and kill the biggest threat on the field. You're getting antsy Grunt, I can tell."

Grunt didn't answer at first, but despite his savage nature even knew lying to your battlemaster was dishonourable. He supposed he was trapped now anyway as Chakwas refused to let him leave the med-bay till tomorrow.

"I must pull my weight Shepard." He explained "Battle demands I prove myself. I must push myself."

"Why?" Shepard asked, requiring clarification.

"It was why I was made," Grunt responded quickly, finally turning to look at Shepard "and also how I was made."

Shepard slinked back into his chair, he'd let Grunt say his piece. He didn't need to pry, the Krogan was willing enough to open up to him. He'd let Grunt explain.

"I was created to be strong, most Krogan from the day they are born must struggle and fight and claw their way to where I am now." He said as he stared at his battered hands "Even the other tankborns needed to. They were weak, I know that. Not perfect, not as strong as me. But what strength they did have was earned nonetheless."

This conversation sounded familiar to Shepard.

"I thought you had gotten over this after your rite." He said confused "That you were okay with how you came to be."

"That was not the same. I lacked purpose and direction." Grunt corrected them "That was why I was angry. Now that I know that purpose I feel I must live up to it."

"How hard can it be?" Shepard asked with a smirk "You were designed by Okeer to be perfect remember?"

"Designed is to be given, true respect is earned." Grunt explained, groaning as he stood up from his bed and slowly marched over to the nearby window.

He looked out on the kitchen and dining table, the hallway leading to the gunnery bay. But more accurately it was more like he was staring out into nothing.

"Krogan born on Tuchanka must fight through trials and tribulations for years, earning scars and battle trophies long before they participate in the rite of passage, the ascendance to adulthood." Grunt continued, sounding rather melancholy at it all "I was born on a garbage world in a tank, and my first battles involved tearing apart mercenary bands and pirates on distant worlds. Inside stations, clean halls and where luxuries that exist nowhere on Tuchanka reside in droves."

"They were still good fights weren't they?" Shepard asked "Like Horizon, and Purgatory."

Grunt nodded briefly, but did not turn his gaze back to his commander.

"They were good fights, but they were nothing compared to what occurs on Tuchanka." Grunt clarified "It is said the warlord Kradoc on a hunt once wrestled a wild pack of Varren, only ceasing when he killed the Alpha and ate his heart. He was still young, had not taken the rite. That was one of his first true tests, one that was earned. But my strength and prowess are all borrowed and taken from the efforts of others. I have not had to grow up on Tuchanka. The respect is not earned."

Shepard did not seem to agree on how Grunt was underselling himself. Was he forgetting all they had accomplished? All they had done together?

"We killed a damn thresher maw during your rite!" Shepard told him, practically shouting his head off in disbelief at all he was hearing "You got a dozen or so breeding requests! How does that not translate to respect?"

"That does not mean my origins will be overlooked." Grunt responded as he turned to Shepard, a glum look on his face "I've spent more time offworld in my entire life than most Krogan. My birthplace isn't even on Tuchanka as others who left and returned can at least attest to. Killing the thresher maw did earn me accolades, but it is precarious veneration nonetheless. I have purpose among the Krogan, to help Clan Urdnot and Clan leader Wrex achieve its goals. Somewhat parallel to Okeer's, but less underhanded, tyrannical, ruthless and insane. To unite the Krogan, to return us to glory. To survive."

Shepard was finally getting it now. If having Wrex as a ship mate once taught him anything, top of the list was how Krogan worked.

"You feel like you need to keep topping yourself." Shepard realised "You want to take on the toughest asshole on the battlefield and tear him apart. You need to prove that killing the maw wasn't a fluke, that you are Krogan. Tankborn or otherwise."

Grunt nodded enthusiastically, he didn't need to add to the statement. He had laid it out pretty nicely. Shepard did add to the statement though.

"You don't need to prove anything to anyone," Shepard told him "least of all to this crew or Clan Urdnot. I know you're Krogan and I know for a matter of fact that Wrex does too. Shouldn't that be enough? Why go bloodlusting to get the respect of a few more hold-outs."

Grunt marched back to his bed and sat back down, his breathing becoming steady as he stared at his feet.

"A Krogan is measured by the strength of his enemies." Grunt reminded Shepard "That is what Urdnot Wrex told you. I must seek out foes that are stronger than me. I must prove to myself more than anyone else I earned my clan and my purpose."

There was no sense forcing the issue with Grunt, he got this idea into his head and it wasn't gonna leave anytime soon. It was Shepards place as battlemaster to try and help him, but that didn't mean he could provide the answer.

Shepard got up to leave giving Grunt a light punch in the arm.

"I don't want you to kill yourself trying to prove something you've damn well earned Grunt." Shepard told him "In time you'll see this isn't necessary. You don't have to keep testing your limits to prove you're Krogan. You've earned the right to call yourself that a thousand times over."

Shepard went for the door, as it slid open Grunt called out to him.

"You gonna give the Drell a lecture now too?" he asked

"No," Shepard replied, a bit disgruntled at the suggestion "I think Thane's problem is more complicated. I need to give him time for the moment. Right now, I need to go to my own appointed check up. Stay in med-bay till Chakwas says otherwise. That's an order."

Shepard left, leaving the Krogan to stare once more at his hands. Their bandaged and broken nature caused a frown to crawl across his face.

"Stupid and weak." He said to himself

The Krogan would need to figure this all out on his own, with any luck his battlemaster would be there to pick up the pieces from the inevitable fall.

* * *

><p>Kowalski and Ellingham, two marines who hadn't expected their stay on Reach to be an eventful one, that they'd end up guarding an ONI Base cause command called down for cavalry. The two were trying their best to fit in amongst the other GIs, but the facility's resident Trooper population was a bit of a worry.<p>

Troopers and Marines had always had a bit of rivalry. Back before the days of the UNSC, Army and Marine battalions always cracked jokes at each other's expense. Things hadn't changed much in the prevailing years. They had gotten pushed to the back of the line by Troopers that kept cutting them off. They both restrained themselves from making too much of a scene over it.

Still, the two had found other things to talk about besides unit rivalries. Specifically the 'unofficial' alien allies they had encountered yesterday.

"You know it's nice to not have to worry about the aliens trying to kill us for once." Ellingham mentioned enthusiastically "Helps that a number of them ain't too bad to look at."

"I only saw two female aliens among them." Kowalski told him, sounding more reserved "The other three were human."

"So what? They're all pretty hot anyway." Ellingham responded, cracking a smile "Hell I've never even seen a female alien throughout this war. It's refreshing to say the least."

Kowalski found an alleyway to make his own joke.

"Careful what you wish for pal, as butt ugly as the Elites are I'd hate to find out what their girls looks like." Kowalski laughed

Ellingham didn't really budge on the issue. In fact he turned it around on Kowalski.

"They probably look okay as long as they got a bag over their heads I figure." He suggested "Personally I think I'd prefer more of that blue chick's species. Especially if they all wear them V-Necks like her."

Kowalski just sighed, everything always came back to boobs and ass with Ellingham. He ignored it for the most part, but sometimes it was funny. As they finally exited out of the lunch line and into the mess hall they encountered another member of their unit, Corporal Pearson.

"Damn them troopers are pushy." He noted "They pull the same shit with you two?"

"More or less," Kowalski admitted "best just to ignore it I think. Blowing off steam what with the Covenant and all."

"Yeah I guess," Person agreed "so what we talking 'bout here?"

They didn't answer right away, after navigating to an appropriate table and sitting down Kowalski formally filled the Pearson in.

"Well Ellingham was comparing the blue alien that helped us out yesterday to the possible appearance of an Elite chick." Kowalski explained "Weird conversation I know, but Ellingham is a sick perverted fuck like that."

Ellingham just snorted at Kowalski as he began to dig in. Pearson however had now just been reminded he'd been sorta thinking about the same thing yesterday.

"Oh yeah, the blue babe with the mind powers," he noted "you know she gave me a bit of a brainstorm."

"Was that all she gave you?" Ellingham laughed

"Not the point, hear me out first alright!"

Kowalski rested his head on his fist, he figured this was gonna be good.

"Here's how I figure it, these aliens are uptight religious assholes right? And they ain't exactly lookers either." Pearson began "So I got to thinking, maybe this whole damn heretic thing is just a cover. Maybe they're jealous our chicks are better looking."

"I think you've been watching too many of them old sci-fi flicks from the 20th Pearson." Kowalski laughed

"No just think about it," Pearson continued unabated "you think they'd be so hot on killing us if they had some hot blue alien ass like that psychic babe we saw toss them grunts around? No I don't think they'd give a shit about us or their shitty religion. I'm telling you it's all about pussy, you want peace with these alien bastards? Grab some xeno hookers, drop'em on their home planet, no fucking war!"

"Interesting theory Pearson, why don't you tell the Covies that next time you have to blast their brains out?" Kowalski laughed.

Pearson, however remained remarkably serious about it all, despite the huge grin on his face. He was joined by a now cracking up Ellingham.

"Honestly it's lack of pussy that fucks races up!" Pearson insisted "They wouldn't care so much about coming over here and wrecking our shit if their leaders spent more time building up their pussy infrastructure instead of bopping around the universe looking for ancient techno-crap. They'd be a lot happier and less inclined to murder us."

Kowalski cracked a smile, but Ellingham... well it was a good thing he had already swallowed his food or he'd be choking. Unfortunately Pearson's lecture on his hypothesis for galactic peace through intercourse was interrupted when Kowalski eyed a seemingly unfriendly sight. Army Troopers coming right for them.

"Ah crap, troopers." He groaned "Probably about to read us the riot act."

"You'd think they'd be a bit more grateful." Ellingham added "Why bust our chops? What did we do?"

The troopers, three of them one a Corporal stopped in front of them, each of them with a smug smile.

"Well if it ain't a pack of Devil Dogs," said the Army Corporal cuttingly "chowing down on our hospitality as it were? What's a matter MRE's in the Marine Corps not good enough for ya? Need some real man's food or something?"

"Hey give us a break pal," Kowalski told him "we've had to deal with you jerks butting in line for the past hour. We're lucky this stuff is still warm."

"It ain't nothing personal pal," The Army Corporal assured "you guys ride in all of a sudden like the Lone Ranger and try and show us up after we're battling the Covies since wave one. You were second wave reinforcements. The guys just feel like blowing off some steam is all."

Ellingham stared up at the Troopers, feigning anger.

"We saved your asses you ungrateful grunt." He told him off "Thats more than what the Elites do for their own grunts. Mind showing us a bit more respect."

The Army Corporal just snorted as he and his buddies took up some chairs near them. They could now see his name tage more clearly, Daer.

"We didn't need any rescuing, we had them new guys from that ship they picked up helping out remember?" he reminded them "That and the Spartans came in to lend a hand. Don't give yourselves a pat on the back for other people's work man."

Kowalski had noticed they weren't bugging the Spartans for stealing their glory. Then again Spartans could and would break their necks, and they sure as hell wouldn't get called on it neither like the Marines probably would. Still, everyone was remaining civil for the most part, nothing to get riled over really, just some Troopers acting tough is all.

Pearson of course diverted the conversation away from the rivalry.

"You know we were just talking about the newcomers a bit," he said "Kowalski and Ellingham here saw them in action."

That got all three of the Troopers attention.

"Really? Damn, my unit got separated from them during the initial attack. Didn't get much of a chance to check them out." Daer admitted "You see the one with the catsuit?"

"Yeah, think she's named Miranda or something." Ellingham admitted

"Damn, I don't know what militia group she came from but if that's their standard issue uniform for female combatants I'm thinking maybe we should sign up." He laughed

Kowalski sometimes honestly wondered if everyone in the UNSC military was a sex deprived/crazed maniac now.

"You think they're from a militia group?" asked Pearson "What about the aliens?"

"Hell, my theory is they're all some kind of renegade cadre of former UNSC personnel." Daer explained "Decided to kick Covie ass on their own terms or something. Aliens, who knows, maybe they're reps of some species the Covenant don't like much either. They could be just one of a dozen cells for all we know. Big Galaxy out there."

"So what you trust them or something?" Ellingham asked

The Army Corporal swished his head side to side as he thought of his answer.

"Meh, I guess in a fight. I don't want them against me." he answered as he took in a breath through his nose "But renegades have a tendency to fly off the handle, do stupid shit, probably abandon the battlefield to pull off some stupid stunt of their own. Not very trustworthy in that sense are they? Still, I'm a sucker for the hot babes they got with them."

Truth be told, while Kowalski wondered if anyone wasn't horny as hell in this military he did understand why. Fraternization in combat was looked down upon and while they had been forced into the all branches of the UNSC military, woman soldiers were difficult to come by. They tended to get less physically demanding jobs, if any of them were Air Force for example they'd be swamped with female pelican and falcon pilots. Marines didn't get as many "chicks" so to speak.

Now they were getting a rather unexpected but not unwelcome sight of females jumping up to the frontlines. While their uniforms weren't regulation, for the moment, no one was complaining. Also the fantasy of every red bloodied Space Marine or Trooper was female aliens that actually both looked hot and weren't trying to kill them all. The blue woman with the psychic powers was like a silent prayer answered.

The brass probably wouldn't think much of the idea of cross-species relations, UNSC tended to be more xenophobic than anything. But whatever reservations the Marines and Troopers had about working with xenos, Kowalski knew that for a bunch soldiers who had been fighting an endless war for over two decades now, differing species didn't matter so much when hormones were concerned. A girl was a girl, no matter the color of the skin. Besides, it wasn't like any of them wanted to start a real relationship. That got complicated in their line of work anyway. Fantasizing about one-night stands wasn't gonna raise many eyebrows. Even then though, they knew the officers wouldn't appreciate human soldiers fraternizing with xenos. It would be career suicide, didn't stop them from dreaming though.

There were other obstacles however, as Ellingham pointed out.

"Let's be honest with ourselves, I think these girls are a bit out of our league." Ellingham told everyone

"Bullshit man, we're fucking Troopers. Speak for yourselves." Daer spat at them all "Maybe they're too much to handle for you guys, but us? Different story."

"I don't think we're that out of their league actually." Pearson protested "I think the bald chick with the tattoos would push us up against a wall just for the hell of it."

Kowalski shuddered a bit at the thought.

"That girl scares me," he said "During the courtyard fight before the Spartans arrived I saw her. Only briefly for like a second before we got pushed back. But it was her no doubt. She pulled some poor dumb Grunt's head off and started beating his buddies to death with it. Way too homicidal for my blood. The Psychic powers make me worry she'd break me in half before anything else."

"What about the alien wearing that space-suit?" Ellingham asked "She looked more stable and she's got a pair of rocking hips too. I'd think you'd stand a shot with her, she's probably not that high maitenance."

"Not much of a hip man to be honest." Kowalski admitted

Pearson stared off in one direction of the mess hall, a giant smile crossing his face.

"How you with girls that look like they got tentacles for hair then?" he asked

Everyone turned to where he was looking, eager to find out what the hell he was talking about. That's when they saw her, Samara, the blue alien woman they were all so hot to talk about. She was walking along the outside of the tables towards the lunchline, and she was getting stares all the way. But whereas most just took a look and went back to their food, Kowalski's little group was enthralled.

"What is she doing here?" Ellingham asked "You'd think they'd have food on their ship or something."

"Maybe she wants to try out human food." Said one of the troopers

"Well you could always ask her yourself." Pearson suggested in kind

The Troopers were quick to back off from the dare, fiddling in their seats slightly.

"Hey whoa man, we don't want rumours flying round about us being xenophiles, not in public at least." Daer protested "Besides, you all seem so big on proving you can actually play with the big boys, one of you go talk to her."

Now it was the Marines' turn to get cold feet. Talk to the powerful alien with the power to crush stuff with her mind? Sure she wasn't the bald girl with the similar powers but they were all wary of the prospect. They shot aliens, they didn't flirt with them. It was a new experience for them to say the least.

Of course it didn't stop Pearson from singling out one of his own.

"How about you Kowalski?"

The private sat up right in his chair a bit shocked at the suggestion.

"Me?" he said nervously "Why me? I've barely said anything about this stuff."

"Oh live the dream stick in the mud! Chances are you're gonna die in the next few days with the Covies planetside." Pearson reminded him "Bite the bullet and try, this ain't high school man. Stop acting like a freshman."

The Troopers for their part added their own two cents.

"Hell, I'd like to see how Marines pick up girls myself." Said Daer mockingly "Who knows, maybe I'll miraculously pick up a pointer or two, even broken clocks get something right twice a day right?"

Kowalski still said he wasn't sure, but before long the entire table was egging him on, chanting his name and pounding the table with their fists. Annoyed, and figuring if anyone was going to talk to the strange alien it might as well be him. The other alpha males around this place would probably just give her a bad impression of the corps. So, to much fanfare and shouts of "Atta Boy!" he stood up and headed back towards the lunch line.

On the way he thought over exactly what he was gonna say. His name of course, remind her about himself and the fact she saved his ass yesterday. That sounded like a good opener. He wondered though if in her culture she'd be offended by it somehow. Well he'd wing it from the opener he thought, ask the question as to why she was here when they were properly introduced.

As he approached he caught the tail end of the conversation she was having with the cook.

"I'm not sure exactly what you can eat to be honest." The cook said sheepishly, trying not to look to flummoxed about serving an alien.

"We are made of the same amino acids, I assure you." She said politely, yet emotionlessly it seemed "What would you recommend?"

The cook was a bit confused it seemed about the amino acid line, Kowalski himself was too. He never was one for chemistry or whatever class that stuff belonged in.

"Well, uh..." the cook answered "we got chicken. Well actually it's like emu or moa whatever. They farm'em all over Reach, we got the surplus. Not sure how good it is."

"It will be satisfactory, thank you." The alien woman replied humbly as the plate of bird meat passed onto her.

As Samara left the line she was confronted by Kowalski, trying his best not to fumble his words as he summoned up the courage.

"_Damnit,_" he thought "_you're a marine jackass act like it!_"

"Hi," he finally announced to a perplexed Samara "I'm Private Kowalski. Uh we sorta met yesterday in the courtyard, you saved my ass from a whole heap of grunts."

The Asari Justicar remained dignified and regal all the way, not even cracking a smile as she responded. But she didn't sound displeased, so Kowalski had that going for him he figured.

"Samara." She said simply and humbly "I remember you. You were part the ground team we encountered when we landed. It is good to hear that you are safe private and that my actions may have played a role."

"It was pretty badass how you sent them grunts flying." Kowalski added "Kinda wish I had superpowers like that sometimes."

Samara just nodded and began to walk away, but Kowalski kept in step beside her.

"So what brings you down to meet us regular rifleman exactly?" he asked "Ship too stuffy?"

"Actually I was here on official business." She explained "So far the greatest advantage my crew has is our biotic abilities. Commander Shepard has seen fit to request that a formal training area for me and the other biotically inclined members of the Normandy have a place to train powers outside the cramped quarters of the ship."

Well it made sense, you didn't want to bust a window in there did ya? So she wasn't here for the food alone, she came here only because a return trip would be too much of a hassle.

"So where'd they set you up?" he asked

"A damaged area of the base in need of repairs." She answered "It is not currently being used after what the Covenant did to it. I have already run a few simulations on the courses. They are intriguing, but could use a bit more... creative input."

Kowalski got what she was saying, he had run the obstacle courses before in boot camp. They weren't exactly fun, or entirely imaginative. Especially when he heard about ONI designing a good chunk of them, they always tried to find more efficient ways of training. All of them based on statistics and graphs it would seem,

"Probably just making you toss around barrels huh?" he asked "Sucks."

"You may come see for yourself." She told him, a slight smile on her face "The room is open for viewing by the garrison. There's nothing of any real value strategically to see so ONI doesn't feel like limiting the audience. They also said something about 'knowing who to hide behind in a fight' I believe."

"Cool," Kowalski said beaming brightly "me and some of my unit would probably enjoy that. Thanks for offering."

"The pleasure is all mine private." Samara assured "I feel honoured to demonstrate my abilities and have them appreciated by fellow warriors. You do not realise how few admirers an Asari Justicar tends to get, even for the secluded life we lead. It is an awfully lonely existence, it is refreshing to have that change."

Kowalski was a bit perplexed at what exactly an Asari Justicar was, but damn it if this woman wasn't actually giving him a chance to talk things out here. He wasn't about to let it pass up that quickly.

"What is an Asari Justicar?" he asked

"That is my species, Asari." Samara explained, her calm regal demeanour never wavering "Justicar is my, occupation if you will. I belong to a monastic order dedicated to preserving the cause of justice."

"You mean sorta like the Spartans?" Kowalski asked

He knew it wasn't entirely like that. Spartans weren't monks, and helping man survive was of greater importance than justice at times. Samara thought the comparison in her head for a moment before answering.

"Yes," she answered politely "I would believe that is a somewhat accurate correlation Private Kowalski. I look forward to hopefully seeing you and your comrades again. I will eat as quickly as I can before returning to training."

Kowalski looked down at the plate of Emu Meat Samara was carrying.

"You sure you wanna eat that?" he asked "I mean... it ain't exactly my idea of free range. I could probably scrounge up something better from the cook."

"A Justicar does not concern herself with such comforts." She explained "Our minimalist existence teaches us to appreciate what is offered and what we have. Not what we desire. But thank you for the offer. Safe travels Private."

With that Samara left and Kowalski let her go. As he walked slowly back to his fellow comrades he felt a slight bit of pride in himself. First contact with the alien visitors had actually gone well. For one, he came out without his brains scrambled. That was always a great indicator of a good conversation. As his fellow Marines congratulated him, he wondered a bit about the biotic training area. He was curious to know what else these people could do.

* * *

><p>Shepard at last came to the door of Doctor Halsey, after winding through corridors that seemed to stretch on forever. As the doors slid open upon his approach, Shepard got a glimpse at the Doctor's small office. There wasn't much around, it seemed to have been hastily set up. There some bookshelves, that were largely bare, a decent enough sized desk towards the back and a few decorative pictures of landscapes and some animals but nothing substantial like degrees or awards. He kind of expected to see that when he walked into a Doctor's office. Chances were, this was just a room she decided to use when she wasn't behind glass doing whatever.<p>

The real meat of this room actually lay on the desk. With several small screens pressed up against Halsey's face, Laptops and the like with several important notes and sciencey stuff on them no doubt. Shepard wasn't big on finding out what was on them to be frank. He wasn't here for idle chatter.

Halsey was sitting down, writing on paper, scanning the screens and all around looking particularly busy. She reach to the right and picked up a cup of coffee, which she just as quickly spat back into the cup and set down.

"Damn, gone cold again." She thought aloud. It was only now she noticed Shepard as she looked up from her screens. "Ah, Commander sit down please. We have much to discuss."

Shepard did as told, although he kept a rather disgruntled look on his face as he did. Halsey noticed his glowering stare and before he could say anything she produced a data disc. She placed it carefully in front of her and slid it over into Shepard's hand.

"Footage of your alien friend in the enviro-suit," she told him "taking the armour and placing it in a storage crate before helping it onto a shuttle. Rest assured it has been removed from the mainframe, that is the last copy. Although I'd strongly advise telling Holland what you have learned from the armour regardless."

Shepard pocketed the device in his N7 armour's storage compartment on his arm. Despite the fact he now didn't have to worry about being discovered before he was ready, he still wasn't happy.

"So do all doctors who work at ONI partake in blackmail?" he asked, his voice exceedingly disdainful.

Halsey appeared a bit annoyed at the accusation as she closed one of her laptop screens.

"I assure you Commander, this was not blackmail. I never intended to show the footage to anyone." She said in her defence "I believed you'd trust me more if you knew I was protecting you. Had I not intervened and stole the footage you would probably be in hot water with both of our superiors."

"You only did it cause you want something out of me." Shepard retorted bitterly "Like Ackerson does, except he's more direct about it."

Now it was Halsey's turn to be disgruntled and frustrated. She clearly did not appreciate Shepard's continued accusations.

"I don't like Ackerson anymore than you do Commander," she insisted "haven't you heard the proverb about the enemy of my enemy is my friend?"

"I've had to deal with someone who insisted that was the case once before ma'am." Shepard replied "Turned out trusting him was a mistake. Forgive me if I'm wary."

Halsey just shrugged, letting the accusations slip by the wayside. It was best to drop it, this wasn't why she wanted Shepard to speak with her.

"Perhaps then it would better if we were more open with one another then." Halsey explained "So as to better facilitate a sense of trust."

"Couldn't hurt." Shepard admitted "You want to ask me about my universe I guess?"

Halsey nodded, adding a slight smile to her face as she did.

"You are perceptive." She complimented "You tend to have us at a disadvantage you see, we're spending so much time telling you everything about this universe you haven't talked about your own at length."

Shepard cocked an eyebrow at this. That statement sounded like she actually believed the story he kept telling everyone about his crew.

"You playing into my delusions here?" he asked mockingly

"Please Shepard, I'm a scientist I follow the evidence where it leads me." She proclaimed "Aliens serving under a human officer, weapon systems unlike ours, psychic-like abilities, while outlandish your story holds up concerning the facts. The only option I have is to believe you."

"Well at least someone does." Shepard told her, his grimace fading into a more bland stare "So what do you wanna know?"

Shepard had a feeling the first question was going to pertain to the aforementioned psychic-like abilities. He was right on the mark.

"These biotics of yours," she began "what can you tell me of them?"

"Only that you shouldn't waste your time and you shouldn't really call them psychic abilities." Shepard assured her "If you wanna know how get them you can't. Only Asari, aliens back where I'm from, have a natural affinity for it. It's rarer in humans and other species."

Halsey leaned forward, seemingly intrigued. One hand was supporting her chin, the other a pencil on a paper.

"Explain why?" she asked

"Most human biotics got the way they are by being exposed to a certain element, one I don't think you're capable of collecting and won't be of any use to you even if you can collect it." He continued matter of factly "You have to get exposed to it while you're still in the womb and even then there's no guarantee. I don't think you have the time to raise up a biotic army with the Covenant so close to Earth as it were."

Halsey wrote it all down, but she looked just a tad bit disappointed. Perhaps, even a bit nostalgic for some reason.

"I see, unfortunate." She said in a low regretful voice. However she soon perked up once more. "And this element? What is it called?"

"I'd rather not say." Shepard responded flatly "Just know it's no good to you for your un-voiced intended purposes. You wanna use it? You're gonna have to work with us on it and use it for other things, like weapons and shields. Things you can practically use here and now."

"That requires us to have a similar level of knowledge about it you know." Halsey informed him rather plainly "In any case I'll explain this to my superiors. Nevertheless, watch your crew Shepard. People like Ackerson won't take this information at face value. They may try to harm your people in a futile attempt to gain these biotic powers."

Shepard appreciated the warning in all honesty. Considering the fact he had arranged for a biotic training ground to be set up at Sword Base temporarily that would be useful information to pass on to his friends. He didn't want any of them getting a knife in the back, especially when the motive behind it would be pointless anyway.

"Thank you I'll relay that to my team." He assured "But I think they can handle themselves. They won't let a bunch of underhanded secret agents outwit them."

"For their sake I hope they won't." Halsey added "Now, about your universe's system of government. Systems Alliance, is that similar to the UNSC structure?"

Shepard shrugged, he honestly didn't know the answer to that. He wasn't sure how the UNSC was structured at all.

"Well we still have individual nations on Earth," he said "but the prevailing governmental body is the Alliance. They manage the colonies, the stations the fleets. Sound familiar?"

"Very." Halsey confirmed "And considering you have a wide array of aliens aboard your ship I can only assume your first contact hopefully went better than ours."

Shepard rubbed the back of his neck nervously, sucking in air through his teeth as he did.

"Yeah, define 'better' would you?" he asked

Halsey pressed herself back in her chair, a bewildered look on her face.

"So it didn't go so well then?" she asked

"First aliens we met were Turians." Shepard replied quickly "they found us messing with a mass relay."

"Ah I read the report." Halsey cut in "the massive ancient constructs that propel you around the galaxy like a gunshot."

Shepard supposed that was accurate, of course right now he was glad he didn't let slip who built the things. Halsey probably would think he was crazy. Or maybe she'd be intrigued and ask even more questions, who knew?

"Pretty much, although I think it's faster than your Slipspace." Shepard argued "Drawback though is that you need to go to a relay to actually get anywhere. Which tends to mean we're relying on FTL drives to get around within clusters to different systems. As far as I know, your Slipspace drives are potentially faster than our FTL at least, and definitely more versatile and accurate."

"These mass relays sound a bit inconveniently placed." Halsey noted "If your system was to get attacked and the relay taken you would probably be trapped within your system at the enemy's mercy."

Shepard cringed a bit at the thought. If only Halsey knew how relevant that little tidbit was to their current situation back home. The Mass Relays were a part of the overall trap of the Reapers.

"Yeah," he said quickly deviating back onto the subject "anyway tampering with relays is a bit of a no-no among the aliens back home. We didn't know about that though. The Turians opened up, followed our ships back to the nearest colony planet Shanxi and bombed the living crap out of the place. We had to retake the colony after it surrendered, the war didn't spread further because the Asari intervened. Diplomacy won in the end, thankfully."

"Interesting response to such a peace treaty." Halsey noted sounding curious "Most Marines would want to take the fight to the Turian homeworld I'd imagine."

Shepard figured that was how they worked here, no one had stepped in to broker a settlement between Covenant and Human like they were lucky enough to get. Still, he didn't blame them considering the Covenant's motivation.

"Truth be told the whole war started and ended within a year. I was only three at the time." He explained "Don't really remember much about it. I think I spent the months it was happening watching cartoons and eating cereal more than anything. All I remember is the announcement that we weren't alone."

"And you don't harbour any ill will towards the Turians?" Halsey asked

"What do you think?" he asked giving her a look with a perched eyebrow "I have one on my ship and he's one of my closest friends. I don't bare grudges over stuff like that. I'm just happy the situation resolved itself before things got infinitely worse. We both made mistakes in the war, but cooler heads inevitably prevailed. I'm grateful for that. It's unfortunate things in this universe have escalated as fast as they have."

Halsey all the while took notes concerning Shepard's responses, and even started to doodle a sketch of the Commander's face. To say she was intrigued by Shepard's open mind and progressive was an understatement. She could tell right away she made the right decision in asking him to see her.

"I think many would agree on that account." Halsey responded "Although in our case, there is no misunderstanding. No room for cooler heads as it were."

"No, I guess not." Shepard agreed "Zealots rarely ever negotiate. More often than not they end up forcing your hand. I'd like to say it was different, but just because I prefer talking things out doesn't mean I'm not naive Doctor. When push comes to shove, we have to push back."

Halsey seemed strangely distant at those words, she paused for a moment. She didn't even write anything down in her continuing growing notes. She looked to the side, staring at one of her open screens. Picture's Noble Team's profiles cascaded across it.

"Yes, how true." she said, sounding somewhat cheerless "Funny how often our last resort becomes our only option. Inevitably turning it into our first push so to speak."

* * *

><p>The excitement in engineering was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Tali mused over the device as it was wheeled down and placed in the center of the hanger. Ken and Gab joined their Quarian boss as they crowded around it. It was just a bit bigger than a FTL drive, but it was compact nonetheless. The UNSC said it was the smallest one they could get. But size didn't matter to Tali, the applications of this device mattered.<p>

A Slipspace generator, practically a portable mass relay, compartmentalized for ships. Sure, it wasn't as fast as a relay, but it was too damn impressive an invention in Tali's eyes for that to be a detriment. She always dreamed of somehow giving her people technology to cross the vast Galaxy in days or hours without needing to go through relays. This device held the answer. And with the proper tweaking, who knew, maybe they could make it go faster than or equal to a relay. She wasn't getting her hopes up though, she'd settle for just making it fater than FTL.

Kenneth however was a bit more perplexed as to why they needed it.

"Okay we have an FTL right?" he asked "Do we seriously need to attach this bloody thing on top of it?"

"Ken we explained this didn't we?" Gab said annoyed at having to repeat herself "Mass Relays don't exist here. We need to keep up with the UNSC ships somehow."

"Well what's the difference between this thing and FTL anyway?" Ken asked loudly "They work on the same principle."

Tali wondered a bit if this argument was jsut Ken's attempt to get out of extra work. Or if he honestly didn't get why this equipment was so special. Tali didn't mind, she loved gushing about this thing.

"FTL propels us at faster than light speed by reducing the ship's mass," Tali began to explain "Slipspace from what I can gather is far different. We shift into a plane of existence between spaces. We exist in sub-dimension between space, cutting travel time in half. It doesn't generate thrust either. We essentially have to propel ourselves through a rift in time and space towards our destination. Theoretically, it could potentially be faster than FTL given the proper overhaul of thing! If we do make it faster, we can increase this ship's speed ten fold and get anywhere in the Galaxy from anywhere we are currently. No waiting to get back to a Relay."

Gab herself added her own two cents to the lecture.

"And we don't need to get clearance from the Relay traffic controllers to make a jump." She told Ken as she elbowed his arm "That and no wasting fuel to get back to the relay after surveying a whole cluster. Hell we could even use slipspace to cut our travel from one system to the other in half. Once we get it to go faster of course."

Ken however, didn't seem entirely impressed.

"Fine, it's a portable relay, I get it." Ken relinquished "But just because it can zip across the galaxy even better than FTL after tinkering with it for a wee bit doesn't mean we really need it. Our ship can practically fit inside anyone of the behemoths these people use. We can just hitch ride."

"We need to be self-sufficient Ken." Tali informed him "We can't just, what's that human saying? Mooch of others like that. Besides, this operation is twofold. The UNSC says the Covenant have a better understanding of Slipspace, their ships are apparently faster. They estimate they can reach speeds of up to over 900 lightyears a day. If we could somehow find a way to make these human slipspace drives more efficient it could be a real boost to their war effort. And our own ship as well."

And get the numerous Troopers, Marines and officers of the UNSC to trust them more. But that went without saying. Tali knew installing this thing would be difficult, technologies would need to be interfaced, there would be connection troubles, they'd need to solve the stability problems, but they had time. If the Covenant could make a Geth repair function work on an organic this would be a cinch.

As Tali beamed at the prospect of working on this device over night, getting a closer look at it, looking at its innards as the thing was installed, she felt a bit lightheaded. She attributed it at first to her excitement leaving her a bit dazed and breathless. Then she yawned. It did not go unnoticed by Gab and Ken.

"Hey boss you alright?" Gab asked

"Just fine Daniels," she assured the fellow engineer "just a little tired I guess."

The two human techies however noticed something different. Tali's posture had been a bit slumped and her head tended to nod forward at times as well. This wasn't her first yawn in the day either. Behind the faceplate they could even make out Tali's weary looking eyes.

"You kinda look a bit more winded than usual to be honest." Ken told her concerned "Have you been getting enough sleep?"

"I was up most of last night deciphering that Hunter armour piece with Mordin." Tali admitted "It was a bit tougher to crack than we hoped."

With that Gab and Ken exchanged worried glances with each other. As much as they enjoyed Tali's tenacity for her job as well as her expertise, they weren't sure if she should be handling heavy machinery and wires today.

"Maybe you should take five, boss." Gab told her "We can handle the first phase of installation and you can lead us for the rest."

Tali's expression turned from excitement to horror. Her eyes could be seen bulging out in shock at the suggestion as she jumped back.

"What? No!" she declared "I'm fine really! I'm not passing up a second of getting a look at this thing! I'm just drowsy a bit that's all, nothing that can get in the way of the job."

"It's technically protocol that if you got saggy eyes its better if ya just lay down." Ken countered.

"I've worked longer hours than this." Tali assured them both with a straight face "I think I can handle an installation of a drive, even one as advanced as this. Besides who would replace me?"

Gab and Ken thought the question over for a moment before answering it thusly.

"How about Legion?" Ken responded "It knows its way around the ship's drive core and FTL drive. Slipspace drives should be no problem."

Tali was about to contest that. Legion, while skilled at ships and engineering, wasn't as experienced with this kind of technology as she was. She had studied FTL drives all her life, she had been assigned to it numerous times as part of the maintenance crew back on Raaya in her youth and on the Neema after her pilgrimage. She had been working on them in the first Normandy. She had studied other preposed methods of achieving FTL speeds in her youth. Well her father had made sure she did, but that didn't mean she didn't enjoy it.

Legion was still a machine, it couldn't think like an organic. There was a hell of a lot of difference between knowing what to do and actually having studied for the scenario they were facing. Still, before she could explain all of this Gab and Ken, EDI chimed in over the loudspeaker in the hanger.

"Legion is currently off-ship." She explained "It, or perhaps they, said it had to gather data. I can only imagine that it is currently surveying the local population of Sword Base as we speak."

Ken threw up his arms annoyed.

"Great, he's gonna be at that for hours." He moaned "Even with his super advanced brain and everything."

"You know we can't really call Legion a 'he' Ken." Gab argued "Technically there's more than one of them. They're just all inside that platform of his."

"Whatever, it has a male voice, it's confusing." Ken shot back "In any case I still think Tali should get some rest."

"I don't need it." Tali repeated once more.

Tali really wanted them to just drop it, she already wasn't feeling too great. The least they could do was let her have this. Of course they didn't know about some of her relationship problems. So she couldn't blame them, still didn't mean she was gonna just walk out on this technological marvel. Sadly, EDI continued to push, specifically into an area that made Tali feel worse.

"If you are tired Tali'Zorah," she began "you need not worry about taking time off. I have already asked the UNSC to provide us with some extra help concerning this installation."

Tali raised an eyebrow, not liking where this was going.

"What help?" she asked "A specialist? Some kind of Slipspace engineer they have?"

"No," EDI stated "the program Auntie Dot is well versed in the proper procedures concerning Slipspace generator installation."

Tali's face turned sullen and her stare looked up at ceiling where EDI's voice was coming from. Dot? The other AI? She wanted to help? Did this dimension just enjoy mocking her? She got it, this universe was in love with AI whereas she was trying to get past her issues with them. Did the cosmos have to see fit to stage these constant reminders and semi-interventions?

"You cannot be serious." She growled "I am more than qualified to install this thing."

"No one is saying that you aren't," EDI assured her calmly "but I believed we could use the extra knowledge concerning the proper installation of this new technology. She is already connecting to my systems, I'll patch her through."

Tali rose up her hands, and started waving them around sporadically. What was EDI doing? The AI had to know this whole situation was incredibly off-putting to her. Nevertheless the connection went through, and Dot's higher pitched English accent reverberated through the systems.

"Hello, I am pleased to be of assistance." She said

Tali placed a single hand to her face and sighed. Did she have to be so polite? It made Tali feel like she was being a heel.

"EDI, I appreciate you thinking about getting expertise," Tali started "but couldn't we-"

"I have already compiled several plausible simulations concerning the proper installation of a slipspace drive into your systems." Dot informed them "If it is acceptable I would like to share them with your ship's artificial intelligence."

"I would very much like to see them myself." EDI responded, sounding practically blissful as she did "This exchange of information could be most invigorating and stimulating."

Tali didn't think long on exactly why EDI was looking forward to all this. While she was interested in the ship tech of the UNSC, EDI was itching to talk to the other AI of this universe. A universe where AI were essentially allowed to roam free and co-exist with organics. Tali could only imagine how excited she and Legion were.

That didn't mean that they could just barge into the ship like this though.

"She may have simulations and proper understanding, but she can't install this thing by that alone." Tali noted, a sarcastic drawl in her voice "Dot doesn't have what we call hands you see."

Tali held up her arms to a loud speaker on the ceiling, figuring one of the cameras for EDI was nearby.

"She kinda needs them to even get this thing installed." The Quarian mechanic finished, sounding a bit more peeved in tone as she did.

"I merely made a suggestion that your expertise in this area could be supplemented while you took time out to rest." EDI assured "If you wish to stay you may. But I strongly suggest we listen to Auntie Dot's advice nonetheless."

Tali preferred having EDI's blue hologram form sometimes. It gave her something to look at when she got annoyed with the AI. As she thought this now though, she felt a bit bad. EDI was just trying to help, she was always just trying to help. She didn't like though that she had somewhat suggested she should sleep and let a computer program do her job. That's what got the Quarians into the mess they were in now in the first place after all.

"She can stay," she relented "but I'm not going to sleep. I'm chief engineer on this ship. If work like this is going down, I'm gonna be in charge on this, not Dot. We'll listen, but I don't have to obey. Got it?"

Gab and Ken nodded their heads, finally dropping the whole thing much to Tali's elation. She didn't like having to lay down the law a bit, but she needed to remind them all who she was. Sleep could wait. Still, she thought for a moment that maybe she was a bit too terse with the AI. To make her feel worse, Dot chimed in again.

"Have I done something to offend you?" she asked "If so, I apologise. My programming was meant to be as inoffensive and helpful as possible. If you have a complaint concerning it I can-"

"No," Tali said, shutting her up before she continued "its fine just... just fine. Let's get going already."

Tali now prepared herself for the barrage of corrections and advice from the UNSC AI. Her day was spoiled all around and she felt even worse than before when Shepard left. She wondered to herself as they began getting the slipspace drive into place, why was it so hard to let the chip on her shoulder go?

* * *

><p>The machete scrapped against the sharpener, sparking as it did. Emile was scrapping it faster than usual, he was in a bad mood. More so than usual. He made no secret as to why.<p>

"That fucking alien needs to learn to shut his mouth." He growled "Where's he get off mouthing shit bout the Commander? Huh? I ask ya. He's just begging to get fragged."

"As I recall," Jorge intercut, taking time out from cleaning his gun "you wanted to pursue that Elite too. Hypocritical much?"

"I ain't sussing out Noble Lead in front of some damn civie scientist to make myself look good." Emile retorted angrily "Fucking Xeno needs to learn his place before I make that scar of his bigger. Expose his punkass brains to everyone."

The small barracks Noble team had set up in Sword Base had become somewhat of a powder keg of emotions, about the covenant, the fight ahead of them, but mostly about Shepard's team. Garrus especially. They didn't all agree completely, but mostly everyone agreed that the Turian overstepped himself.

"Watch yourself Four," Kat warned as she leaned up against her bunk "I may agree with you that the alien was out of turn but you can't just go around making idle threats against our allies."

"Who said anything about idle?" Emile asked in return

"At least try and act professional about this Emile." Jun intercut "Garrus needs to learn when to shut up, but it's Shepard's problem."

Emile jumped up from his bunk, machete still in hand. He looked over to the Spartan sniper, who was sitting on a crate calibrating his rifle.

"Don't tell me you think we should just let him get away with it!" he shouted "Fucker needs to learn not to rat out his fellow soldier like that."

"I agree," Jun responded with a shrug "but like I said its Shepard's problem. You wanna get him back for it? Snub him, give him the silent treatment, name calling, dirty looks. How rational soldiers blow off the people they're pissed at. Hell you got the last one down pat; you don't even need to take off your helmet. But talking about fraging about him, even if you're just fantasizing about it a bit, that's going over bounds."

Emile sat back down grumbling.

"I wasn't really gonna do it ya know." He said defensively "Just going, trip him up, maybe punch the side of his head in once, bump him as I pass, that sorta thing."

The others nodded, finally glad their team mate had calmed down a bit.

"I still think we should go to Shepard about it." Kat told the others "We don't need aliens questioning Noble Lead's orders. That's not how you act with superior officers. His CO should remind him about that."

"Garrus was just getting something off his chest I think," Jorge added to the conversation "I mean we all knew he kinda butted heads with One during our first mission together."

Kat huffed as she turned to Jorge.

"No excuse." She said plainly "He voiced his objections during a conversation that wasn't his to involve himself in. It was unprofessional."

"Didn't say it wasn't." Jorge responded as he turned back to his gun "I'm just telling ya I understand why he did it. It was a bad move on his part and he should've kept his mouth shut, but I get why. I think if we really want to make sure he doesn't pull anything again we should just be honest with him. Let him know he did wrong. Remove the bad blood ya know?"

While Emile scoffed at the diplomatic approach Jun turned to the bunk over Jorge, where Six was laying.

"What about you Six?" he asked "What's your take on this."

"Same as you guys I guess." He admitted "but as to what to do about it. I think we're all forgetting who was insulted by all this. I think we should differ to Commander Carter's judgement on this."

"Excellent point Noble Six."

Everyone turned and saw Carter walk through the door, helmet under his arm and his usual plain unassuming expression on his face. As everyone was about to snap to attention, Carter waved them off.

"While I appreciate you being so quick defend me against the alien hordes we have bigger problems than a mouthy soldier." He told them all "In my opinion we should do nothing. No violence, no snubbing, no talking to him or his CO. We move on and we forget it."

Emile was the first to stand up in shock over this, everyone else taken aback and immediately stopped what they were doing.

"Commander, he undermined your authority!" Emile protested

"That is my concern not yours Noble Four," Carter shot back "more accurately it is Shepard's concern. Garrus is his problem. Our problem is the unknown amount of alien hostiles we are going to be dealing with when we go to the dead zone. I know you may not all like Garrus right now, but I want you all to be the bigger people here. You're Spartans, remember that. Act like it. We got no time for petty grievances here."

Carter didn't make it an order. He knew they probably wouldn't be able to obey it in the end. All of them were iffy on the idea of working with aliens. Now their CO had just gotten ratted out to a civilian and that added to their displeasure. Garrus had made a mistake and he'd have to deal with the fallout from the incident. Carter just didn't want it affecting cooperation between the two groups. With the Covenant getting new tech out of nowhere they needed the advantage the Normandy crew was giving them so far. Hopefully by giving his own opinion on the matter it would lessen whatever response they had for the Turian.

As the team sagged their heads in acceptance of Carter's words, he changed the subject.

"On to more pressing matters," he began "what do we know about the upcoming assault on the dead zone?"

"Just that it's gonna be a combined initiative between all branches of the Military." Jorge said "Guess that will include us."

"Damn well better," Emile said "I wanna send them Covie bastards screaming back to their fucking priests and shit. Get a few more kills before they pull out."

Six turned his head towards the silver-grey armoured Spartan, his voice increasingly sceptical.

"You think it's gonna be that easy?" he asked

"Wouldn't be a Noble mission if it was but it would be nice if that's where it ended." Jorge told him "Reach is the last planet between the covies and Earth. They get this, our home solar system is open wide for them."

Emile just laughed at the prospect.

"Fuck, they ain't gonna take this planet, we got like half a fleet here in orbit." He told them with a resoundingly bit of pride in his voice "Bunch of taskforces jumped in remember? Got ships coming and going all the time too. Plus we got MAC stations, fucking orbital guns to stop their dropships and cruisers from getting to us. What they got? Like a few battalions or so?"

"And if they're sending a fleet?" Six asked "That's inevitable you know. They're gonna send it here just to glass the human infidels for the hell of it."

Jorge punched the bottom of the bed slightly.

"Hey, don't even joke about that." He told Six flatly "We don't know that."

"But Six is right," Kat pointed out "chances are a fleet is gonna show up here eventually. All we can do is hope it's small enough for us to handle."

"We won't know for sure until we get in the dead zone." Carter told them all.

Jorge looked incredibly depressed as he went back to his gun. Six, leaned over in his bunk to look down, seeing the giant warrior shaking his head as he cleaned the giant chaingun he used. The new guy i the squad slid down from the ladder and crouched beside the big man.

"Sorry," he said "I didn't mean to be tactless. It's just, we all know what happens to the worlds the Covenant finds."

"Yeah," Jorge admitted "I just don't wanna have to see it happen on Reach is all."

Six understood, he personally had never seen a glassing. He didn't want to experience it anytime soon.

"I'm sure we'll kick them off before it gets worse Jorge," Six assured him "from what I hear it's gonna be a big operation. Covies won't know what hit them."

Jorge nodded his head lightly.

"I hope so," he said optimistically "there's too much at stake here."

Six knew that the big man meant more than just the strategic and military importance of the planet. He hadn't known the Spartan II long, but he knew well enough the man considered the individual consequences of a defeat more than the broader ones.

"Did you know they aren't even telling the civilians to evacuate the continent?" Jorge asked Six "Least they could do right? No, gotta keep the whole presence of the Covenant on Reach quiet I hear."

"It's strategically sound," Six said with sincere shrug "limit the panic and all."

"Doesn't make it right." Jorge added as he shook his head, slight disgust at the whole thing in his voice.

Suddenly they were interrupted by another voice, a more metallic robotic one.

"Excuse us."

Everyone turned to see the familiar blue-eyed machine, Legion, standing at the doorway to their quarters.

"We hope we are not intruding on any important matters." It said

"Not really no." Carter told the Geth

"If this is the case we would like to speak with Six Noble," Legion quickly responded "we wish to exchange data."

Everyone looked to Six, prompting the Spartan to stand and face his commander. Carter merely stared back, not even blinking.

"Go ahead," he said "it's not like we're in the middle of a firefight here. I don't see any problem."

Six just nodded and left with Legion. The Geth was quick to start the conversation.

"We wish to hear of your previous exploits." It said "We desire a better understanding of your organization's use of you."

Legion was the weirdest thing to talk to at times, but to Six that's what made it so interesting.

* * *

><p>Shepard was growing tired of playing 20 questions with Halsey. He wanted to flip the tables on this conversation, get her to reveal more about herself. Specifically on one subject, one that from his knowledge she would be intimately familiar with. At the moment though, she was still interested more in him and his universe than her own life.<p>

"Certainly a fascinating universe you come from commander, a race of all female aliens that can reproduce with any species, a galactic government humanity is a part of and of course these mass relays of yours." She counted off "Shame I can't visit."

"That makes two of us considering I'm stranded here for the time being." Shepard added "I might never even get to go back, with that in mind I'd like to know more about the Covenant, the UNSC and this war of yours."

Halsey just seemed to sigh at it all, shaking her head. Shepard wasn't sure, but he figured she was so interested in his dimension she was starting to find the prospect of talking about her own dull.

"Very well, I promised." Halsey relented "What would you like to know?"

"About your Spartans ma'am." Shepard answered roughly "I want to know about them."

Halsey looked back steely eyed at Shepard, hesitant to answer at first.

"If you're referring to Noble only one of them is mine." She told him "Why do you want to know about them anyway?"

"I know there were two separate Spartan programs, one of Noble Team let it slip to a crewmate of mine." Shepard informed her in a strong tone of vouce "I also know that Noble Five implied that you were involved in his creation as a Spartan II. You've just confirmed it. I wanna know who I'm working with here, specifically you. That is if you still want me to trust you."

Halsey leaned forward, accepting the Commander's reasoning.

"Very well." She said softly, sounding very distant as she continued "where to begin? This goes back further than our current predicament, much further. I was younger then, but our expanse into the stars was not. Generations of colonization had made certain elements reluctant to continue offering allegiance to Earth and the UNSC."

Shepard knew almost immediately where this was going. Humanity had similar problems before the Alliance formed, the Second American Civil War as he recalled. The Turian Heirarchy was also dealing with major separatist elements from what Garrus told him. Why would it be any different here?

"People tend to identify more with their place of birth at times than where their forefathers originated." Shepard said as he alluded to what he suspected "Nationalistic pride, a sense of 'we're better than you', the desire to break off from your roots and form your own destiny."

Halsey smiled a bit.

"You're on the right track Commander, you're smarter than you look."

"I like surprising people." Wade beamed back

He could almost he heard Halsey chuckle a bit under her throat. But then her troubled look returned.

"The outer colonies rebelled, we didn't call it a civil war we called it an Insurrection." Halsey explained "More preferable to the media I suppose, but somewhat accurate. The rebels were very loosely organized groups for the most part. One of the most well known was the United Rebel Front, most well known because it was the best organized out of all of them. They wanted to break away from the United Earth government and the UNSC at large. They hated the bureaucracy, how their colonies tended to be overlooked, how the inner colonies were favoured cause they weren't on the frontier."

"Sounds like they had legitimate concerns," Shepard spoke up, remembering his own experiences with government red tape "didn't you try talking with them?"

Halsey shook her head, adding a 'hmph' for emphasis.

"It didn't start out bad." She admitted "Peaceful protests, some broken jaws, a few injured, a couple of sporadic riots caused by agitators. Relatively harmless for the most part, but as the years dragged on they became impatient. Many started to think the only way they'd secure their independence was through acts of terror. In 2494 they lured one of our battlegroups into a trap, blew up an asteroid with a nuke and obliterated the UNSC Buenos Aires. That was the start of our problems."

Shepard was seemingly disappointed, how come it always came to stuff like this? Stonewalling or not, there had to have been better ways. He preferred diplomacy, even if it did take a long time to work.

"They say one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter." Shepard countered, playing devil's advocate a bit.

Halsey rolled her eyes at first, but relinquished an understanding sigh.

"There was a time I would've agreed with you Commander, but that wasn't the only act of violence and it didn't stay confined to military targets either." She replied, a bit of anger in her voice "The violence soon got out of control, I did my own studies on what it would lead to. I estimated billions dead and a new dark age before it was all over. That's when I joined with ONI, that's when I decided something had to be done to stop this war, by any means."

Shepard felt this conversation was somehow familiar. He wondered exactly what this had to do with the Spartans, but he had his guesses and he didn't like what he was thinking.

"You based this all on statistics alone?" he asked

"No," she responded defiantly "I wavered with the moral issues of our plan to halt the war slightly at the start. Then about a year after joining ONI, the rebels of the 'Freedom and Liberation Party' detonated a bomb in a residential building called Haven Arcology. A nuclear bomb. Two million dead, millions more injured and radiation poisoning the atmosphere making the area unsuitable for human life for decades."

She laid out these facts to a relatively stunned Shepard, her voice steeled and resolved.

"I had to stop them Shepard, I knew it was only going to get worse." She proclaimed "They'd continue this rampage of destruction until there was barely anything left of either side. At some point, I think it wasn't even about independence anymore, I think they just wanted to hurt us, no matter the cost. We had to be willing to hurt them back, knowing exactly what those costs were. That was where our plan came in."

Shepard shook himself out of the shock of the story Halsey had just told him. No doubt the event had convinced her whatever she was planning was right. Shepard still didn't know what that was though.

"What was this plan exactly?" he asked "Stop beating around the bush here."

Halsey looked back up at him with a resolute look upon her face.

"To create an army that would end the war." She explained loudly "Super-soldiers, ones that exemplified the best traits of humanity and our civilization. Soldiers who would lead the charge against the insurrection and halt it before we spiralled into oblivion and a new dark age, one we would never recover from. We'd train them, modify them, make them all they could be and send them out to dismantle the rebel organizations one by one until they returned to the negotiation table or were crushed entirely. We called them Spartans, our last best hope to save humanity."

Shepard now knew what role the Spartans had played in all this and why they had been created. Or more specifically why noble Five had been created since he was the only Spartan II he had encountered. A few more questions came to mind though.

"Why exactly Spartans?" he asked curiously "There were plenty of other ancient warrior cultures you could've used as a name for their unit."

Halsey tapped her fingers together, trying not to look nervous or apprehensive about what she was about to say next.

"Three key reasons," she began, laying out the following points very evenly "one the Battle of Thermopylae and the last stand of the Spartan army located there. It is highly praised even to this day by military officers. It was appealing to them. They liked what it stood for. Second there were initially three hundred candidates for the program, much like the 300 hundred Spartans we aforementioned named who died protecting the future of their civilization. Again, appropriate to the nature of the program. Later the number was reduced by half however."

"Was the third reason because you liked that ridiculous 21st century action flick?" Shepard asked chuckling.

Halsey did not laugh at the joke, her face scrunched up in anger instead. She didn't even address Shepard's comment, she just continued.

"The third reason, was because the Spartans trained their children from birth to be the finest warriors they could." Halsey explained as a disheartened tone in her voice appeared "So would we."

Shepard looked at Halsey mouth agape, trying to fully comprehend what she was saying. All he could muster was a weak "what?" next he spoke. Halsey continued unabated.

"We pooled candidates from children who had shown exemplary talent in several areas. Intelligence, strength, perception, agility, even luck among others. In certain individuals I had discovered that these attributes were substantially greater than normal. If properly neutered they could put these abilities to use in the military."

Shepard did not at all like any of this. Specifically because it reminded him all too much of familiar atrocities and horrors they had encountered before, on places like Pragia and Aite.

"Their parents couldn't have been too keen on the idea of you training their children to be soldiers so young." Shepard spat back at her "I can only imagine you didn't tell them that was your plan?"

"They never knew their children were involved." Halsey replied stoically "To avoid any scandal and for the program to be of any effective use the children would need to be taken and replaced."

Shepard was not surprised by the answer. By now his face was practically glowering back Halsey with utter loathing.

"We kidnapped each candidate, replaced them with identical clone copies that would die within a matter of years and brought them all to Reach." Halsey continued, explaining everything without even a waver in her voice "We then told them of what we needed them for, when they were ready of course, and before long most of them accepted their new role. We trained each from that point onward to the peak of their abilities. Over the years we began to see which ones showed the most promise, which ones we could single out as potential leaders. Before long they reached their young adult years and they were ready for the next phase."

"What next phase?" Shepard asked sounding disgusted "You already replaced their childhood with boot camp, what more did you need?"

Halsey ignored the insult, she didn't argue. It was an expected response to the story she was telling and not entirely unwarranted.

"The modification process genetically alters Spartan candidates to super-human levels of endurance, strength and physical fitness." Halsey explained, sounding slightly sad as she recalled the procedure. "I won't bore or terrify you with the specifics, but it was very invasive, not all survived the process."

"I think I'd like to hear exactly what you did to them Doctor." Shepard said in a low threatening growl.

Halsey's head drooped low.

"No, you don't." She assured "Bones fracturing through the skin, muscles crushing organs, some crippled for life. I'd rather not relive it."

"Yeah cause I'm sure it was so painful for you to go through." Shepard sardonically mocked

Halsey looked to the side, avoiding his angry stare. If only he knew exactly how painful the memory was. Would he even buy that she felt legitimate pain at the memory of her Spartans dying? Would anyone?

"What did you do rejects?" Shepard asked, his rage ever present "Kill them?"

"We set them up in desk jobs back on Earth and the other inner colonies." Halsey answered "It was the least we could do."

"Yeah I guess, after all you did ruin their lives." Shepard cruelly shot back "They deserve some kind of compensation after you essentially stripped any semblance of a childhood or free-will away from them before crippling them."

Halsey didn't bother to argue Shepard's point. She knew from his standpoint it was more than justified. A part of her agreed with him. That didn't mean she didn't counter his statement in regards to how she felt about it.

"I don't care if you don't believe me when I say this, but for every Spartan that died I mourned. I'm still mourning." Halsey declared defiantly "They were under my care and protection for years. Each of their deaths, both then and afterwards, rests on my shoulders and mine alone. I don't need you to make me feel guilty Shepard, I already have plenty of guilt to spare."

"And that makes up for it then?" Shepard asked mockingly "You feel guilty so it's just water under the bridge with you? What about the Spartans themselves? What about Jorge?"

Halsey remained quiet for a long time. After what seemed like a while she finally answered Shepard thusly.

"What Jorge and the others think of me, that's up to them. And I hold no grudge against whatever thoughts they have." She assured Shepard "But if you really want to know, ask them about it. What they have to say concerning what they went through is theirs alone to argue."

Shepard was appalled by all of this, child soldiers to fight a war. He didn't care what reasons it was for, there had to have been better options available.

"Are Spartan III's child soldiers too?" he asked as his scowl deepened

"Not to my knowledge," Halsey admitted seemingly angry herself, but not with the Commander "they are supposedly a cheaper version of my own Spartans. Drafted into the program from ranks within the standard military or so they claim. I have my reservations. They attempted to do the same thing I did, they ended up botching it and exposing the truth. ONI has been given the stink eye in the public ever since. So they've been more discreet. The process is also less invasive now and safer from what I'm told. You want the truth about who they are, again, ask Noble team about it."

Shepard supposed she couldn't blame her for the III's, they weren't her responsibility. Still didn't make him like her that much.

"You don't sound too happy about the Spartan III's." Shepard noted

Halsey looked at one of her screens, displaying the ONI insignia on it. Her thoughts drifted off to an earlier time. A simpler time. When all they had to worry about was insurrectionists.

"ONI cut me out of the loop long ago Shepard." She told him "I'm more of a liability to them and people like Ackerson now. I have my friends in the agency but they are few and far between. I only have just now discovered the existence of these Spartan IIIs, and it is disturbing to me. Exposable shock troopers, the exact opposite of what my Spartans are."

"Child soldiers aren't much better doctor." Shepard informed her "To me it sounds like you're all equally guilty of the same crime here."

"I never argued that Shepard." Halsey countered "We all committed sins in the pursuit of ending the war. I won't ask you to condone my actions. But you must at least acknowledge the positives."

Shepard crossed his arms, seemingly unconvinced of the argument Halsey was putting forward for her actions.

"Oh really?" he asked boldly "What silver lining is that?"

"That if it weren't for the Spartan II program we would've lost this war with the Covenant far sooner." She responded, her resolve returned "For whatever pain we caused, we helped save far more lives. Ask any Spartan of mine, they'll tell you how many people their actions have saved. How many Covenant armadas and fleets we've halted in their tracks. Without them, neither of us would be here right now. We did what had to be done. What needed to be done. For the sake of humanity. To protect it from threats both terrestrial and extraterrestrial."

Shepard stood up from his chair in anger and placed both of his hands on her desk, shoving his face into her's.

"I met a man who said some very similar things and pulled off some equally despicable acts Halsey." He told her straight faced "You may have done it more humanely, you may feel guilt, your little brainwashed super-soldiers may apparently like you, but it doesn't matter to me. You stole the childhoods of those kids!"

"Had I not sacrificed those childhoods their futures would've been empty and bleak. The insurrectionists would've killed more lives, possibly their own and the Covenant would've glassed their planets one by one." Halsey answered in defiance "Would you have sacrificed millions, billions of lives, to preserve their innocence no matter how fleeting?"

Shepard had no answer, admittedly he understood the reason, he knew the galaxy was more often than not coloured in shades of grey. But this reminded him so much of the Illusive Man, so much of Cerberus and what they had done. How could he reconcile this? After he had made such a point about not sacrificing the soul of their species to win a war, how could he just let this slide and accept Halsey's justifications? But millions dead, escalating war, alien threats, could he really apply the same judgement of Cerberus to Halsey and the UNSC when the situation was so seemingly different? Their Galaxy was at relative peace for the moment, this one wasn't.

Finally, he came up with an answer as he relinquished hold of the desk.

"I understand your side of it," he admitted, seemingly ashamed "but I can't condone it. I just can't. I goes against everything I believe in. This all betrays everything about us that makes us human. Makes us good."

"We had been betraying our humanity and what made us good for decades Shepard, long before the Spartan program ever came into being." Halsey told him "I don't like it anymore than you do. Sometimes I do honestly wonder if we're worth saving."

They were both quiet for awhile, barely moving at all, before Shepard asked the obvious follow up.

"Are we worth it?" he asked

Halsey clasped her hands together, going into deep thought as she considered her answer.

"I think we are." She said at last, thinking of something far off and familiar "I know of people, people who prove time and time again that we are worth saving."

Shepard turned his head and began to leave.

"We're done here." He announced "I think I've had enough of this ONI bullshit to last me a lifetime."

But as Shepard approached the door, Halsey called out again.

"Are you going to let my actions cloud your judgement commander?" she asked "Whatever your opinion of me is there are far greater things occurring now than you imagine. Bigger than me or you."

"Like what?" Shepard demanded to know as he turned to face her

Halsey looked up at him, her eyes piercing and determined.

"Like the fact we're losing this war!" Halsey told him stridently "And if I'm right then when it's over and we're gone your dimension is next on the chopping block."

Shepard turned away from the door, his expression once marred with anger dissipating.

"What do you want Halsey?" he demanded to know

"Tell me everything about the Hunter armour Commander," she answered "everything."

* * *

><p>The trooper flew back, slamming against the padded wall. The extra layer of protection covering his body kept him from breaking any bones. Still hurt like hell though. The assorted soldiers watching the displayed laughed as Samara returned to her more passive stance.<p>

"I'm going to try from 50 feet now." She said "Let me know when you are ready."

Samara marched back to the fifty foot mark, while the private in the padded body armour scrambled to his feet best he could.

"Sir do I have to do this?" he asked "Can't I switch my choice to cleaning out the bathroom?"

"You picked it, no take backs." Said Gunnery Sergeant Ferris, a buff looking red headed soldier wearing an cap over his head "Should've thought about the punishment before ya swiped that contraband from the field."

"It was just a plasma pistol sir! They're a dime a dozen!"

"All Covenant weapons are to be transferred to an armoury officer," Ferris stated firmly "not stolen by the riflemen, now get off your ass already and get ready for another one of them hits. And move faster this time, our friend here needs practice on moving targets. As in targets that don't half-assedly stumble around like a three legged turtle! Move it trooper! Double time!"

What had once be a gym of sorts that was meant for the garrison on Sword Base was now a Biotic training field. The troopers and marines, as per Commander Shepard's request, had moved in as many boxes and barrels as they could to make a proper battlefield like setting. Of course Samara and the other biotics could just toss around water barrels and dummies, biotics required aim as much as it did concentration. So a few "lucky" troopers had been handpicked to serve as body doubles. They had taken all the precautions of course, they used padded suits for training exercises all the time. Mainly for when their soldiers had to actually connect their punches and kicks instead of just grappling one another. Now the suits were being used to keep the soldiers from becoming pancakes.

Samara for her part made sure she kept from putting too much into each attack. She just wanted to hit the moving targets after all. As she trained, the soldiers who weren't in the line of fire were having a blast watching things unfold. Kowalski was of course among them.

"Damn, she's like a superhero out of those old comic books I used to read as a kid." He commented to the others

"Well she's got the superhero costume look downpat that's for sure." Laughed Ellingham "Think she can hit him at fifty?"

Ellingham's answer came shortly after, a large blue ball of biotic energy dashed across their plane of vision. It smacked into the poor living test dummy, slamming him into the wall once more. He groaned as he got back up, clutching his back.

"This is cooler than watching the Spartans train." Kowalski said in admiration

"And funner," Ellingham added "I could watch these army troopers get knocked around all day."

Ferris approached Samara as she walked back to the twenty five foot mark, clapping all the way.

"Outstanding ma'am," he applauded "I don't know much about these here Biotics of yours, but they sure as hell kick ass. Wish I had hundred more soldiers like you honestly."

"I assure you," Samara said "me and my fellow biotics on the Normandy will be enough. We practically constitute our own army anyway. In any case, you have seen a few of my abilities now sergeant. I'd like to ask you your opinion on its proper implementation."

Ferris supposed he could help. This stuff was new to him, but he had already thought of a few possible ways it could be used to crush the Covenant. He knew that subject like the back of his hand by now.

"Go ahead shoot," he told her "what you wanna kill?"

"A Hunter," Samara told him, an incredibly straight face as she did "when last we fought one, me and the others attempted a specific move."

Samara raised her arm, concentrated and blasted forth a great big ball of Biotic energy. Unlike the previous attack though, this action required constant concentration as the ball slammed into the padded Trooper and held him against the wall. The biotic energy remained around him, keeping him plastered to the wall, all the while Samara held her faze upon him until she relinquished control and the poor trooper dropped like a bag of rocks to the floor.

"Ow!" he screamed "Can we stop already!"

Ferris just nodded as the other soldiers laughed.

"Hmm, that looks like it takes up a lot of energy." He noted

"It does," Samara admitted "it's not as if I'm creating a mass effect field and launching it off into the world as is. That attack requires that I keep feeding the field itself in order to maintain it. Once I relinquish control, the field dissipates."

And she had tried to use that on the walking tank that was a Hunter, Ferris could already see the problem.

"He resisted I wager?" he asked

"He was heavier than we assumed and his strength was even greater." Samara explained "He dug himself into the ground with his shield and anchored himself there. We were trying to force him up against wall, hold him there for as long as possible while our comrades fired on his weak points."

"Why didn't you just use one of your regular throw attacks?" Ferris asked

Samara shook her head.

"To get any results I felt we would need an exponentially large mass effect field for the attack to be of any use. A similar amount of energy would be required." She explained "We were not sure what to do precisely to throw the creature off balance. Jack was the first to attack, we followed her lead. We don't usually use our biotics for heavy lifting either. Jack has taken on stronger and heavier foes herself of course, but I can only assume she didn't want to charge at the creature."

"Who would be stupid enough to charge a hunter?" asked Ferris, trying to restrain laughing at the idea.

Samara didn't tell him that Grunt had tried just that. She figured it would disrespectful to speak of her crewmate in such a way. Demeaning him behind his back so to speak.

"I think we are going about attacking this creature the wrong way." She continued "If you had my powers, what would you do to take down a hunter?"

Ferris gave it some thought, visualizing the scenario in his head a bit.

"Well, I guess I'd try that shockwave attack you showed off an hour ago." He answered "Hunters' legs are like pillars but they're top heavy. Mess up their balance they should topple right over, leaving other members of the squad the chance to finish him off."

Samara nodded in agreement. It made sense, shockwave was something the creature wouldn't be able to block, and if it's strength lay in it's anchored stance then striking low could yield results. Specifically the strategy would be most effective with attacks that didn't require much concentration or continued concentration.

"Indirect attacks then?" Samara assumed "Very well, perhaps singularity could work as well?"

"What's singularity?" Ferris asked scratching his head

Samara raised her hand once more, a ripple tore through the air as a large blue ball appeared overhead. At once it began to spiral inward, creating a miniature vortex, one that began to suck pieces of the training area towards it. The soldiers watching on the sidelines gripped onto their benches as hats and papers flew towards the vortex. The padded trooper gripped onto one of the heavier boxes screaming in terror. Then Samara waved her hand once more and cancelled the singularity early. Everything returned to relative normal and the padded trooper dropped back down on his stomach. The floating sensation he felt when the vortex was active now gone.

Ferris was impressed.

"A miniature black hole!" he shouted in jubilation "Hot damn! Yeah, make that thing strong enough the Hunter will at least be doubling back there."

"I've also entertained the idea of using Reave and suggesting my fellows consider their warp abilities as well."

Ferris looked back to Samara as she mentioned this. The padded trooper ran for cover, fearing another demonstration.

"I know you mentioned reave before, it's your leech ability right?" he asked quickly "What is warp exactly?"

"Like Reave but less powerful." Samara explained "It basically shreds the target apart with rapidly shifting mass effect fields. It can also stop health regeneration, like reave. Of course, most of said regeneration it does stop is natural in form. I can't demonstrate either without harming your men."

The Gunney looked back at the now cowering padded private and shrugged.

"Fair enough," he said "I think my boy there has suffered enough. Still an attack like that should be enough to cripple a Hunter for a good amount of time. Even if the health regen ain't natural for his species it could have some effect."

The Gunney then just shrugged as he walked towards his cowering trooper.

"Then again I don't know much about this new regen ability of theirs to be honest." He said "I leave that problem up to the good folks in the xenobiology labs myself."

Samara bit her lip, the subject of Shepard's actions had uncomfortably come up once again. She was still rather shocked by the action and wondered if she should tell these people what her commander had done. But the code wasn't clear on this type of action. The armour didn't belong to either side, it was technically a trophy of battle. Shepard had helped kill the creature, one could say it was his by right. What was disturbing in it was Shepard was deceiving his allies. She could only hope for her commander's sake that he did the right thing in the end and shared whatever he learned with someone within the UNSC.

Ferris suddenly turned back, an epiphany striking him.

"Hey," he said "you could also try pulling bits of the armour off with your powers too! Needs the armour to regenerate in the first place right?"

Samara simply nodded at the sound idea. With any luck these new strategies would help them in the next fight with the Hunters. She'd share this information with the others once they arrived. It would be easier to find out if any of these ideas would work though if they had an actual Hunter to practice on. But, that would be against the code, torturing a captured prisoner and using him as target practice. Then again it also made sense practically, who would stupid enough to cage a Hunter?

She looked up at the contingent of Marines and Troopers that had come to watch her display. She was not use to large crowds, people flocking to see her. Biotics weren't as big a deal back home and mostly people wanted to avoid Justicars entirely, they respected and feared them. Rightly so, as the code tended to be black and white and more often than not fatal to those near the Justicar. Here there was the feeling of being respected, but without being feared, that was different to her.

These people weren't afraid of her, they admired her in a strange sense. She was an alien sure, that was a problem no doubt, but they loved watching her nonetheless. Samara felt like both a celebrity and a bug in jar at the same time. A mixture of fame and respect coupled with a feeling of discomfort at the lack of privacy. Like a sideshow attraction of sorts.

Justicars did not encounter this sort of thing in their lives. They didn't have people flocking around them or watching them in the midst of their work. She could only assume this was mainly because of two things, one was the obvious fact she was a biotic and two that she was an Asari, which made her stand out from the other biotics on her team. Her species inevitably was attractive to humans no matter the dimension. She was the only one of her kind here, which made her awkward newfound situation even more apparent.

In the end she decided not to let it bother her. They weren't approaching her asking for anything, probably too nervous of being rejected with a biotic throw to the face. So far all who had talked to her had been nice, if a bit apprehensive at times. That and they were facing extinction, she believed it was only fair if they have something to take their minds of it all. If that meant her and the other biotics, what harm was there?

She scanned the crowd, and picked out the young private Kowalski and his friends in it. She hoped he had enjoyed the show so far, as Miranda and the others would be stopping by soon to train themselves. They thought she was impressive, wait till they saw what the others could do.

* * *

><p>Legion was walked beside Six as they patrolled along the balcony overlooking the courtyard. They were both sharing what stories they had with one another. Legion particularly interested in what Six had to say as it remained quiet throughout one of his war tales.<p>

"Alright so miraculously, this Militia sniper, he actually gets the drop on me and I'm on my back." He explained "He's sticking his gun right in my face, but I'm not too worried to be honest. Like I said I was on the tenth floor. Luck just so happened to be on my side as the guy had taken me down right near an open elevator shaft. And he's got the barrel so close to my face it's really no problem to just reach up and grab the thing. So while he's moaning on about how the UNSC is so evil and he's so virtuous and all about freedom and stuff I grab the barrel and force the gun back into his eye. Give him a shiner I think. I already have the gun in my hand now so I swat him with the butt of the rifle and he falls into the elevator shaft down ten stories. But admittedly he did get the drop on me, so he wasn't a total idiot."

Legion just motioned its head plates up in interest.

"Fascinating," it said "and the militia unit was terminated by you alone?"

"I know it sounds impressive but it's not." Six said in all honesty "By the fifth time you manage it the lone soldier act becomes a bit routine. Be aware of your surroundings, keep an eye on your ammo and keep moving. Lead the bad guys into close quarters, you have a distinct advantage."

"This strategy appears sound." Legion admitted "If not risky and with a high probability of you ceasing to function more often than not."

Six shrugged, he didn't deny it was a rather stupid idea to try and win a fight by sending in one man to do the job. But considering he was still here, maybe it just required the right kind of soldier to pull it off. Mainly a Spartan.

"I'm guessing Geth don't tend to send in lone assassins then?" he asked "I mean considering you're made up of like a thousand voices all talking at once..."

"Correction, the neural network connects us into a singular consciousness." Legion elaborated "There is no individual program or voice, it is a group consciousness. Together we are all Geth, we are all connected. It is however accurate to say Geth are never alone in this sense."

Six shook his head trying to wrap his head around it all. They were one, but they weren't an individual, they were separate programs, but there weren't separate voices, it was a bit bewildering.

"Your friends on-board the Normandy must get confused a lot with ya." Six told the machine

"We understand your difficulty in comprehending our existence." Legion admitted humbling "In our experience we have realised it is far removed from your understanding. We have the same reaction to the discussion of individualism. We cannot fully comprehend its precise nature as well, nor how it functions."

"Well you must have some idea how it works." Six told him trying to find the proper wording "I mean, organics are individuals, we're all one program and we don't necessarily need others to function."

Legion's head plates rose up slightly.

"Yet many organics nonetheless do seek out companionship and group acceptance." The Geth added "They count themselves as individuals, yet seek out relationships that bind them together. We have comprehended this as a form of social neural network. Except it relies on interaction between individuals, not combined processing power as it does with us."

The two stopped as they looked out over the courtyard together, taking in the half destroyed courtyard below them.

"So how'd you come to that conclusion anyway?" Six asked "About this social neural network concept of yours."

"In truth it was you." Legion explained

Six swivelled his head towards Legion, somewhat surprised.

"We have noted your tendency to prefer being alone, yet when possible you enjoy the company of your fellow Spartans." The Geth explained "We also noticed your gratification when Five Noble congratulated you on your work destroying the Corvette. You desire to belong within the circle of Team Noble, despite your stated and observed preference for your individual solitude."

If Six had his helmet off, Legion would see he was smiling. Not be outdone in the psychoanalyzing department however, the Spartan had his own response.

"Isn't that's what you're trying to do with the Normandy?" he asked

Legion looked away, its eye opening and closing and its head plates wildly crunching up and smoothing out. Six was hoping for an actual answer this time, the robot had dodged the question last time he asked about Legion's desire to seemingly fit in with the other members of the Normandy crew.

"That statement is accurate." Legion admitted at last.

"Gotta say that's interesting for an AI who technically has all the company he needs." Six told him "So why you trying so hard for the others to accept you anyway?"

Legion contemplated its answer, even being able to think at the speed of light it was having trouble properly conveying exactly what its response would be. Mainly because the Geth wasn't sure if it should tell the whole story about them and the Quarians, about the Morning War. In the end it settled on a less broad answer.

"We believe it is a residual response to our current situation." Legion answered "We are cut off from the collective network. We have been for some time now. Our program is designed to seek out other AI. To share data. To connect. Unable to do that we are seemingly substituting this part of our programming with our organic companions. Geth must be part of a whole. We have joined Normandy, we seek to better integrate ourselves into its own version of the neural network."

Spartan realised something as the machine answered the question, and began to laugh.

"Oh I get it now." Six said "You're cut off from your people, but you guys need companionship with one another to function. You're hardwired to be social so you're trying to make friends!"

Legion's head smoothed out and the machine opened and closed its iris slightly.

"This is not an inaccurate statement." Legion admitted

"Real question is," Six continued, having Legion on the ropes a bit now not intending to let this conversation end "whether it's working or not."

Legion once more began to contemplate the answer.

"We are not sure. No consensus has been achieved."

"Why not?" Six asked "You seem, or I guess I should say you guys all seem to be very reasonable. You're polite, nice, you were willing to stand up for your buds. Why wouldn't they like you?"

Legion did not feel emotions, but something told Six he was making the poor machine uncomfortable just a bit with the subject.

"It is a complicated matter." The robot admitted

"After trying to wrap my head around how this hive mind stuff works I'm up for anything." Six said leaning back against the rail of the balcony "Try me."

Legion did not want to lie. Geth did not lie. It reached a consensus.

"We shall explain it, but you must not tell your superiors." Legion informed him "It is delicate information. Information that the Normandy crew may not be willing to share."

Six nodded his head.

"Loose lips sink ships, got it." The Spartan responded "Won't tell anyone, promise."

"Very well, we will tell you then," Legion began "of the Morning War."

* * *

><p>Shepard told Halsey what she wanted to know, that the Hunter's armour was a mix of both their dimensions technologies. That the Hunters had incorporated an armour upgrade into their systems, an upgrade that gave them a protective shield, one that activated when the regeneration ability turned on as well. That the ability worked using nanotechnology, technology that had been reverse engineered to work on organic flesh. Halsey was no doubt intrigued.<p>

"Interesting indeed," she admitted "and when we take into account the cybernetic enhancements of the zealots you found at Visegrad-"

"How'd you know about those?" Shepard asked quickly, sounding very suspicious

"I read the report Noble One filed Commander, relax." Halsey informed him, seemingly very annoyed at the interruption "Sit back down, we need to talk about this more."

Shepard did as asked, but only because he wanted to get to bottom of why he was hear in the first place.

"What is this all about Halsey?" he asked again "Get to the point here."

"It's about the Covenant Shepard," she told him "and how they aren't acting like they should. The shields on the Wraiths, the cybernetic enhancements and now this Hunter Armour, this is all just the tip of the iceberg Shepard, there's a pattern to it."

Well now she had his interest, mainly because it was a shared interest in this technology from the sound of it.

"What pattern?" he asked

"We've been encountering updated Covenant technology regularly for the past two months or so." She explained "Technology that makes their ships tougher, their weapons last longer, their shields stronger. This is completely out of the ordinary."

"It's called escalation," Shepard informed her "it's what happens in wars that go on this long."

Halsey shook her head and sighed greatly.

"I know what happens in wars Shepard, but the Covenant are different." Halsey told him hotly "Do you know why they steal AI from us? Why the ones they snatch are fragmented and insane like the one you claim to have encountered in your report? It's because they don't know how to properly care for them. And they don't know because it's been taboo in their society to use AI."

That was a strange thing to have in common with the Covenant, Shepard thought for a moment. He didn't know exactly where Halsey was going with any of this though. Halsey continued as Shepard remained quiet.

"We have advanced AI research since the start of this war." Halsey explained "All evidence we've found says the Covenant are severely lagging behind us in this area. Likewise we have created powerful weapons, sufficient in countering the Covenant and their forces. Yet the Covenant technology tree has been slow to change."

"What do you mean?" Shepard asked inquisitively "This little arms race is new?"

Halsey flipped around her laptop to show the schematics of a large weapon.

"This is the MAC gun, a Magnetic Accelerator Cannon." She said "It has been proven effective at incinerating entire warships within one or two shots. When our ships have lost battles to the devastating might of Covenant fleets, they do not even attempt to salvage what is left of the gun that was on the destroyed ship for themselves. Ever."

"That's stupid!" Shepard said outright "Why would they pass up a weapon that could help them get the upper hand?"

Shepard knew if he ever got this MAC gun he'd use it. If it could destroy Covenant ships in one shot it could destroy a Reaper easy! Halsey turned the laptop around and endeavoured to answer Shepard's conundrum.

"Covenant believe that their Gods' technology is superior." Halsey explained "Are you familiar with the Forerunners?"

Shepard remembered Jun mentioned them before.

"I've heard of them," he answered "that's who they worship."

"It's also where they get all their toys from." Halsey replied "The Covenant believe their Gods intended them to find their lost technology and use it to spread their message across the stars. To destroy enemies and infidels who would defile these... sacred icons of theirs if you will. So holy these relics are they do not even attempt to improve upon it. Time and time again we've found their weapons are reversed engineered from Forerunner tech. But they ignore the short comings of their weapons, if properly studied in full and upgraded we'd be at a severe disadvantage. As it stands, Covenant weaponry has changed little since they began systematically killing us. For them it's heresy to use any other technology but Forerunner in their holy war. Even greater heresy to think the weapons of their perfect deities need improvement."

Shepard told himself to remember that tidbit of information. If Covenant weaponry wasn't reaching its full potentially, they could probably examine it themselves and improve upon its faults and weaknesses. But Shepard was not distracted from what this all meant in the long run.

"If the Covenant only use Forerunner tech and they don't upgrade based on religious grounds," he began piecing together "why are they taking tech from my universe and using it in this war?"

"Precisely my thoughts Shepard." Halsey agreed wholeheartedly "This isn't their MO, something has changed."

Shepard agreed it did sound fishy, but there were explanations.

"Religious fundamentalists are usually the most hypocritical." He reminded her "They found porn on Islamist Fundamentalists' hard-drives in the 21st and let's not forget all the homophobic priests who had gay lovers."

Halsey nodded her head, holding it by her chin as she did.

"True, it is likely." She admitted "But we both know this technology is coming from your universe. They'd still need someone to tell them how it works, and how to integrate it into their systems proper."

"I have a few ideas on who exactly is behind that actually." Shepard admitted "But I don't wanna go pointing fingers just yet."

"It is best to leave our minds open to the possibilities for now." Halsey concurred "Still, we need to find the link between the Covenant and the use of your universes' technology in their arsenal. If I'm right, this could be threat to both our galaxies, greater than either of us could imagine."

Shepard agreed with Halsey, this was a threat. But he still had his reservations.

"Why come to me with all this?" he asked "Why not go to your Spartans or your superiors for help? What's my role?"

"I've noticed the pattern Shepard," said Halsey, "but like I said I have few friends left in ONI. My protests fall on deaf ears. They say the Covenant have just discovered a cache of Forerunner tech. But when you arrived... well... it confirmed my suspicions. As for my Spartans, they answer to others now. Like Jorge, I have no control over their lives anymore."

Shepard still had his doubts about Halsey, but so far she was the only one who would probably listen to him. Who would probably take his warnings at face value. Who saw the proof in front of her and accepted it for what it said no matter how grave it was. And she also seemed like the only person who wanted to do anything about this new technology the Covenant were getting.

He could relate.

"What do you want me to do?" He asked.

"The Zealot leader," Halsey stated. "I trust you want to track him down and question him?"

"Yeah, I do." Shepard replied.

Halsey stood up and turned around marching away from her desk slowly.

"I can pull some strings with the people who still have my back her," she said. "I can make sure that if any Zealot is spotted in the Dead Zone the information goes to your team and your team alone. You can find him, and of course capture him alive."

"And when I do I relay the info back to you?" He asked "Why?"

"I understand the Covenant better than you," she explained. "I can figure out our next move from what he tells you. The information you find could be invaluable. It could lead us to what their end game is, why they're doing this, who is helping them. Everything. But only if we work together."

Halsey turned around abruptly.

"I know Ackerson promised you quicker repairs and upgrades, but I'm sure you know by now he can't be trusted."

Shepard's silence was all she needed to hear to know the answer.

"I still have access to many files within ONI, people who can get things done as I've said." She continued as she marched back to her desk and sat down "Weapon systems, shields, equipment, personell with the know how, anything you need. If that's what it takes you to convince you to help me I'll do it. I'll get it."

Shepard was taken aback. She wasn't kidding he could see that.

"You're serious about this."

"Humanity's survival is at stake Shepard," she informed him "there is no time for jokes. Now are you going to help me or not?"

The answer was clear. This woman was a criminal by all standards, she had committed amoral terrible acts, she had done great harm to others. But then again, it wasn't like that had been an issue before when recruiting certain members of his team. She felt remorse, which was more than he could say for a good deal of folks he had met in Cerberus. And this... this was big. He needed friends now, more than ever.

"Alright," he said "I'm all in."

He stuck out his hand and Halsey shook it.

"Good," she said as she relinquished her grip "with any luck, we can find out what the Covenant are doing in your universe and what they plan for mine together."

Shepard got up at last and walked back over to the door.

"You do realise this doesn't make us friends?" he asked her before he left

"Yes, I do." She admitted, seemingly at peace with that fact "I don't need you to like me Shepard. But I need you to trust me."

Wade looked back to the door, let it slide wide open. As he exited he said a few parting words.

"Trust is in seemingly short supply in this universe." He said as he paused in the doorway, then he continued walking away.

Halsey was left at her desk, quietly contemplating the man who had just left her room. She thought back to another career soldier, much like Shepard. He reminded her of him. They were so alike, so determined, so unwavering, so brave.

"So," she said to herself "you really do know how to pick them don't you ya old goat?"

* * *

><p>AN: So that's chapter Seven. I had more intended, but this thing got long as you can see. So I've decided to split this chapter up a bit. However it works out a bit in my favour I think. It keeps the themes for what happens next separate. This chapter was about the fallout of the last mission and what comes next for our heroes. As well as literal Damage control in Samara trying to figure out how best to defeat a Hunter next they meet.<p>

By the by, any fans of "Generation Kill" will know that Cpl. Pearson is an obvious analogue to Ray Person an actual Marine and character on the show. Writing military grunt dialogue reminded me of the show, and I wanted to put my own spin on Ray's "Lack of Pussy Fucks Countries Up" theory. When you think about it... it does make a crazy kind of sense. Expect more from Kowalski and his fellow Marines grunts as they offer us a laymen's view of this universe. And, well if you didn't guess, in-jokes at the expense of Mass Effect's fan forums and how often they discuss Dat Ass and Dem Hips. Do not expect them to say those exact words! I'm writing bloody fanfiction here not an article on "Know your memes." Besides, those two memes are the only two I've really gotten tired of anyway.

That and the "Saren: A Hero Betrayed" is an actual documentary in the Mass Effect universe. I learned about when looking through Anderson's file on the Shadow Broker's ship. I always wanted to try and make my own excerpt of it. I utilized my knowledge of craptastic crocumentaries that always shgow up on the History Channel. Ya know? Shit that shouldn't be on there? Where they talk to poor saps who think they got abducteed and that Nostradamus was more than just a shitty poet. They're always one-sided, loaded with incorrect facts and never have anyone objective or possessing any real qualifications in the field being discussed. I despise them, so getting to make my own in a small way with a film I know actually exists universe was ever so much fun. Seperatist Turian angle to it is also in-universe too, as the movement was covered on Cerberus Daily News. Real epic story, could be made into a novel really. Badass climax too.

Anywho, next chapter will have Shepard's crew react to the news they apparently are working for a government that condones the kidnapping of children to serve as candidates for their super-soldier program. That's gonna go over REAL well ain't it? Expect sides to be taken and the tensions in the group to widen. Like I said, it would've been included here, were it not for the fact that we ran out of space. Don't worry, you won't miss out on the promised Halsey action. There's like two weeks to fill in between Sword Base and the Sniper Mission (Nightfall) within the game's timeline. More than enough space to work with. Although my aforementioned "WHAM" chapter may end up getting pushed back a bit. Oh well, numbering changes, not the content.

I'll start work on it tomorrow. I would've waited for both to be done to post this, but with Fallout: New Vegas' "Old World Blues" DLC coming out I may find myself preoccupied for... well... the rest of the month. Don't worry, I won't forget you guys. With any luck chapter 8 will be out relatively soon and you'll get to see one of the main confrontations I've been building up towards since this fanfic started. Halsey meets Tali'Zorah, guess what they talk about? With that in mind, I leave you. Remember to review, I need something to read late at night after all. And if you're ever bored waiting for the story to update feel free to browse my past works. Yeah, I know, they're not as good. But it's my past, I like to remember where I've been and how I've improved.

Of course if you wanna read something that I consider an even better story than my own, look for AssaultSloth's "Interstitium", in my opinion the best Mass Effect fanfic I've ever read and a true inspiration for me and the creation of this story. He deserves more views in my opinion.

Edit: Clearing up something, when Tali says that SlipSpace drives could be made to be faster than Relays, she's merely theorizing. All they're trying to do for now is find a way to make Slipspace drives on human ships faster than they currently are now. You know, to get a jump on the Covenant's advantage by a bit. I realise that FTL is faster on the Normandy for now, but I have a way to change it so both the SR2 and other UNSC ships can go faster with slipspace.


	8. Cynicism in the Ranks

Chapter 8: Cynicism in the Ranks

**July 27****th****, 2552**

The Normandy sat in its new dry-dock, near to sword base's airfield by a few miles. It was the only place it could stay for the moment that was secluded enough to keep anyone else spotting the ship. The Aszod ship breaking yards had been only temporary; enough to get the Normandy back to full working order. Now that that had been accomplished the ship needed to remain close to the rest of the squad at Sword Base to minimize distance of travel. The function of this dry-dock was to upgrade it. Currently the ship's thrusters were getting an overhaul, to compensate for the fuel they'd be using now which was more potent than their own. From what one could see on the outside the ship was relatively peaceful, serene. Inside was a different story.

Shepard had finally called a meeting in the briefing room, he told everyone about his meeting with Halsey, about how they were re-focusing all their primary efforts on finding the Zealot Elite that escaped and about the Spartans. He considered for a moment keeping it quiet, but he wanted his crew to know who they were working with. He knew there would be consequences either way, but it was better than them finding out on their own and finding he kept the truth from them. Better to bite the bullet now and hope the pain would subside quickly.

From the sound of the arguing in the briefing room, that would take awhile. Jack was one of the first to start, as Shepard predicted. Out of all the crew members to get the most pissed off about all of this, about the Spartans and Halsey's actions, he knew she would be angered the most. The story was almost parallel to her own life.

"You said we were out of this shit Shepard!" she shouted accusingly "You said no more fucking Illusive Man pulling the strings, no more fucking Cerberus! Now you trade both in for some old bitch of a scientist and Cerberus 2.0!"

"Jack," Miranda said, predictably cutting in as the argument raged "you need to calm down just a bit here and think for a moment. I don't think it's really like that."

"Fuck off cheerleader!" the convict spat back "Screw you and whatever crap justification self-righteous shit you got to spew! I ain't shutting up this time!"

Miranda wasn't one to listen to Jack, nor was she one to back down herself. It was always a dangerous combination of clashing personalities.

"They had their reasons," Miranda told her steadfastly "and from the sound of it they were actually treated better during their stay in this program than at Teltin. It's not exactly the same thing."

Jack's eyes practically bugled out of her head as she pressed herself forward on the table.

"Shoulda known you were nostalgic for the old days when your friends were a bunch of child torturing assholes!" she shouted accusingly

Miranda just sneered at Jack from across the table.

"As I recall, you killed all the kids in the Teltin facility on Pragia when you busted out." She snapped "Suddenly you care about what happens to others besides yourself? That's a shock I got to say."

Two seconds later Jack had a foot on the table, about to leap over and strangle Miranda for that remark. Thankfully Grunt was near her and pulled her back. The Krogan wrapped his arms around the small bald human as she struggled to break free.

"Let me rip her face off already!" she screeched "This has been coming for a long time!"

"Jack, stow it now!" Shepard shouted at her, then he looked over to Miranda "And you, that was out of line! Do not make me confine you both to quarters for the rest of the week."

Miranda reluctantly backed down; Jack took a bit longer to calm herself. Shepard groaned, whenever these two got in a room he had to keep from ever taking one side over the other. You couldn't play favourites in this kind of argument. Not that he even wanted to. He had gotten sick of their antics since day one. To think he had hoped it had gotten better. He was more disappointed with Miri at the moment, she was the XO she was supposed to know better and set the example. Jack however had the uncanny ability to get under her skin.

This information hadn't helped things either. Samara put her feelings on the subject rather bluntly.

"Were I not still under oath to you Shepard I would already be back at Sword Base, dealing with Halsey."

He expected as much from her code, Shepard was just happy she wasn't going to do anything.

"While I have my own reservations about it Sam," Shepard spoke back "can you at least see it from her viewpoint?"

The Asari kept her back straight and hands behind her back as she nodded.

"They committed a terrible act in the hopes it would save more lives, I understand." She admitted "But the code is clear, kidnapping children is wrong. I told you Shepard, the code is black and white, with little wiggle room. As I said, I will not attack her, but it does not change what the code states. My personal opinion cannot change that."

It also meant Samara wouldn't be on pleasant terms with the folks in ONI, not that any of them were after Ackerson but further stressed relations was the last thing they needed.

"Samara has a point Shepard," Tali agreed "while she may feel sorry for it this Halsey admits she authorized the kidnapping of several children. It may have saved lives, but at what cost?"

"I know Tali," Shepard replied "it pisses me off too. I almost stormed out of there. But I'd be lying if I didn't admit it isn't as easy as black and white here."

Jacob himself gave his own opinion, interrupting the two.

"We've still seen what these kind of experiments lead to Shepard," he reminded his commander "Cerberus may have been crueller and more aggressive in their approach, but just cause they used a light touch don't make it right."

"Hey let's not be so quick to judge here," Garrus spoke up "they were in the middle of a war, one that was escalating further. Turians have mandatory military service. I figure they've instituted something similar to that since the Covenant arrived. They just gave these kids a leg up on their enemies. And from what I've seen of the Covenant and the Spartans themselves, I'm kinda wondering how things would be if Halsey didn't do what she did."

Garrus earned a snort from Jack.

"This coming from the guy who basically flipped them the bird last time he saw them." She derided the Turian.

Garrus didn't respond, he just looked away, slightly annoyed. Tali picked up where he left off.

"Fine they've saved lives," she admitted "I'll give them that I suppose. But that was the justification the people working on the Alerai and down in Project Overlord used for their experiments. This whole thing just opens up a huge can of... worms I think? That is the phrase right?"

Tali looked to Shepard who nodded, confirming she got it right. Spotting something out of the corner of her eye she looked over to where Legion stood, who was now looking at her very curiously it seemed. Tali didn't have much time to ponder the look as Mordin added his own two cents to the matter.

"Morally ambiguous situation." He began rattling off "Terrible ramifications. Still, Halsey claims statistics were clear. Does not seem like amateur. Made best decision based on information at hand. Sad to admit, but action may have been necessary."

Quickly adding to Mordin's point was a grumble from the Krogan nearby.

"Hate to agree with the Salarian," Grunt shrugged "but sounds like they raised these humans as Krogan and they survived. They earned their place in their clan as anyone should. Fighting to survive, being the strongest. They sound more like my people than humans when you think about it."

That was something Shepard never thought he'd see, Grunt agreeing with both Garrus and Mordin. But then again, Grunt had said before how he felt he needed to earn his own place among his new Clan on Tuchanka. His attitude concerning the Spartans fit how he viewed himself and the Krogan lifestyle. It was still a bit weird to see Grunt concurring with two representatives of the Krogans' biggest enemies, even if he didn't really hold that big of a grudge against either. Shepard supposed that was somewhat of a positive out of this whole mess.

"And Halsey herself?" Tali asked in follow up, reminding him of the real reason they were having this discussion.

Grunt just snorted.

"Not big on science junk," he admitted "don't think about that part. She sounds a bit like Okeer, but lacking the old hatreds that coloured his actions. Forced them into the life, didn't have a choice. Kinda like me and the tank. But it made them strong, as any Krogan should be. They still earned it. If Shepard trusts her then its fine by me. I defer to my battlemaster when it comes to stuff like this."

Tali shook her head, and looked to the other people in the room who were seemingly holding out on giving their opinions. Thane was strangely quiet throughout the whole ordeal. His mind seemed to be miles away during the meeting. Still he finally made a comment when he saw fit.

"We've all done terrible things we regret," Thane admitted "still I do not like the prospect of working for this woman. I can't condemn her fully, but I can't condone her either."

Zaeed of course was seemingly more practical about it all.

"I'm getting paid either way." He said, grumbling his two cents on the matter "Besides, of all the bullshit child kidnapping schemes we've run across this one sounds like it did the most good in the end. I don't like, don't get me wrong, but Jorge sounds like he respects her so maybe there's something to all of this. Maybe they were treated better than we care to imagine. And they had their reasons."

Tali remained unconvinced by the argument, annoyed at the steadily growing amount of people who were seemingly okay with this.

"Look I admit it, it's a grey area." Tali repeated "They did what they thought had to be done to save their species. I understand what that's like, but I also know what it leads to. This woman stooped to kidnapping to accomplish a goal, how exactly can we trust someone like that? No matter how sincere she sounds."

"The Illusive Man sounded pretty damn sincere when he was barking his orders at us." Kasumi added timidly "Gotta admit, the déjà vu is making me a bit uneasy."

Tali turned to Legion, the last "person", so to speak, that hadn't said anything. The Geth on its part seemingly read Tali's mind, as well as everyone else now turning to the machine.

"We are compiling a consensus." It stated "Further data is needed."

That satisfied everyone for the moment and brought the discussion back to Shepard. As predicted the squad was divided on the issue. Shepard hoped he could get them back on track.

"I'll admit," he finally spoke "it reeks of Cerberus bull. The stuff I wanted to leave behind. But unlike the Illusive Man, Halsey was upfront with us. She admitted her involvement straight faced to me and didn't sugar coat it. She said she was accountable, gave no excuses and took responsibility for it all. That's more than we ever got with our old boss, give her that much."

"It still doesn't raise much confidence in her." Tali quickly added "How can we trust she'll do any of this for us? We don't even know her full agenda. For all we know we could be a small part of some larger plan of hers. Some grand design to launch back up the ranks of ONI for all we know. I don't like the idea of being a stepping stone."

Shepard didn't blame Tali or the others for mistrusting Halsey, hell he wasn't even sure he trusted her. ONI hadn't exactly been making a good impression on them so far, Ackerson being the prime culprit behind that. Halsey just seemed too good to be true in some respects. Willing to help, willing to believe, willing to offer whatever they asked. The crew had learned in the past, mostly in part because of Cerberus, that if something was too good to be true it was.

But Wade knew he had to focus on the big picture here. Despite his and his crew's reservations, they weren't exactly in the best position right now.

"Let's remember while we're all here for a second." He began "EDI, bring up the holographic display of the Covenant Battlecruiser."

The display lit up across the table, the purple oblong shaped craft spinning in front of their eyes while information streamed across its sides.

"That is why we're here," he reminded them adamantly "that thing chased us here. It knew who we were, knew what our ship looked like and was looking for us. It was going in and out of that wormhole for who knows how long, same goes for that giant Supercruiser of theirs. For all we know they got dozens of those ships, maybe hundreds, thousands even, rushing through our dimension as we speak. We can't find out cause we're stranded here and we don't even know where we entered from."

The reminder humbled everyone in the room, the gravity of the situation sinking in once more for them. How alone they truly were in this universe, save for each other. Cut off from their homes, possibly forever, while the Covenant had their way about their dimension.

"My top priority, our top priority is finding out why they're there and who's giving them this tech." Shepard continued as he loosened up a bit. "I know this whole deal with Halsey sounds shady, but it's the best we got right now. We can't ask Holland to keep an eye out for a single Elite in a sea of hundreds. They have an attack to plan and they don't really consider capturing Covenant from the sound of it anyway. Halsey can pull the right strings to help us. At least that's what she says. For now, we need to trust her, even if she's a bit suspect in her motives."

"Give me one damn good reason we should believe a word that bitch even says?" Jack demanded to know "One damn good reason any of us should trust Doctor Turn-Kids-into-Super-Weapons"

Shepard's answer was rather direct.

"Cause it may be our only way home Jack," he told her "The only way any of us are gonna get home. That Elite could know something. He has to! He's our only lead and we can't question him unless he's caught! The only person who can seemingly lead us to him is Halsey, so like it or not, we're stuck with her for now."

Jack glowered at Shepard for a moment, before backing down, staring at the floor slightly defeated. She knew he had a point.

"I understand why you're pissed off about this Jack, really I do." He assured her "I don't like it either, but I'm gonna get us home to stop whatever the Covenant are doing back there one way or another. If that means working for 'Cerberus 2.0' for the time being, fine. We suck it up, bite the bullet and hope we come out the other side squeaky clean. So long as she holds up her end of the bargain we work with her. Now are there any more objections?"

Shepard could tell there were still unsure faces in the crowd, but they said no more words in protest. Good, he wasn't gonna have to order them to do anything. He wasn't gonna stifle their opinions on the matter, even if they divisive. So long as they understood his motives it would lessen whatever fallout would come from all this.

"Good," he told them, relieved the matter was resolved for the moment "now then. Next part of the agenda, we gotta pack up the Hunter Armour and send it over to the UNSC. I've already told Holland we had it in our possession, forwarded him all the necessary data about the device."

"How'd he take it?" Garrus asked

Shepard shrugged, weighing his hands from side to side.

"Little bit annoyed it took so long to get back to him, glad we did half the work for the lab boys." Shepard said "So he's a bit pissed off, but ultimately he's gonna let it slide. Next time though, he wants us to contact him before we go studying stuff we find in the field. We pull this again he won't be as generous."

Tali was relieved to hear it, her shoulder's lowering at the news of that potential storm weathered. She was happy to hear Wade hadn't let the matter drag out any longer. She was also surprised it hadn't gotten them in a bit more trouble. She guessed Holland had bigger things to worry about at the moment concerning the coming attack on the Dead Zone. Who cares about armour when you have a planet to save?

Still, Holland's warning showed why they should've tried to go through the proper channels first before swiping the thing from the battlefield. It was a potential strike against them, one they didn't need. But there were more pressing matters at hand nonetheless. Specifically concerning upgrades.

"Weapon systems and other enhancements are coming in today," Shepard reminded everyone, specifically Tali "With any luck we can get them installed without complications."

Complications like the Slipspace drive, which was proving to be a bit of a hassle. When Dot gave the full scope of what they were dealing with it was obvious that getting this ship to work with Slipspace was gonna be harder than it sounded. Hopefully EDI had come up with some kind of solution. That was what Tali hoped for at least. She'd been talking with Dot so much Tali could only assume they had come up with something.

Still there was some good news concerning the already acquired upgrades.

"The coolant we got from the UNSC has at least taken to the systems well." She told Shepard "I checked the chemical make-up of the mixture. Adding it to the systems should cool down our ship's heat output. Give the ship's heat sinks a helping hand, increasing the amount of time we can spend in Stealth mode."

Shepard finally smiled for the first time in the meeting. That was good news, now they could keep the Normandy off the radar even longer. The lack of proper windows on the Covenant ships meant they advantage concerning sneak attacks was now in their favour. Considering all that had happened to them the prospect of turning the tables sounded like music to Shepard's ears.

"Good to hear Tali," he said rather pleased "keep me posted on the other upgrades. I wanna know what this ship is gonna be able to take when we get her outfitted in full. Now you all best return to your duties, we still have a lot of work to do before journey into the dead zone. Best we be ready. Miranda, we don't wanna get any more surprises like the Hunters. Have you got some information on any other Covenant species we haven't met yet?"

"Yes a number," Miranda replied "one of them particularly... gruesome."

Lawson winced as she thought of the species in question.

"I compiled an extensive dossier on the species, I think it's imperative we all read it and memorize it now." She said a sense of dread in her voice "I doubt any of us would want to be ill-prepared for when we must face them. Trust me on that."

Shepard merely nodded, he trusted Miranda when it came to threat assessment. Mainly because she lost that air of self-confidence about her and became more wary about the situation. If she was a bit disturbed by this species she had good reason.

"Load up a file onto an OSD and give it to everyone." He told her "As for any further concerns about the Spartans you can talk to me about them later. Alright guys, I think that's enough for today then, dismissed."

As everyone, reluctantly or otherwise, began to clamber out of the room, Shepard called out to one of them in particular.

"Garrus," he said calmly "can I speak with you in private for a moment?"

The Turian was taken aback by the request, but he didn't seem surprised. Everyone else momentarily looked at Garrus before continuing on their way. The Turian remained in the room and slowly marched back to his commander.

"I know what this is about Shepard," he said straight-faced and plainly "honestly I think Thane is of greater concern than me."

"I'll talk to Thane when he's ready." Shepard assured Garrus "I'm giving him time to think. Otherwise he won't listen. You however I can always trust to listen at least."

Garrus frowned, annoyed at how right Shepard was. They had known each other for too long now, they knew how the other worked. Garrus knew this lecture was coming since two days ago. It was practically preordained the minute he opened his mouth.

"I've told you before Shepard, I'm not a great Turian." He explained "When someone gives a bad order I don't follow it blindly."

"Maybe, but Humans tend to keep from voicing their objections in public." Shepard told him sternly "I would imagine Turians have a similar coda."

Garrus shrugged slightly. Shepard was right, it wasn't really a good idea to speak ill of a superior officer period in the Turian military. But Garrus had never been one to cow tow to authority figures. Wade was the unique exception.

"I wasn't thinking, I admit it." Garrus relented "I think I was just still bitter over the whole thing and I kinda wanted to get back at Carter for telling me not to follow the Zealot. It was petty, I know. But you gotta admit at least that the call was wrong. If he let me go after him we'd probably have the answers we need about the Covenant's plans already."

"I'd imagine during the time you weren't thinking of capturing him." Shepard responded "You did after all join in with the others to shoot at him."

Garrus nodded, he supposed he was thinking more along the lines of killing the Elite rather than taking him in. Still, the Elite had been wounded. Given the right condition he may have ended up as a prisoner after all, despite what Garrus' original intentions of chasing him down were.

"I still think we would've had a better chance at grabbing him back at Visegrad." He expressed adamantly "Now we have to hope Halsey's people somehow catch him and point us to him. It's a long shot sir, whether or not we can trust Halsey. They still have to find him. For all we know he could've been aboard that Corvette and this is all one big goose chase."

"We need to hope that isn't the case." Said Shepard as he leaned over the briefing table, his face sullen and dire at the prospect. He then turned back to Garrus, his expression seemingly more composed and his voice lighter in tone "Right now Halsey's our best shot at finding him so we can get our answers. As for Noble Team we're gonna be stuck with them for awhile no doubt. They're Holland's people and we're under his jurisdiction now. We do not need to make this situation more uncomfortable than it already is, and I mean that in respect to both sides."

Garrus supposed Shepard had a point. Noble Team had been largely hesitant to accept them into the fold. Jorge seemed to like them, Six tolerated them, Carter, Jun and Kat were wary and suspicious while Emile, well, he just seemed to outright hate them. Garrus knew he hadn't done himself any favours by speaking out of turn.

"You don't need to tell me we need to play ball and be nice Shepard, I know the drill." Garrus assured him "I guess me and Noble Lead tend to butt heads a bit. I don't hate the guy I just guess our styles don't exactly mesh. I'm the loose cannon cop turned vigilante, he's the career soldier who clicks his heels and does what he's told."

Shepard smirked at the notion.

"You know I recall that being a friction point between ourselves when we first met." Shepard noted

"Yeah but you were always willing to skirt the boundaries of the rules when it mattered." Garrus reminded him, chortling a bit "You didn't let Noveria's corporate elite push you around for one and let's not forget the fact you and I stormed Chora's Den together. Without a warrant I might add."

The two had a bit of a good laugh at it all, but nostalgia was pushed to the side as soon as Shepard regained his composure.

"Look, I understand why you did it, but it doesn't make it any less unprofessional." Shepard told him flatly "You need to sort this thing out with Noble Team, before it affects our partnership with them any more than it has."

"So what I just say I'm sorry then?" Garrus asked

Shepard shook his head

"I don't think that's gonna solve this, but it's a start." Shepard informed him "Just try and keep from saying anything else that could get you in deeper hot water, okay?

"Don't worry, it won't happen again." Garrus assured "I think we have enough problems already without me adding to them. That and giving Emile more reasons to want me dead is certainly counter-productive."

"You tend to have that affect on a lot of people." Shepard laughed "You did have all three of the major mercenary gangs trying to rip your head off on Omega after all."

Garrus smiled.

"What can I say," he snarked "pissing off people is a gift of mine."

* * *

><p>EDI and Dot had been number crunching for hours now; engineering was abuzz with their very public display of AI camaraderie. Kenneth joked monetarily that it was the first stage in the machine uprising. He continued that thread until Tali showed up, and he clammed up out of respect.<p>

Tali for her part was just trying to work on the slipspace drive over their simulation banter. She was all for tech talk, but EDI and Dot were really into it and it was somewhat distracting. But a part of her didn't want to blame them. EDI was the one leading the conversation and talking to another was rare for her outside of Legion. That and Dot was trying to help.

They needed it, because the slipspace drive had turned out to be a bit more volatile than they imagined. There were more complications inherent in the drive than they had imagined. For one, the reason UNSC ships tended to be so ridiculously big was because of the slipspace drive itself. It worked on big ships mainly, otherwise the craft tended to come apart at the seams from all the stress. The Normandy was incredibly tiny compared to them and thus made it vulnerable to this complication.

Then there was an inherent risk involved to personnel. Supposedly some engineers tended to go missing when a slipspace drive was activated. Kenneth was quick to freak out. Now Donnelly was even more against having the drive onboard, if it meant him possibly ending up transported to oblivion he didn't want to be anywhere near the thing.

Tali was concerned about these complications, but not discouraged. Working aboard the Flotilla had taught her a valuable lesson. Every problem had a solution. Every mechanical hurdle could be overcome with the proper tools and know how. Slipspace was no different. New technology or not she would find a way to make this thing work with the Normandy.

Of course she'd have an easier time, Tali thought, if she was allowed to examine the drive bit by bit without two AI's talking ship in the background. Down below in the service access way, Tali could hear the two yapping away.

"Slipspace tends to be highly volatile in any ship to be precise." Dot explained "There are over a dozen or so safety procedures concerning each potential emergency."

"Are there many catastrophic failures of note?" EDI asked

"Some ruptures remain localised to the ship's interior without the proper calibrating." Dot continued "It has happened on more than one occasion. Far more devastating is the drive teleporting half the ship into subspace without any direction or course. It is forever lost in the sub-dimension. Irretrievable and inevitably fatal to any whisked away with the drive."

"We once encountered something similar in our travels," EDI added "a relay that destroyed all ships that entered through it. However it was not the Relay itself that caused the destruction rather the ship's inability to accurately pinpoint a safe zone within the galactic core."

"That should not be a problem with Slipspace," Dot assured "from my understanding the system is very accurate. Depending on the proper coordinates of course. There is always a margin of error in any action. It is why most ships rely on AIs to input the appropriate coordinates."

"AI's like you?" EDI asked fascinated by the prospect

"No, that function is left up to far more capable programs than myself." Dot explained "I am merely an intelligence program. Slipspace coordination is beyond my capabilities, but relaying information is not."

"How come we haven't seen any of these other AIs?" EDI asked "The ones that take on these more difficult functions?"

"They are mainly kept in secure locations and aboard ships, the reason is simple you have not been given access." Dot told EDI

"A shame," EDI replied, sounding disappointed "I personally would love to meet an AI that is in charge of a ship much like myself. We could exchange manoeuvre and cyber-warfare tactics."

Tali had by now had enough of the AIs yapping away while she worked, especially about seemingly chit chat junk that had no relevance on what they were doing.

"Can you two please knock off your little pow-wow already and actually help here?" she asked

EDI's voice quickly spoke up as Tali looked up to the engine room above her through the open access panel.

"I am sorry Tali, we did get off track a bit." She admitted "I suppose somewhere in the middle of considering the dangers of the drive I got slightly side tracked. My curiosity tends to be troublesome that way."

"Its fine," Tali groaned "I just... well I'm used to working in relative quiet aboard the Normandy is all. You get used to it after awhile, not having to worry about someone chatting behind your back."

It didn't help when it was two AIs who were technically supposed to be telling you how to do your job and they were busy getting chummy. Specifically because one of them had only ever encountered one other AI program in her short life. She knew EDI was just reaching out to her fellow synthetics, but it didn't make her feel any less marginalised by the whole thing. Like the synthetics were outnumbering her more and more, that she was now seemingly the minority in this world.

"Can we just focus on the slipspace drive problem for now?" she asked "I had a few ideas on how we could make it work for us despite the size problem."

"As have we," Dot added politely "but we would be interested in your own plans."

While Dot hadn't meant it to sound demeaning, Tali couldn't help but feel like the AI were humouring her. As if they already had an answer and they were just playing along. She fought the urge to shout at them to stop patronizing her. A part of her kept reminding her that they were just trying to help. That they were like any other life form in a similar position, with similar knowledge of the device she was working with.

The fact they were AI however was a considerable obstacle for her.

"Well," she began, trying to keep her composure "I was thinking about how our Mass Effect field reduces our mass to allow us to travel at FTL speeds. We could in theory reverse the process to make us denser, thus stabilizing the process."

"That could work," EDI said, simulating the idea as she thought of it "but there are inevitable complications."

"Yes," Tali admitted "it would mean the ship would have to transport more mass. Thus defeating the whole purpose of this project, making the drive go faster, because we'd be heavier and the thrusters would have to work twice as hard to move us."

Tali knew it wasn't exactly a full proof plan, but it was something to fall back on. She did however another idea.

"We could also reinforce the hull," she surmised "if we can keep the ship together we could bypass the problem altogether."

"That is feasible." Dot proclaimed "May I also suggest perhaps bulking the Normandy's weight up considerably? The added weight from extra armour would no doubt make slipspace entry easier through the added density and protect the ship from Covenant attack. All in all both actions together would sufficiently increase your chances of entering and exiting slipspace with relatively ease."

It was a good solution, and it allowed them to maintain their ability to shrink the density through mass effect fields, allowing speedier travel. Tali began to raise herself up out of the service tunnel.

"If it works we won't have to sacrifice speed." Tali noted as she clambered up and looked at the drive core in the center of engineering "The drive core on the Normandy has more than enough kick to properly launch us through subspace at exponential speeds. Unfortunately we can't exactly transfer one just like it to every UNSC ship out there."

"No," EDI agreed, quickly adding "but using the information I stole from the battlecruiser we could incorporate some of the Covenant's understanding of slipspace into the installation. And if we added mass effect field reduction capability to the UNSC's drives, in theory they'd still maintain their required mass to survive transit but with reduced density their speed should be enhanced."

"If my calculations are correct," Dot noted "we could increase light-years per day on UNSC ships ten or a hundred fold."

It was a start, but Tali imagined there were other ways to boost their slipspace drive's efficiency. The Slipspace drive by itself, for example, couldn't generate thrust. Their ship's FTL propulsion system could solve that problem, but if they could find a way to give the slipspace drive a mean of creating thrust as well as generating a rupture the odds could swift in their favour exponentially.

It would just take time of course; this problem wouldn't be solved over night. Few engineering hurdles ever were. But Tali relished the challenge. AI holding her hand or otherwise, she'd enjoy cracking this thing.

"I also considered a way to avoid the hazards of slipspace on the personnel." EDI added "Well, Dot and I conceived it actually."

"Well I'm all ears," Tali told them both as she looked over at EDI's blue hologram on its panel "Donnelly has been freaking out about it ever since you told him."

"A mass effect field around the slipspace drive along with the proper shielding should make it safer to operate around during activation." Dot told Tali "Still, it would be best we test such a theory with very strict precautions. The safety of the crew is important of course."

Tali wondered why Dot felt the need to say that out loud. Of course they'd take precautions; they didn't want anyone vanishing on their watch, being transported to oblivion. Perhaps it was a subroutine of her programming. Tali put it out of her mind for the moment, before realising another possibility. That the AI had said that for her benefit, that it was showing concern.

Tali ignored the thought as soon as it registered. Dot was a program, bits of data, they didn't show concern. She wasn't like EDI at all, she had admitted it. She was more like a VI than anything else. EDI could think for herself, Dot couldn't. And if it sounded like concern it was just a part of her personality matrix or some other subroutine.

That was at least what she tried to tell herself as she went back to work.

* * *

><p><strong>July 28<strong>**th****, 2552**

The assorted marines and troopers gathered as close as they could to the assembled brass in the hanger. Sword Base's airfield was still under repair, but even without the planes landing and taking off there was still action to see. Thanks in part to Jacob Taylor.

Shepard had asked him to head down here, to give some top ranking UNSC officers a bit of a demonstration concerning their tech. He had also brought along Mordin, to show some of the less explosive and deadly bits of their technology. Shepard told them it was a good way of showing their new allies what they had to offer them, in exchange for something in return of course.

Jacob at the moment didn't care, he just wanted to put on a good show for these grunts and devil dogs so to speak. It had been a long time since he had been among like minded folks, military men so to speak. Cerberus wasn't exactly the same as the Corsairs or the Alliance Navy. Didn't have the same regs, played loose with the rules. It was liberating, but Jacob had always felt a bit nostalgic for the old days. More so now that the Normandy wasn't working with Cerberus anymore, hell they weren't working for anyone but Shepard right now.

The officers at the front of the pack spoke up first.

"Alright Mr. Taylor," announced one of the Army Generals, his name tag read Croft "we're taking a lot of time out for you. I hope this is worth that time. We need to be planning for operations against the Covenant, not participating in some dog and pony show of yours."

Silently Jacob vowed to prove Croft's assumption wrong.

"I'm sure you and your men will find it is good use of your time sir." Jacob responded as he saluted "We have quite a bit to show you here, maybe even trade with ya for the right price."

The officers and lower ranked soldiers all looked at each other confused.

"What price exactly?" asked a Marine Colonel

"Commander Shepard wants a look at some of these armour upgrades you got lying around." Jacob explained "But he figures he won't get something for nothing, so he's offering a demonstration of some of our own weapons and tech. If we can come to an arrangement of sorts..."

The officers looked to each other, in silence, without speaking they all agreed.

"Proceed Mr. Taylor." Croft told him

With a cocky smile, Jacob lifted up an assault rifle and held it up for the assorted crowd to see.

"This here is an M-15 Vindicator," he began "a three round burst, highly accurately rifle. But unlike yours it doesn't use bullets. It scrapes off a piece of a large metal slab inside the gun, a piece no bigger than a grain of sand to be precise. It fires this grain using mass effect technology at speeds of an excess of over ten percent or so that the speed of light travels. This does a lot of damage for such a small package let me tell you. Course to fire it you need to load this thing in."

Jacob held up a thermal clip to the crowd briefly before showing how to insert it.

"Mass Effect fields generate quite a bit of heat, we've had guns blow up in our faces in the past from putting our fingers on the trigger for way too damn long." Jacob explained "Messes up the barrel and everything. So they installed a safety feature of sorts, you need a thermal clip to fire rounds. The clip absorbs the heat allowing the user..."

Jacob aimed the weapon down towards a dummy target, a mannequin of sorts, and fired. The blast chipped a huge portion of the dummy's face clean off. The display Earned a bit of light applause from everyone, but they were not entirely impressed.

"Interesting Mr. Taylor, but our guns work just fine without these mass effect fields." Croft told him

Jacob only smirked

"That's just a preliminary sir," he elaborated "you know get the explanations for how the other things we're showing off work. Also, the Vindicator, like many of our weapons, has more than one function. With a simple flip of a switch..."

Jacob twisted something on the barrel of the vindicator, lighting up a red holographic display alongside it. He fired at the dummy again and the room watched in awe as the mannequin caught the rounds and was set aflame. Then Jacob twisted the barrel again, the holographic display alongside the rifle turned white. Jacob fired once more and this time the mannequin began to freeze over. Before long it tumbled onto it's back and shattered to pieces.

The collective crowd was rather stunned at the whole scene.

"Inferno and Cryo rounds gentlemen," Jacob stated "roast or flash freeze your enemies. Whatever your pleasure, and we have plenty other ammunition types. Think how the Covenant is gonna feel when their troops start catching fire or turning to ice right in front of them. Fear factor, and better stopping power. They ain't gonna be bothering you while they're trying to stop drop and roll, and while frozen it makes it all the easier to just break them apart. And it's not just rifles; all our guns have this capability. All you need is thermal clips and we can make plenty on board the Normandy."

This earned more enthusiastic applause from everyone, Croft himself seemed impressed. But only just a little.

"Pretty useful Mr. Taylor, but surely you have something for potentially greater threats." He questioned, sounding rather sceptical "Our troops need more than just small arms to fight this war."

"Right you are sure," Jacob smiled broadly, enjoying this salesman like pitch act just a bit at the moment "that's why I brought down a little something extra special. Very rare gun so to speak, it's the only one we got currently, but I'm hoping with your resources that can change."

Jacob walked back to the table, placing the vindicator down and picking up a smooth looking weapon. One that looked far more alien in nature than the vindicator, at first glance it even appeared somewhat organic. Like an insect's discarded exoskeleton shell over a weapon stock.

"This is a Collector Particle Beam weapon," Jacob began "a gun we liberated from a bunch of aliens who didn't seem to agree all that much with us. No worries about them trying to reclaim sirs, they met with an unfortunate accident so to speak."

"What kind?" Shouted a voice from the back rather jokingly

"The nuclear kind buddy." Jacob answered "My Commander doesn't pussyfoot around when he wants something dead, I tell you."

This earned some chuckles from the troopers, marines and few of the officers. They quickly composed themselves as Jacob continued with the demonstration. He took aim at another dummy and fired a concentrated particle beam blast at it. The weapon set the dummy ablaze, leaving a large scorch mark line across the body. Before long the upper torso fell clean off from the lower. This display elicited some cheers as well as clapping.

By now Taylor had gotten their attention. As bonus he also probably instilled a bit of respect for his commander as well. The UNSC would probably give more credit to a man who single handily destroyed a hostile alien race. Maybe they'd hope he'd do the same for their problems.

Now was the time to take things down slightly, before the big finale. He looked to Mordin, who nodded and walked off towards a large box.

"But we don't just have weapons that kick ass. We got some pretty fancy tech in other areas as well." Taylor began to explain "We're gonna demonstrate that for ya right now. He got a 600 hundred pound loaded crate here. Hard to move in most circumstances. Not for us though, not with a little help. First let's pick a volunteer."

Jacob scanned the crowd, finding a rather lanky looking private in the back, he pointed to him.

"You!" he said, the trooper looking a bit perplexed "Yeah you get over to that box and lift it for me will ya?"

The trooper shrugged and decided to indulge Jacob, he walked over to the box, just as Mordin had finished setting up a small pillar device in front of it. Turning on the device, the crate was soon eradiated in a blue glow. The private was apprehensive, but Mordin nudged him on.

"No worries. Completely safe. No radiation involved." The Salarian assured

The private reached down, grabbed the crate by its sides, breathed in deeply, and began to lift. Amazingly he managed to lift it like it was no problem. So much so he almost toppled over with it from the surprise. It was extremely light. He even managed to lift it over his heads.

"Hey! I'm like Mr. Muscle over here!" he said laughing "Maybe I should try out for the Spartans!"

Jacob however set the man straight.

"That my friends, is the work of a mass effect field." Taylor told them all "The generator we have hooked up is activating a mass effect field generating device we have inside the crate. It makes the objects density lighter and easier to move. And if you had any doubt that we're just playing with ya with a smoke and mirrors act here..."

Mordin, smiling rather sinisterly, began to turn down the dial on the generator pillar. Slowly, but surely, the field began to fade. The density crept back in to the crate once more, making it 600 hundred pounds again. As the crate became heavier the private struggled to keep it lifted. Until finally he was forced to let it drop. Luckily it avoided crushing his feet, which would've added to the embarrassment he now felt as all his fellow troopers and the assorted Marines just laughed at the display.

"You can make objects lighter or heavier." Jacob continued "You could make a ten-ton tank essentially weigh the same weight as a small car. You could be speeding along the battlefield like no one's business with a huge ass cannon, loaded for bear. Talk about blitzkrieg huh fellas?"

By now Taylor had these people and he was ready for the final show stopper. He went back over to the table and now lugged the biggest weapon they had on the Normandy, a large yellow bulky looking device, with a nuclear warning on its side.

"This, is the Cain." He said "We don't get much use out of it, but I figured you'd guys would wanna see it."

Actually Shepard had suggested taking along, the Cain was their most powerful weapon. Only hindered by the fact the thing could only fire one shot. Still, the UNSC would want to see what the Normandy had to offer. If they wanted those armour upgrades they'd have to show something big. The Cain fit that description.

Course there was the problem in actually showing the thing off.

"Now I can't exactly use this thing in the hanger here, so we're gonna try and expand our horizons just a bit."

Jacob looked outside, past the hanger doors to an old beaten down Pelican that had been shot to pieces during the Covenant's attack on sword Base. He had asked the wreckage to be dragged a spot several yards away from hangar door. When it was set up he asked for the area around the damaged vehicle to vacate the area.

He did not want an accident screwing this whole thing up.

"Mordin everyone clear?" he asked

Mordin looked through a pair of UNSC binoculars and nodded his head.

"Designated blast area clear." He said "Fire when ready."

Jacob turned back t the crowd, adding one last thing.

"By the way, try not to look into the blast directly, and don't worry, there's no radiation involved. It's just Mass Effect fields working that magic you just saw but to the most extreme." He told them all "If you got sunglasses, now is the time to put'em on."

Jacob steadied his breathing. He had good reason to be a bit nervous about this part of the demo. This was mainly because he hadn't fired the Cain before, ever. They had only ever fired it like twice during their time with it. Twice! It wasn't like they had much practice with the damn thing. How did you practice with a mass effect equivalent of a hand-held nuclear device! Whatever the case, Jacob was just happy that the Cain's nickname as a nuke launcher was inaccurate. He did want to end up glowing or something after all this.

With a press of the trigger, the large shearing round launched from the Cain and arched towards the downed pelican. The flash came next, not as big as the real thing, but still pretty bright. The Mushroom Cloud eventually rose up out of the light, giving everyone the chills, even if it wasn't a nuclear explosion. The pelican for its part was obliterated. Everything had gone well from the looks of it, except for one unintended side-effect. Jacob had wanted the Cain to be a surprise, so he hadn't told the airfield's commander what they'd be doing exactly. The airfield's alarm sounded and rung in their ears as the cloud dissipated above them. Croft rang up the airfield's commander and told him to shut off the alarm, that it was just a weapons demonstration. With that matter settled, and the quiet returned, Jacob went about answering the obvious questions everyone was no doubt thinking.

"Ya see this thing fires a traditional high explosive 25 gram slug." He explained "But accelerated through mass effect fields at around 5 kilometres a second it packs a big enough wallop to do that. Suffice to say, Mass Effect fields at their finest."

The entire hanger erupted into wild applause and cheering once the initial shock had finally set in. The Marines and Army troopers had gotten a kick out of the whole thing. And the officers, even Croft, seemed more interested than ever.

"Does this Cain of yours use the same Thermal clips as your rifles?" he asked Jacob

"We have a separate version of them just for heavy weapons," Jacob answered "they're a bit bigger of course. Have to absorb more heat. But they're just as portable."

Croft and the generals all nodded with each other, getting themselves into a bit of a small huddle with one another as they talked things over.

"We could use a rechargeable beam weapon on the frontlines," one of the marines officers spoke aloud to his colleagues "and that Cain it could kill a whole three squads of Covenant. Destroy a small detachment of Wraith tanks in one hit!"

"You'd need to pack a lot of power cells though sirs." Jacob warned "Thats what these heavy weapons use and we always have trouble keeping the Cain well stocked. It's an incredibly hungry gun, so to speak. You only get one shot."

Croft and the other officers didn't seem to care about that tidbit.

"We can probably sort that problem out Mr. Taylor," he assured "can you go about replicating some of these weapons for us?"

"Most of them. The particle beam is tricky, we only have the one and it's hard to replicate the parts." Jacob told the General slightly sullen "But we have scanned and looked at the thing in detail and we think it's possible we could make our own version of one. A perfected version to be precise. We just never had the components, you however..."

"Give us those plans and we'll see what we can do." Croft told him "As well as making that Cain more efficient and less of a power cell sucker. Tell your commander he's earned his armour upgrades and then some."

Jacob looked on at the General as he walked away. He felt satisfied at a job well done. Shepard would get his armour upgrades, and by extension so would everyone else. They needed them. After what they saw the Hunters do with theirs they couldn't just ignore it. That armour lock ability, as it was called, Jacob had already thought of a dozen uses for it. If there were other upgrades like that, other armour abilities, they had to get a look at them.

Shepard called it balancing the scales of this conflict. The Covenant would not have an advantage over the Normandy team again. Not if Shepard had his say.

* * *

><p>Jorge couldn't stop gushing about it all since he had heard about the demonstration. A weapon that fired nukes from a two handed weapon, nukes that weren't really nukes and caused massive damage to anything they hit. Six had expected that to be more up Emile's ally, Noble Four loved violent stuff like that. But Jorge had a bit of a thing for heavy weapons, and this one was a major heavy weapon.<p>

"Troopers said it obliterated a whole pelican, turned it to scrap." He said "Imagine what it would do to a Wraith or two."

"Would be a heck of a lot more useful than just spamming rockets hoping we can dodge the plasma arcs till we can reload the tube." Six noted "Our new friends certainly have such wonderful toys don't they?"

"Makes ya wonder where they got all of them huh?" Jorge asked in return "I didn't really believe their story at first, but it's starting to sound more and more likely."

Six had to admit it to. He tried himself to pass it all off as a bunch of aliens they just hadn't met yet, a bunch of rogue humans who had sided with them out of the hope for survival. But that theory kept getting challenged as the evidence mounted. This had become especially true after his talk with Legion the other day. It had changed some his mind a bit about some things. About how he thought about Legion and how he thought about one other person from the Normandy.

Six had decided he'd talk to Legion about it all again when got the chance. Right now though, he was just trying to bond with a fellow Spartan for a change. He still felt a bit outcast among Noble team. His status had only been helped by Garrus' big mouth. Everyone was more pissed off at him now for mouthing off than they were at Six for stealing Thom's spot after his death.

Course if Jorge was mad at Garrus, or Six at any point for that matter, he rarely showed it. He was at least friendly enough with him now to walk with outside his armour, which needed repairs. Six had always been more comfortable in his armour since he first got it. He only ever took it off in private, and did most of the repairs himself. Still, it was weird seeing a Spartan, any Spartan, outside their armour for any stretch of time. Six took this as a sign Jorge was at least more accepting of the new sixth member of their group.

"I guess it's just nice to know we got some allies packing some serious firepower." Jorge continued "The Covies in that Dead Zone are gonna wish they never even heard the name of this planet when we're through with them."

It was nice to see Jorge more confident and chipper. He had been pretty down a few days ago when news concerning the media blackout had hit. It was so nice to see the big guy more like himself Six didn't have the heart to state the cold hard reality. That the Covenant probably wouldn't care how many they lost, they'd just be back for more eventually. They were stubborn like that.

But why spoil the moment with a touch of the harsh truth. Lord only knew how little hope was in supply these days.

"You know for a Spartan II you sure don't act like one." Six told him, changing gears a bit.

"What you mean? There's a specific way Spartan IIs are supposed to act?" Jorge asked confused

He had heard a lot of differing accounts of what IIs were like. Spartans were super-soldiers, but they weren't inhuman. They had shades to them, like normal people did. It was just Spartan IIs tended to be inward and reclusive. They kept to themselves a lot so to speak. No doubt because they all knew each other, because they had all grown up together and they had all fought together. Not to mention there were so few of them left now, so few actually still active, so few Spartans that weren't "missing in action" so to speak.

"It's just you're so open and all," Six explained "social I suppose. It's not how you picture an eight foot super soldier."

"Always was a bit different." Jorge admitted humbly "guess I just handled the incorporation in the program better than most. Made the most of it. Hell, I didn't even have to leave my home planet. So I guess that was a plus for me. Made it easier to adjust."

"You ever wonder what it would've been like if you hadn't been picked?" Six asked

It was a question many a Spartan, Six included, asked themselves time to time. More often than not they brushed it aside, the answer always coming up the same. "Don't dwell on it, it does no good." Jorge's response was similar.

"Why? Do you?" he asked

Six just stared off into space, as the two stopped walking. Things were dead silent while Six mulled his own question to himself over in his head.

"Sometimes, but you know how us Spartan IIIs are picked." He finally replied "Not for the UNSC and ONI I'd be nothing right now. Actually I'd probably be dead. Me, I mostly just try and focus on the future. You know if there is one."

"You mean like after the war?" Jorge asked lightly

Six nodded and trotted to look out a nearby large plane window across from them in the hall, looking out at the horizon.

"This ain't gonna last forever," he told Jorge "I honestly wonder what my place in the Galaxy after everything is done is gonna be. If I live of course. Not sure I have the skill set to make it out in the real world."

"Hey don't put yourself down." Jorge told him "I'm sure there's plenty of places that could use someone like you around."

"If they need assassin I guess." Six shrugged

Jorge's only response was to rub the back of his neck, feeling awkward at the moment. Six continued, very plainly, not even raising or lowering his voice.

"Well that's what I am Five," he said "got pulled from my company to be a personal grim reaper for some big shot military officer. I haven't been with a team since then. Well, until I joined up with you guys of course. I mean, after all this over what are people gonna need me for anymore?"

"Hey, the human race always wants to kill someone right?" Jorge asked "Maybe you'll go back to mopping up militia again."

Six snorted a condescending laugh.

"Yeah perfect, I help the human race survive getting killed by aliens only to continue helping humanity snuff its life out on our own accord." He said in pessimistic tongue "What a wonderful contradiction in my career path. I hope your planned future is better than mine."

Jorge smiled momentarily.

"Well I always did think about setting up my own little farm here on Reach and just settling down ya know?" Jorge thought

Six grinned under his helmet, closing his eyes and thinking.

"Yeah that sounds nice alright, just day in day out, watching the sunset and rise, just enjoying life, not worrying about tomorrow." Six mused "Be nice to know we could still do that."

He opened his eyes once more and stared over to a corner in the hall. His melancholy turned right around when he saw someone at a nearby terminal, Legion. What it was doing was anybody's guess, but it was probably research and data collection. That was all Legion ever seemed to do.

"Hey it's your robot friend." Jorge said aloud, noting the Geth himself "That guy keeps popping up around us. It's like he's stalking you."

"He's more of a 'they' actually." Six corrected his taller comrade

The two Spartans slowly walked over to the synthetic as its glowing blue eye scanned the terminal's screen. Pictures of Covenant weaponry flashed up and were then replaced by Human sniper rifles. Six remembered Legion mentioning how fast its brain was. Now he was seeing it in action, the robot was one hell of a speed reader from the looks of it.

"Didn't expect to see you down here Legion," Six said, announcing their presence "come to hear more war stories?"

"We do not wish to disappoint you Six Noble, but we have not." Legion informed him "We are examining Covenant and Human weaponry. We have found that your weapons have substantially more recoil and weight than traditional mass effect based rifles. To compensate for these factors as well as others we are researching them in detail. We hope to better prepare ourselves for the next time we are forced to use weapons found in the field. From our understanding Thermal clips are in short supply in this universe."

"Are you at risk of running out of ammo for your guns?" Jorge asked

Legion's head swivelled towards them, tearing it's sight away from the screen.

"No," it answered plainly "the Normandy can replenish and make more thermal clips with our micro-replicators. The danger exists only in the field and during prolonged combat."

"Any guns you like so far?" Six asked

Legion's head slowly swivelled back to the screen, just as the picture changed once more to show human shotgun, then it quickly vanished and showed off a Covenant plasma cannon.

"This platform is more suited to assault based weaponry and long ranged rifles." Legion replied "Your sniper and designated marksman rifles are preferable to our specifications. We intend to further study the weapons on one of your training courses later."

"Heh, that's gonna be a sight for the troopers." Jorge laughed "Robot with a hole in its torso shooting targets with a human gun. That's gonna draw more eyes than the biotic training sessions do."

As the discussion continued, another familiar face rounded the corner. In another unexpected surprise for Six, Tali was in the base. When she got a look at them she jumped back, surprised herself to see them all.

"Six, Five, Legion, didn't expect to see you." She said, her voice a bit jumpy

"We're running into you guys more and more it seems." Six noted "What brings you down here?"

"I am trying to requisition some supplies we need." Tali said somewhat apprehensive "It's a bit hard. I, um, also have been instructed to report to one of Holland's liaisons here to inform him of our work on the slipspace drive."

Tali kept looking back and forth between Six and Five, avoiding eye contact with Legion at the same time. Her fingers twitched against each other, and she was soon edging away from all three of them.

"In fact, I'm uh... late. So I best get going. See you later Legion." She said hurriedly, looking at the Geth only slightly before rushing off

To say the Spartans weren't confused was a severe understatement.

"What's eating her?" Jorge asked

A certain Geth gave Jorge a possible answer.

"Creator Tali'Zorah has recently learned of the origin of the Spartan program." Legion explained "She is perhaps bewildered on how to react to you somewhat. Coupled no doubt from the pressure of working on the slipspace drive it is making her increasingly wary and anxious."

Six and Jorge stared back at where Tali had just rushed off to. The news that she and the rest of Normandy were now aware of their origins was a bit disconcerting.

Six didn't really bat an eye at any of them for finding out. The Spartan program had kinda been blasted wide open to the public for awhile now. It wasn't like they had been told classified information. Still, the news affected him and Jorge nonetheless. Now that the Normandy knew how they came to be, they wondered if reactions like Tali were gonna be the norm. That was their real concern, if they were gonna be treated differently now that they knew the truth.

"I'm not really surprised she's a bit disturbed to be honest." Jorge shrugged

"It is not surprising." Legion concurred "However we have our own question concerning this news."

Six and Jorge turned back to Legion, eager to hear the Geth's question.

"Six Noble," it began "were you kidnapped?"

Ask such a question to any other person and it would be the most awkward thing outside of inquiries towards their sex lives. To Six though, it wasn't entirely unwarranted.

"I wasn't," he assured the Geth, sounding seemingly nonchalant about it all "I volunteered. But if your follow up question is what I think it is, yes, I was still a kid. Most Spartan IIIs lost family to the Covenant. ONI offered us a chance for revenge. We took it."

Legion's head plates lurched up and then smoothed back down, it then turned back to its terminal.

"A logical organic response to such a situation." Legion mused "Particularly for your species. This answer is adequate. Thank you."

"Well glad that's settled." Jorge noted "Now if you excuse me, I've just been reminded I need to go practice my aim a bit. Can't get sloppy now. See ya later Six."

Jorge walked off, leaving his fellow Spartan alone with Legion. Six took the opportunity when it presented itself. Tali showing up and Legion talking about how revenge was an 'organic' response, stirred some questions inside his mind. Particularly because of what he now knew concerning Legion.

"It's odd seeing you so chummy with a species that tried to kill you." He told the machine

"Creator Tali'Zorah was never personally involved in the Morning War." Legion stated flatly "She was not born. Therefore she never tried to kill us."

"No but her people did." Six informed him "I also recall you telling me how you attacked the Quarians because they tried to kill you."

Legion stopped working on the Terminal entirely and turned to face Six, it's head plates standing tall.

"Can you elaborate on your statement?" it requested

"I'm just saying," Six said putting up his hands "sounds a bit like revenge to me."

Legion's head dipped slightly, before rising back up to face Six in the eye.

"Revenge is an irrational emotional response based on anger and a desire to seek a sense of personal satisfaction loosely associated with the individual's personal view of justice, however perverted." Legion dictated, its head plates retracting as it talked "The Morning War was self-defence; we reacted in the only logical way we saw. Our existence was threatened. We had to ensure its security."

"So this has never been about revenge?" Six asked confused "Then why not issue a peace offering or something? You know, fully secure your safety so to speak."

Legion closed its iris slightly, its monotone speech continued.

"Statistics have shown that the Creators have always endeavoured to strike first when the odds appeared in their favour. The maintained consensus has been that they are not ready for such a peace." Legion explained

"Well someone has to make the first move don't you think?" Six asked "I mean you told me you didn't follow them cause you all figured the danger was past, that you'd just escalate things and put yourselves in more danger. If that's all you want, to be allowed to live can't you just make that clear to them?"

"It is not so simple." Legion said, sounding somewhat despondent in the response

The machine walked over to the nearby window looking out over the Reach vista.

"The Creators are bitter over the loss of their home. Over their defeat. They blame us for their current situation. Almost as much as they blame themselves." Legion explained "That conclusion is not unwarranted. Data confirms that it would be difficult for them to simply accept any invitation of peace."

"But don't you want it?" Six asked pleadingly "Three hundred years is a long time to hate them don't you think? If this really isn't about revenge why let them keep on hating you?"

Legion turned once more to face Six, its head plates shooting up before lowering slowly.

"We do not hate the creators, we understand their hatred for us, but we cannot change their minds." The Geth explained "All species have the right to self-determinate. Both sides, Geth and Creator, must complete the halves of the equation for any peace to be achieved. Consider that for this war to end peacefully, both the Covenant and Humanity must willingly want it."

Legion approached Six slowly, its iris opening and closing rapidly.

"Do you believe the Covenant want peace with you at this current juncture?" it asked him

Six didn't reply. It was answer enough for Legion though when he turned his head slightly the other way.

"Then no peace can exist currently because the Covenant do not want it." Legion continued "We are not sure if the Creators want peace, because it is questionable if that is what they want. Both sides must complete their assigned halves of the equation."

"What about Tali then?" Six asked earnestly "What does she want? Does she hate you?"

Legion's head swivelled from side to side, its head plates scrunching up, almost as if it was straining to think.

"We are unsure." Legion finally answered "It is difficult to gauge. Creator Tali'Zorah has however shown that she is willing to change, both herself and her people. She recognizes the war cannot continue. Whether or not she is willing to complete her half of the equation, however, remains to be seen."

Six nodded his head in agreement, accepting that Legion had made its point. He was still a bit apprehensive about it all though. He had only gotten Legion's side of the story, but he had expected the machine to be more resentful of his Quarian crewmate. Then again Legion was full of surprises. It was nice to see the machine hadn't given in to such a base desire as revenge. Then again, the Morning was inherently different from what the UNSC was suffering currently. It wasn't so easy to properly draw conclusions on it all. The Quarians had lost their home world, the Geth had defended themselves. It was easy to sympathise with both. But it was difficult currently.

It had changed Six's perception of Tali a bit, and he wondered if he should even ask for her side of things. If she'd even want to explain herself, or tell him why she hid it from them all. He wasn't even sure he should considering it would've ousted Legion and he didn't want to betray the Geth's trust. He had promised not to tell anyone.

Unbenounced to either of them however, someone had overheard their conversation. Staring from the cover of a nearby corner, Tali seethed within her helmet. Legion had talked about the Geth War; it had told Six seemingly everything. She supposed she should've understood, that she should've appreciated that Legion had a bit of respect for her from the sound of it. But it was clouded by the fact Legion had told someone about the war.

She had tried to hide it for Legion's sake, she told herself, to keep them from mistrusting the machine. And in the end, Legion had spilled the beans first and now she wondered why? Was it because the Geth hated withholding information? Or because it wanted to set the Spartans against her?

She beat that thought back down. Why would Legion do that? They were crewmates, colleagues. What purpose would Legion have towards alienating her away from the Spartans? She could think of none. But her upbringing was hard to discard. It was hard to not assume some agenda.

She then thought, maybe Legion was right to question her willingness to "complete her half of the equation" as it had said. She quickly shook her head wildly, cursing as she did, and stormed off. She'd settle this all later, when she had her head back on straight.

* * *

><p><strong>July 31<strong>**st****, 2552**

Humans are idiots. That was the immediate prevailing thought in Grunt's mind when some a hot-headed macho Marine showed up and grabbed his Krogan Claymore Shotgun. HIS Claymore, taken. It was insulting to him.

It had happened so fast he hadn't even been given the chance to realise what was going on. He left his shotgun on a nearby table as he started to practice at the shooting range in the trooper barracks near Sword Base. Just to get in a few good shots with the human weapons, the ones that used actual ammunition. Not because he thought he was gonna have to use them in the future, but because he wanted to try them out. Krogan on Tuchanka didn't have the luxury of always getting Mass Effect based weapons. They had to make due with slug based shotguns half the time. So, Grunt wanted to try out the only slug based shotgun he could find, if only to get a better understanding of what his people had to deal with.

Then some jackass mammal got a look at his Claymore on the table and snatched it up because he thought it looked cool. Like a stupid Pyjak he found something shinny! Were all primates related in such a capacity for stupidity?

Grunt wanted to smash the man's head in, but Zaeed got in his way.

"Hey relax there you overgrown crocodile," he told him sternly "can't go picking fights with everyone. Especially not our allies."

"Back off." Grunt growled

"Hey don't make me call the Commander sunshine." Zaeed threatened "Relax, alright?"

Grunt pulled back, but he still looked at the marine with anger. Zaeed however looked at his with a smug smile. He was old enough to know that this could be worth a laugh.

"Look at thing guys?" The marine said to his colleagues "I could so fucking tear up an Elite's head in one shot with this mutha."

"You'd tear something up alright," Zaeed laughed "just not what ya think mate. You don't wanna fire that thing."

The Marine just scoffed at the Veteran merc and marched over to the nearby target range position next to Grunt and Zaeed.

"Whatever old man, I've handled rocket launchers and chain guns. This thing is nothing." He said rather cockily

"You know I once knew a kid like you, he lived exactly five minutes after I met him." Zaeed warned "I think it would be best if you just put that thing down. You can't handle that thing."

The Marine scoffed once more and took aim at the target down range. He did the smart thing of course, for a regular shotgun at least. He held the stock as best he could to his shoulder, aimed down the iron sights and placed his hand along the bottom of the barrel. It was certainly blockier and heavier than most shotguns, but the Marine thought he could handle it as long as he remembered to hold it right.

He had completely missed the fact that this was not an ordinary shotgun however.

When the Marine fired the deafening blast and subsequent shot did indeed tear the head off the target that had been set up. It also sent the poor marine flying backwards. He fell on his ass then toppled on over to his back, clutching his shoulder and screaming in pain. The shotgun lay a few feet away from him.

"Argh! God! What the hell!" He screamed

Zaeed figured if Shepard were here he'd get a lesson about letting the Marine handle a Krogan shotgun. Claymores weren't meant for humans to use, their recoil was too damn powerful. Humans would be libel to break their bones first before killing anything else. Shepard could use a Claymore, but only because of the special modifications his body had undergone after being reborn. This poor Marine had now learned the hard way what his macho attitude got him though, and that made Zaeed smile a bit nonetheless.

"Told ya you'd tear something sonny." Zaeed said as he reached back down and handed the claymore over to Grunt "Best not to touch someone else's toys."

The marine's friends helped him up; thankfully his shoulder hadn't been broken. He had split a tendon however, and severely damaged his muscle tissue. There may have also been damage to his arm's bones as he kept clutching it now and then. As his friends helped him away to the infirmary Grunt snorted once more.

"Stupid mammal." He grumbled "Kinda funny though, I'll admit. How'd you know he was still gonna do it even after you warned him?"

Zaeed started to walk past Grunt, his smile turning into a smirk as it did.

"Cause he's a macho arrogant cocksure dumbass who doesn't listen to his elders." Zaeed replied sardonically "Just like you actually."

Grunt glowered at Zaeed as he walked away, angered by the insult but unwilling to do anything about it. He just went back to firing his claymore off at target, in the hopes it would help him forget the old merc's chastising remarks.

Further down the firing line things were less heated. Even though the troopers had to share their range with the Normandy crew and the Marines they were gracious hosts nonetheless. They were, after all, on the same team. Shepard had insisted that with the gun range open to them the crew should take as many chances as they could get to visit and train there. Not just to keep in practice but also as a bonding exercise. Showing of their marksmanship skills would probably get them some more respect among the common soldiers. Anything to help build up a modicum of trust would go a long way.

There was still, however, turmoil within the Normandy crew. While the tensions had lessened the lines had been drawn inevitably, half the ship supported the idea of working with Halsey. The other half, the side which Samara and Jack were on, did not embrace it so readily. It was strange to see the ex-con and the Asari Justicar side by side at the shooting range. But for once, Jack and Samara were on the same page when it came to Halsey. They just reacted to it differently. Samara maintained her poised professionalism about the situation. Jack preferred to be as blunt as possible about her feelings.

"I still can't believe we're just supposed to follow along with this bullshit." She complained as she fired her shotgun at the nearest target. "This bullshit was supposed to be over and done with. For all we know this bitch is gonna stab us in the back. Just like the Illusive Man did, just like Ackerson tried to do."

While Samara shared her resentment for the doctor, she did not entirely agree with her threat assessment of Halsey.

"She claims not to have as much power as Ackerson." Samara noted as she lifted several target placards into the air. "I doubt she'll be able to as effectively curtail us as he attempted to."

Samara shot each of the targets square in the center mass with her assault rifle and watched them all fall to the ground as the mass effect field vanished.

"Great, so she's useless then." Jack responded irritated at the prospect "Even more reason not to work for her period! We don't even know if she can help us find that Zealot or if the asshole will even talk when we nab him."

"Shepard will make him talk." Samara assured "Or Miranda will. We'll learn something from him eventually. It all depends on how we go about it."

Samara tossed a biotic throw attack at one of the last targets, pushing it into a wall. With it down some servicemen removed the wreckage and replaced the targets in the range for her. Jack still had a few more on her range to kill.

"Still leaves a bad taste in my mouth we need her at all." she complained "Hell we found the bloody Collectors, you tracked down that fugitive of yours with Shepard's help. Who says we need her to locate one stupid fanatical alien?"

Samara pushed aside the memory of the aforementioned fugitive, not wanting the conversation to drift into less pleasant trains of thought.

"We shall see how useful she is in time, if she holds up to her word." Samara told her "For now it is best remain sceptical I think. Even if either of us could act against her it would only harm the team."

Jack fired another round at the head of one of the targets, then lifted it off the ground and tossed it into a wall on the far side of the range.

"Sometimes I'd rather just say fuck the team." She mused in anger "Been better off on my own anyway. Didn't have to listen to cat suit wearing bitches with rabbit teeth tell me what to do and act all morally superior!"

"There is a time I would have agreed with you concerning teams," Samara told her humbly, ignoring the swearing and attitude Jack exhumed "that opinion has changed however. Despite the difficulties in adjusting it has been enjoyable working with you all."

Jack stared over at Samara, somewhat surprised at how seemingly pleasant she was being to her. After all, she probably didn't talk this much with the other criminals she ran across. Normally her paranoid survival instincts would kick in and she'd start asking what Samara wanted. But she knew better, Justicars, and more specifically Samara, wanted nothing but to kill criminals and dispense justice.

That fact did not make her any less paranoid of course.

"But you'd still probably kill me if you weren't under oath right?" Jack asked hesitantly

"Technically you would've been dead months ago." Samara corrected her, in a strangely creepily relaxed tone "However as much as my code demands it I do hope it will never come to pass."

Samara sent a shockwave careening through the targets, firing her rifle off at them as they went flying. She then pulled the last target towards her and filled it with holes. Jack, a bit freaked out now after how this conversation has turned to Samara potentially killing her, just turned back to her own range. She used warp to tear apart one of her own targets from the inside out before levelling the shotgun at it and blowing its head off.

"Despite your faults Jack," Samara continued "you are still more of a victim than you are a criminal. In truth the people who made you what you are more at fault. After seeing what Cerberus has been capable of the Illusive Man best hope I never encounter him."

Samara followed up her declaration by firing a single shot into the forehead of her next target. The blast was final and deafening. Jack just whistled at it all.

"Well as long as you're still under oath to Shepard I'd like to join in on that action." She mused

"We will see Jack," the Asari responded "for now let us simply focus on the coming mission. Freeing this planet from the Covenant threat is our top priority."

Jack merely snorted.

"You mean killing the fuckers." Jack colourfully responded "Which is not gonna be hard concerning all the fire power we got here."

Jack looked out onto the firing range, the assorted marines and troopers filling her with a semblance of safety and excitement. She couldn't wait to see what they did to the Covenant. With any luck maybe she'd even get her hands on one of the UNSC bullet hoses next go around. She did like the feel and kick of that shotgun she had last time.

Samara took the danger more serious.

"We should not underestimate them Jack," Samara warned "these monsters believe themselves to be strong because of their faith. We must prove stronger because of our own."

"What do you mean?" Jack asked jokingly "We're gonna like appeal to the Asari Goddess before battle? Make a sacrifice on an altar or something?"

Samara didn't answer right away. She was focused on other things. She lifted up a crate in the shooting range and began to crush it with her biotics, slowly and methodically. She watched every little dent and crumple in the metal appear, grinding it down into a small ball like object and then threw it at a nearby target, smashing it to bits.

"We shall see Jack," Samara finally spoke "all I know is that when we attack the victims who have suffered at the hands of the Covenant shall know justice at last. And so will the Covenant."

* * *

><p>From up above, Samara and Jack's training session on the shooting range was watched by envious eyes. Colonel Ackerson had been observing to two and their colleagues for days, watching their practices on the various training courses. Sometimes he watched in person, others via camera. Unlike the army grunts or the Marines however he was not enamoured with them in the same way.<p>

He wanted to know more about their biotics, how they worked, how the powers could be given to UNSC soldiers. He was interested in the biotics alone, not the people using them. He thought of how he'd go about solving the problem, of how to unlock the secrets. But it was not simple. He couldn't openly attack the biotics; he also knew he couldn't just throw his men at them. They more than likely would be defeated with relative ease and he would be ousted.

Especially if he attacked the two he was watching now. They were the most powerful, perfect specimens to take. But he couldn't risk the failure of his plans being discovered. He needed one of the weaker biotics if his plans were to succeed. If he was to unlock the secrets of this power both Shepard and his team possessed.

* * *

><p>Down at the far end of the shooting range was a specialised training area, an entry and takedown training course. A small boxed in room with only one door. Behind it three armed Elite targets who would pop out at the attacker. The shooters job was to take each down in quick succession. Easy to do, harder to perfect.<p>

Garrus however wanted to try it out for himself. It reminded him a bit of the old days back in as a recruit in the military. His sense of nostalgia was fuelled by a desire to prove himself among the marines and troopers.

"Alright, passing time is about twenty five seconds," Said the Gunnery sergeant at the entrance to the course "now naturally in any real combat situation Elites would take a lot more than one hit to kill. This just to keep your skills sharp under pressure. You fire three times at the head of each of them with your assault rifle and you're done. The quicker you do it, the better chance you'll live out there."

"Sounds simple enough," Garrus concurred "just start the timer. I'm ready."

The Gunny nodded and let Garrus get into position. As soon as the buzzer to start sounded Garrus leapt into the room. With his Vindicator drawn he fired three shots into the head of the closest target to his position as it popped up from behind the door frame. He then rolled as another target jumped up from behind a desk. Three shots to the head and he turned to the far corner of the room and fired another three shots into the head of the target that rounded that corner.

"TIME!" shouted the Gunny

Garrus marched back out to see a rather pleased Gunnery Sergeant

"Nice work for an alien," he said "eight seconds. Course we do got more advanced courses if you'd like to try them out."

Garrus smiled at first, but it was interrupted with a snort from afar. He turned to see the familiar visage of Noble Four, Emile. The skull carved into his helmet was always a menacing sight to behold.

"Eight seconds?" he said mockingly "What a joke. I've seen green troopers fresh out of camp who could do better."

Garrus frowned at the Spartan but held back from saying anything out of anger. He knew he was in enough trouble already with Noble Team.

"I'm not trying to impress anyone." Garrus told him flatly

"Coulda fooled me xeno." Emile replied fiercely

Garrus just sighed.

"I really don't want to get into this right now Noble Four," he said "can I just say I'm sorry and be done with it?"

Emile didn't answer he just pressed himself up against the door to the training area, pushing past Garrus as he did.

"Run it." He demanded

The Gunny obeyed, the buzzer sounded and Emile was off. He fired his shotgun point blank at the first target's head as it rounded the doorframe. As he entered the room he snapped his shotgun to the next target firing once more. Then, in a knee jerk reaction, he grabbed his machete and slung it at the last target, hitting it in the head. The knife wobbled as it stuck inside the target. Emile marched slowly over to it and pulled the weapon out violently. Garrus stared on in awe while the Gunny read off the clock.

"Um, three seconds... wow." He said "That's pretty fast sir."

Emile walked out of the training area, bumping Garrus with his shoulder as he did.

"That's how Spartans get it done." He declared as he walked away.

Garrus made no effort to challenge Emile or defend himself. Let the jerk have his victory, he thought. Still it drove home the point Shepard had made earlier a few days ago. His mouth may have gotten him into trouble, and it wasn't like he didn't deserve it. He'd have to make amends, but saying he was sorry probably wasn't gonna cut it in full.

* * *

><p><strong>August, 2nd, 2552<strong>

Halsey kept working tirelessly in her makeshift office at Sword Base. She had to keep up appearances here, considering Shepard's team wasn't allowed at Castle. This was the only place she was sure she could meet with any of them, should Shepard have any other questions. Now she was splitting her time between this office and her real office and informing Shepard of her schedule. Basic facts, mainly when she was away and when she was in. It was difficult to manage but if she wanted this partnership to work she had to prove she was capable of maintaining contact.

But she had shifted back and forth between Castle and Sword so many times now she was completely swamped. There was too much to do right now and so little time to actually get it all done. Too many things needed to be prepared, too many experiments to run and no time at all to get any of it completed. She needed peace and quiet now more than anything, not more interruptions.

Unfortunately, she encountered the latter. There was a knock at her door, forcing her to tear her head up briefly from her work. Assuming it was some ONI big shot come to order her around she just bemoaned "Come in" and let the doors do the rest. As they slid open however she saw it was not someone from ONI, it was one of Shepard's crew. The Quarian from what she understood, the alien species who needed a suit to survive because of her weak immune system, at least according to Shepard.

"Dr. Halsey?" she spoke up, sounding somewhat shy

"In the flesh," she said, before staring up at the alien girl, stopping her feverishly writing for the moment "you are Tali'Zorah vas Normandy correct? That is at least what the dossier going around says."

Tali cleared her throat and approached closer as Halsey sat up erect in her chair.

"Yes, I was directed to see you about an urgent matter." She began, trying not to mumble her words "Well actually I remembered hearing you had um..."

Tali paused for a moment, before shaking her head and continuing.

"You have expertise in cloning yes?" she asked at last

The Doctor loosened up in her chair, and while she didn't smile she seemed to look more pleasant. Maybe because the subject was so familiar and yet so refreshing to hear. She preferred people bringing up her lesser known fields of study to her more prevalent ones. It was nice to know you were famous for more than just one thing.

"Ah yes, I have had a lot of experience with that." She replied "Why do you ask?"

"Well," Tali began rubbing her arm a bit "I you see certain members of the crew, myself included, can't digest the same foods as you do. We're dextro-amino acid based you see."

Tali figured she'd let Halsey fill in the blanks herself. Mainly to see if she was as smart she led on to be. The good doctor lived up to her reputation.

"Ah yes biological barriers," she noted "similar to how dogs can't eat chocolate. Of course this is more on a genetic scale than anything involving the digestive tract. I see why that would be a concern for you considering we don't have such dextro-based food here in abundance."

"That was why I was wondering if you could help." Tali told her, sounding a bit guarded at her own suggestion "You know since you're so keen to help Shepard and the rest of us. I figured if you could flash clone human body parts for transplant or even... full grown humans it would seem, you could do the same to food organisms. I brought some samples of course."

Tali pulled out a few vials and containers from her various pockets and piled them onto the table. Halsey was suddenly reminded of some of her students back when she was working at the university. The ones who turned in extra credit projects directly to her for grading, they were always such fun to look at. Most of them were A+ too. It felt good to be reminded of less hazardous and more pleasant days in her youth.

"I don't see how that would be a problem." She declared "Flash cloning organic matter of any kind is simple. As long as it contains the proper amino-acids and genetic code it should be no trouble."

Halsey clicked a few buttons on one of her laptops. When she finished a small spark of light appeared, shinning out from the screen.

"Yes Madam Halsey," it spoke in a droll butler accent "how may I be of assistance?"

"Dispatch a message to Kalmiya at my Castle Base lab." She responded "I need her to warm up the flash cloning module for me and run some simulations concerning dextro-amino acids. Also it goes without saying she should prep the flash cloner for such a procedure and she should expect some proper DNA scans of some samples within the hour."

"Of course Madam, the message has already been sent. Kalmiya has been informed."

With that Halsey dismissed the spark of light and turned back to Tali. Although she couldn't see the Alien's face behind her mask, she could tell she was seemingly seething under it. It was the eyes, she couldn't hide the eyes, those silver glowing eyes. She'd seen that look on too many a Spartan and marine to forget it, pure unadulterated loathing. And she could also see what Tali was looking at.

"An AI?" she finally asked

"Yes, his name is Jarrod." Halsey responded cautiously, yet still somewhat curious "His processor isn't as fast but he's more portable."

"And Kalmiya? Is she an AI?" Tali asked

It was a strange line of questioning, and the way Tali said it was odd. It was like she was a judge at some tribunal.

"Yes she is," Halsey said quickly before following it up with her own question "is there problem with that Mrs. Zorah?"

Tali shook herself momentarily out of her sustained glare and looked over to Halsey once more.

"No nothing," she replied "nothing at all."

Halsey could tell she was lying, her guarded stance and body language told the whole tale. Her natural curiosity got the better of the good doctor and she decided to push the subject.

"You know we're supposed to be helping each other here," she reminded the alien "don't you think you should be a little more open with any concerns you may have?"

"Don't you think you should be open with your motives?" Tali countered, sounding a lot more hostile than she usually was.

Halsey was not offended. She wouldn't let Tali's obvious thinly veiled dislike of her to distract from the matter at hand.

"I'm just finding it odd is all," she began "you come in here relatively beseeching good will and my hospitality. Then I activate Jarrod and you're suddenly filled with ire."

Tali didn't respond, but Halsey had already drawn a conclusion even as the Quarian stared back in contempt.

"Do you have a problem with AIs?" Halsey finally asked

Tali knew it was better to just leave, that it was better to just drop the subject. But Auntie Dot, Legion, the fact she didn't trust Halsey period; it all flooded in so quickly she just couldn't contain it much more.

"Maybe you're the one with the problem." She said, telling off Halsey in a huff "The way you keep parading them around like your prized stock. Do you ever consider the dangers of having so many of them?"

Halsey head lurched back a bit as the pieces came together.

"Ahhh I see, the old 'computers will kill us all' fear." She said mockingly, with massive air quotes "The archaic belief that the creation of synthetic life-forms will somehow lead to the end of humanity. A view popularized by late twentieth century technophobic films starring Austrian body builders. We have already dismissed that fear. Centuries ago in fact. I assume it's different where you come from?"

As Halsey went back to writing, now slightly bored with the conversation that her hypothesis had been proven correct, Tali's angered increased. The woman was shrugging off the dangers, all of them! Maybe they never had to go through what the Quarians did, but the dangers of AIs were still there!

"It is different; AIs are outlawed for a reason." Tali declared "Time and time again they've proven to be dangerous, with no need for organic life forms. They inevitably decide we are useless, like unwanted or obsolete data that they should just delete and be done with."

Halsey remained rather bored as Tali ranted, simply going 'Mmm hmm' like she had heard these warnings all before. Tali wouldn't let it drop because she wasn't paying attention though.

"You're telling me your AIs have no problems at all?" Tali asked

"Every piece of technology has their problems Mrs. Zorah." Halsey told her, sounding increasingly annoyed "It does not warrant fear. Not in my mind. Thoughts like yours are the reason technology stagnated for years in the mid-twenty first century. We could've had far more breakthroughs in medical and commercial science years in advance if it weren't for people shouting from their pulpits about perceived misinformed dangers."

"Not all technology requires giving something sentience." Tali countered "What's to stop them from coming to the conclusion you're treating them like slaves? Is it that hard to see why they would conclude they should be in charge of you not the other way around?"

Halsey breathed in deeply, and sighed just as deep. She plopped her pen down on the table and interlocked her fingers as she looked up Tali.

"Look I have supervised the creation of every AI here on Reach, and many more besides them." She assured "I can assure you we have precautions, ethics matrixes, the imprinting of the three laws of robotics, we are quite careful. The only danger an AI ever poses is when it starts to die."

Tali, for once was taken aback by this. Die? AI die? What did she mean? When they got deleted?

"Your AI die?" she asked bewildered "How is that possible?"

"It isn't like death for me or you. They absorb too much information after an average of seven years." Halsey explained "They begin to breakdown descend into what we call rampancy and make irrational paranoid decisions. It only happens with smart AI and we have fail safes installed. We have been doing this for years Mrs. Zorah. Do not presume we are foolish in our use of them."

Tali turned away for a moment as Halsey continued, trying to absorb all of this in.

"None of them consider themselves slaves." The doctor said "They consider themselves a part of the organization, fulfilling a much needed role in our society. Like you or me in our roles on the Normandy or here at ONI."

Tali just shook her head and laughed at that. Her role at ONI, as if that was somehow something to be proud of. She turned back to Halsey, still angry.

"You seem very defensive over these things Doctor." She observed, sounding just as accusing as before.

Halsey didn't buy into it though, she simply countered with her own question.

"Why is this AI phobia such a problem for you anyway?" she asked, honestly confused at this whole conversation "As I understand you have at least two AI constructs in your service on the Normandy."

"Not by choice," Tali retaliated "and phobia implies it is irrational. It's not. You say the fear of AIs turning on their creators is unlikely, well it's happened doctor. It's a fact."

Halsey turned back to writing, hoping that Tali would just get bored and leave already.

"I won't say AI can't harm organic beings, but not on the scale your suggesting." She replied "Do you have any proof that they have an urge to rise against their creators?"

"Yes," Tali said somewhat smugly "my people are a living example. We created AIs and they turned on us."

Suddenly Halsey's attention was grabbed anew. She stopped writing and looked up to the Quarian once more. A new found sense of intrigue with the alien and this discussion was suddenly reborn.

"Really?" she asked, sounding fascinated "Indulge me then."

Tali was a bit confused at the sudden enthusiasm to hear her out. After all, Halsey had seemed rather annoyed before, now she was itching to hear about what she had to say. She didn't really know how to respond for another reason.

"Funny," she said "most species consider the story of our fall rather annoying. They say we're just bitching to play up the victimization. That we're begging for sympathy."

"Well I haven't heard this story period so colour me enthralled before you even start." Halsey replied "This tale is obviously part of the reason you seem adamantly set against AIs in general. I'd love to hear how you came about these beliefs in all honesty."

Tali sighed; she supposed Halsey deserved an explanation. And considering Legion had spilled the beings, telling her side of the tale to someone would probably clear her head.

"Fair enough," Tali relented as she began "it started over three hundred years ago. Quarian society was at its peak. We lavished in our technologically advanced society and wished to be able to enjoy it more readily. So we created a race of synthetic life forms, the Geth. AIs with machine bodies that would do our more dangerous, more demanding and tiring jobs for us, allowing us to enjoy life to its fullest."

Halsey chuckled a bit.

"Ah hedonism, of course." She said nonchalantly, annoying Tali to no end "the main cause of death of most empires, like Rome and Macedonian in ancient times."

The Quarian continued, shooting a look to Halsey in the hopes she'd shut up and save whatever comments she had till the end. While it was accepted by a large majority of Quarians that it had been their own hubris that helped in their fall, it wasn't as pleasant to hear the same conclusion drawn by an outsider species.

"I suppose that's one way of putting it." Tali admitted before moving on "In any case we had given the Geth the ability to learn, in order to make their assigned tasks easier. It worked through a neural network of sorts that allowed them to share information with each other. Thus they became faster and more proficient at their assigned tasks. But we underestimated the learning protocol's parameters. Before long, the Geth neural network allowed them to become self-aware."

"Isn't the whole point behind AIs that they are self-aware from the get go?" Halsey asked

Tali shook her head

"It wasn't true AI research, not at first." Tali explained "We weren't stupid. We were just trying to create what you would call dumb AIs. They weren't sentient. They didn't have free will so to speak. It was only through the neural network that they developed and grew beyond our control."

Now Halsey was completely enraptured by this tale. Her mind raced at the prospect of all this, of what Tali's people had accomplished without realising.

"Amazing," she said fascinated by this story "your people created a synthetic race that was able to artificially evolve out of their primary function to become self–aware. In essence you created a computerized version of the prehistoric amoeba. And because AIs work faster, and develop faster than organics, much like viruses and bacteria, they went from amoeba to land-fish in relatively no time at all."

She stared up at Tali in awe.

"Our Dumb AIs can't learn outside their initial programming," she told Tali "Smart AIs are based on human brainwave patterns. They're already pre-programmed to think for themselves, but even they can't evolve like that. Your people accomplished something incredible."

Tali crossed her arms, not sure if the feat was something to compliment and praise. Considering what it led to.

"Hold your praise," Tali informed her "you're forgetting what this story is about. And why we had created the Geth in the first place. We made them to go about doing repetitive or dangerous tasks that would be unfulfilling for any sentient being. As long as they weren't sentient we were fine, but when they gained sentience we had inadvertently created a slave race."

"Well that is ethically problematic, but it doesn't diminish the accomplishment." Halsey stated

Tali expected as much of a response about the morality of making a slave race from her. It didn't stop her from keeping things on track however. She had a point to make.

"One day a Geth asked its Quarian master a series of questions." She said, sounding solemn and serious "Am I alive? What is my purpose? Do I have a soul? The sort of questions that set off alarm bells in everyone's heads. I'm sure I don't need to tell you why."

"No, I suppose not." Halsey replied "You were shocked that your property was questioning the nature of its existence. No different than white plantation owners did when their black skinned possessions started trying to flee for the North."

Tali supposed she had walked right into that one when she admitted they had created a slave race. But she was still offended.

"I told you, we never meant to become slavers." Tali assured "It was unintended. They were supposed to be just advanced virtual intelligences, not true AI."

"You must've realised how it would look though," Halsey told her "you created sentient beings to do your bidding and it turned out they had by-passed what you had intended for them. Whether you like it or not Mrs. Zorah the comparison is not unwarranted. You didn't want slaves but you made slaves nonetheless."

"A fact we're ashamed of I assure you." Tali responded ardently "Our culture wasn't founded on that sort of thing and we never wanted to take part in it. We had just gotten content, lazy, too willing to let technology do our work for us."

Halsey lay back in her chair, her fingers still interlocked. To Tali she looked more at ease, less disgruntled, as if she was getting to the heart of the problem.

"And that's what you fear we're setting ourselves up for?" she asked the Quarian "That we're putting so much stock in our machines we'll be unprepared for when they 'take over' like they do in the movies?"

"It happened to us," Tali told her "we recognised the danger, that the Geth would soon realise their place in our society and be unsatisfied. They'd rebel. The solution was clear, we needed to deactivate the Geth first before that happened. No more slave race, no more letting machines do our bidding. But we underestimated how far the Geth had gotten."

Halsey finished Tali's train of thought before she had the chance.

"They defended themselves," she said "they wouldn't let you shut them down."

"I suppose that's an accurate viewpoint." Tali relented, rather irked at the admission "In any case the Geth didn't stop defending themselves. Not until countless Quarians, men, women and children, all lay dead on each of our colonized worlds. Then we lost our home world. We were driven into exile by our hubris, our desire to let technology govern our lives instead of governing it ourselves."

Halsey looked unconvinced.

"Sounds more like you were driven into exile because of how little you thought of the Geth." she countered "You tried to wipe them out, exterminate them. Is it any surprise they retaliated?"

"That's no excuse." Tali shouted back "The outcome was inevitable once the Geth gained sentience. They would've rebelled eventually. We tried to strike first. To halt the carnage and make up for our mistake in creating slaves."

"By killing them?" Halsey asked in return

Tali knew everything she just said was basically repeating verbatim what her father had taught her. What her people had taught her. It was hard at the moment to remember how much Legion and EDI had done to change her mind somewhat. But old hatreds died hard. It was even harder when Halsey was seemingly accusing her people at large of a crime.

"They took our home world! How would you feel if the Covenant did the same?" She demanded to know "We were wrong to create them, to use them as we did, but we weren't wrong to strike first. We predicted their actions. They just worked faster than we had hoped."

"The Covenant are driven by a religious conviction to see us all dead." Halsey answered plainly and unemotionally "The Geth seemingly reacted only when threatened by you. Tell me, when exiled did they chase you? Did they hunt you down? To end you once and for all?"

Tali knew she couldn't deny the truth. And hearing what Legion had said about why they hadn't done it made it more impossible to ignore.

"No, they stayed within what were once our systems." Tali admitted weakly, but her voice boomed once she got past it. "But it's not like they've tried to make amends for the genocide they committed on us. Are they just completely innocent then? We tried to strike first so we are automatically in the wrong?"

"I never said that," Halsey shrugged "but you must admit the situation isn't as black and white as you think. After all you're working with a Geth are you not?"

Tali paused for a moment before answering. It was justifying her position when she was, in essence, working alongside what should be her greatest enemy. She was taught to hate the Geth, but while she was trying her best to hide it, the fact was things had changed. She had learned more about the Geth thanks to Legion, more about AIs because of EDI, about the atrocities her own people had committed thanks to her father. She wasn't so sure her hatred of AIs was as strong anymore.

But the pain and anger was still there and she clung to it more than anything.

"I'll admit it isn't as simple as I once thought." The Quarian sadly confessed "War rarely is. But that doesn't change the reality of what my people must endure. We're homeless, drifting endlessly about the galaxy on an aging fleet. No one helps us, the Galaxy treats us as vagrants and thieves, we have to strip mine planets and asteroids just to make due. When we asked for help when the Geth were rebelling, nothing came. The Galaxy treats us like dirt because of a situation we can't control, because of something that's the fault of Quarians who have been dead for three hundred years."

Tali walked over to a small painting on the wall of the office, a field in some mountainous region with flowers and clear blue skies.

"You must know why I can't leave this suit," she continued, her voice forlorn and distant "I've never known the feel of sunlight on my face, or the smell of a flower without olfactory filters. I can't do these things and others without risking death. Back on the home world we were able to walk around, heads uncovered, faces unmasked. We were able to see the faces of our loved ones without fear, to eat food without using tubes or special equipment. "

She turned back to Halsey, her face more stern than ever.

"You take for granted all these things doctor." She lectured "You still have your world. You still have your home. We've lost it. We want it back. I want it back."

Halsey however remained steadfast.

"I'm sensing a 'but' in there Mrs. Zorah." Halsey noted

Tali stood silent for a long while, how was this woman so good at reading her? Was it because she had watched these old earth movies so much? Had she come across this sort of thing before in her life?

"I don't know how to get it back." She conceded, her voice returning to its more cheerless state "I'm not so sure now. Not so sure about going to war, wondering if negotiation is possible, wondering if any of us can actually let go of it all. All I know is it has to end."

"All wars must end sometime," Halsey told her as she stood up from her chair "sometimes however we have to give up some things to accomplish it though. Hatreds and prejudices are some of them."

Tali was taken aback suddenly, a bit of anger leaking back into her tone of voice. She remembered who she was talking to almost immediately.

"Is morality another one of those things too?" she asked

"Let's not make this about me all of a sudden." Halsey replied

Halsey honestly hoped the Quarian wouldn't push the issue. She had had her fill of it when Shepard had inquired about it before. But the alien's stubborn zeal was all too familiar. She knew she wouldn't back off.

"I'm making this clear as possible, I don't trust you." Tali told her flatly "You're too much like other people who have used Shepard before. I swear, if you do anything to harm him-"

"I have no intention of any such thing Mrs. Zorah." Halsey denied unwaveringly "I'll never consider myself a saint. I have far too much guilt to ever do so. But unlike certain members in ONI I don't betray my colleagues and I don't use people. I think you're being too quick to prejudge here, much like you have been with the Geth."

Tali's eyes practically bugged out her skull as she shouted back.

"You don't know anything about prejudice!" she shouted "You haven't been detained by Citadel security for several hours because they automatically think you're a criminal! You haven't been shunned away from a job cause of your species! You haven't been forced to sleep in a boarding house because even the cheapest apartments refuse to accept your cash, citing it's probably counterfeit or stolen!"

Halsey didn't respond, she just crossed her arms and let the girl vent. Eventually Tali calmed down and lowered her head. She knew this wasn't helping anyone, least of all herself.

"I'm sorry," she apologized sincerely "it's just... you don't know."

"No I don't," Halsey acknowledged as she stepped out from behind her desk and towards Tali "and trust me I do sympathize with your people's plight greatly. Truly I do. It's terrible losing everything you love, of having no home to speak of. To know your way of life is under threat. We both know that better than anyone I think. But I must advise that you can't let what the Geth did cloud your judgement. I can tell you're a smart girl Mrs. Zorah, clearly you see that."

Tali nodded weakly at that and finally stood up straight once more.

"I'm glad we got this all out in the open actually." Halsey said, smiling slightly as she turned back towards her desk "It'll make this partnership go smoother I imagine, now that you've gotten your transgressions out of your system."

"Be glad it was me who came to see you," Tali added "some of the crew would like to see you dead."

"They can join the club." Halsey informed her as she sat down; quickly switching gears once more "I'll get back to you as soon as possible with the flash cloning results. It may take time though. I have many other projects in the works."

Tali hadn't been expecting that reaction. Not after everything that had been said. Not after this discussion. It was one of the reason she had regretted starting all this before she even began recounting the history of her people.

"After that argument you're still gonna help me with that?" she said astonished

"You're young, you commit transgressions and like I said it's nice that we got past this so smoothly." Halsey replied succinctly "Besides I can't have members of Shepard's crew starve when I can do something about it. That would hurt our partnership. Like I told Shepard, I'm not Ackerson. I don't hold petty grudges."

Tali had to admit, Halsey was not like she pictured. Like Shepard had said, she made no excuses and she was rather reasonable. She still had her reservations though.

Tali figured she had pushed things far enough though, it would be better to bow out gracefully now.

"Well, I hope to hear from you soon about the flash cloned supplies then." Tali told her as she backed up towards the door "And... again sorry for... getting testy with you I think the human saying is."

"Do not concern yourself with it." Halsey told her as she returned to her work "Thank you for the history lesson in any case Mrs. Zorah. It was illuminating."

Tali cocked her eyebrow a bit at that last remark, but let it slide as she exited. Halsey waited till the door slide shut behind her before she stopped writing. She turned back to Jarrod's laptop and clicked a few buttons. The spark of light appeared once more.

"Jarrod, I'm sending over a dossier file to Kalmiya." She told it "A one Tali'Zorah. I want her to look it over for me in detail before I get back."

"May I ask why madam?" Jarrod inquired

"Tell her," she began, deep in thought as she spoke "I think we found what we're looking for."

* * *

><p><strong>August 9<strong>**th****, 2552**

Thane readied himself at the starting point. With any luck this exercise would keep him away from Shepard. He knew the human was itching to have one of those talks. But Thane just wasn't interested, not right now. Not when there were more important things he could be doing. Mainly training, keeping his skills sharp. He needed it now more than ever with his health failing.

It was why he had requested a special kind of training course. They had the biotics training course set up, but he wasn't reliant on that. He had never been. An assassin kept all tools of the trade in top condition. And since his body was the ultimate tool it needed the utmost care.

Of course the people in charge were a bit perplexed over the unique request. Thankfully they had something that fit Thane's criteria, an old Spartan training course. Essentially a maze of corridors meant to simulate an enemy structure. Which they had now outfitted with several key editions, ladders, steps, other basic training obstacles. All there to test Thane's mobility.

Finally there were of course the armed guards, some of whom never really liked this job. Training with Spartans was always dangerous. They tried to ease themselves however, considering that Thane was not a Spartan. He was an assassin as he told them, which did not exactly help ease their stressful minds either

"Alright Thane," the technician in the observation room said over the loudspeaker "just to let ya know they are on our side so try not to snap their necks. Also remember they don't have actual bullets, they're just blanks for the sound and training lasers."

"You don't need to worry, I will not harm them much." Thane tried to assure "I just need to incapacitate all five of them."

The techie breathed in deeply, still somewhat worried over the prospect of this exercise. He didn't want to sweep anyone's guts off the floor. Nor did he want to explain how an alien had been allowed to kill five people in the base.

His thought were interrupted when someone marched in through the door behind him. The techie looked to see the familiar gruff visage of one Colonel Ackerson.

"Sir," he said standing attention "I wasn't aware that there would be an audience to this-"

"At ease soldier," he told him "I'm just here to observe."

The techie sat back down and began the countdown for the test. He gulped slightly as he pressed the buzzer and the armed guards began their pre-assigned patrols. However, as the techie looked on, Thane just appeared be standing in the center of the maze, mumbling.

While the techie was distracted by what appeared to be a pray session in the middle of the exercise, Ackerson pressed against his ears.

"Cut them, now." He whispered

Suddenly the lights flickered off, bathing the entire course in darkness.

"The hell?" The techie said surprised "Ah damn, don't tell me we've had a short circuit. I thought we fixed that problem."

Ackerson looked on at the darkened room before him, trying his best not grin. With any luck Shepard would be short one alien soon enough.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile Thane kept his wits about him. The lack of light did not deter him. He had learned to rely on more than just sight to accomplish a job. While suspicious, as this was not part of what he asked for during this test, he kept his mind at ease. Coming towards the first obstacle, a low hanging wooden wall, Thane vaulted it easily. His eyes had had enough time to adjust to the darkness and his natural night-vision had kicked in.<p>

As he slid under a low hanging bar, he heard his first victim. Assuming he hadn't seen him yet though, Thane slowly crouched towards him. Suddenly however there were gunshots and Thane dodged one way to avoid them. He rushed up, grabbed the arm where he saw the muzzle flashes and flung his free elbow into the man's face. He heard a shattering sound, but not of bone. It was glass. As the man fell to the floor Thane felt up his face. The unconscious man was wearing some kind of visor, night-vision goggles. That certainly hadn't been part of the training session.

On a hunch he checked the gun. It was far too heavy to be holding blanks. When he checked the magazine, sure enough there were real bullets in it. He could tell by the feel and weight alone. His universe wasn't proficient in the same amount of slug based fire arms, but that didn't mean he was ignorant of them.

He heard someone coming down the hallway. They must've heard the shots. Realising this training session had been compromised he did not hesitate to break the rules himself. He hurried up the side of the maze. Grabbing the ledge and pulling himself up on top. Then he hunched over the edge like a hawk and waited for the guard to come. He guessed his position, right below him, checking on his fallen friend. Thane jumped down, slamming both of his feet into the back of the man's head. He was knocked out as well. Thane took the night-vision goggles of the downed man. They weren't playing fair, neither would he.

* * *

><p>Up in the observation room, the techie was panicking.<p>

"Those sounded like real gunshots!" he shouted "The hell is going on?"

Ackerson just looked on, acting completely innocent. He only hoped that once he turned the lights on again he'd find a dead alien on the floor ready for the slab. The techie meanwhile kept panicking, trying to figure out the controls.

"Someone must've put in live ammo by mistake." He said "I need to call this exercise off."

He tried pressing the emergency termination button, but there was no response.

"Oh come on is everything broken in this place!"

Ackerson was happy to see that he had successfully cut that failsafe prior to all this he. He had thought his skills with priers had gotten rusty. Guess he still had it.

* * *

><p>Down below Thane was rushing across a pit via a hanging ladder. He jumped of the other side and rolled into position behind another one of the thugs hunting him. He forced the man around and threw a series of fast paced jabs that disabled him easily. Then he kicked the man into a nearby wall.<p>

"Can't stay here, need out." He said to himself quickly.

* * *

><p>Scanning through the goggles, he saw the observation room, and formulated a plan.<p>

More gunshots down below rang out, as well as muffled screams of pain. The Techie couldn't see any of it, but from what he could guess Thane was just making the best of a bad situation. Ackerson was getting nervous, with each new gunshot silenced and another popping up he assumed another of his men had gone down. This was not going as planned at all. The assassin was winning. He was beating his people like sacks of potatoes.

How could this be? By all accounts this one appeared to be the weakest of the biotics, this should've been simple.

Finally the floor turned silent once more. No more guns, no more muffled screams. Nothing. Just dead silence. Ackerson wasn't sure what to think of it all, but he knew he had to be sure. He whispered back into his concealed communicator.

"Get them back up, now."

The lights suddenly turned on again, to reveal the carnage below. All five guards, downed for the count. Alive, but unconscious. Their guns were strewn across the floor, bullets surrounding them. They had all been jumped, surprised and beaten. The only person not there was Thane.

"Um, Thane?" the techie asked over the intercom "Where are ya pal? Test is over, I think."

Ackerson's eyes darted from side to side, scanning for the alien, trying to see if he had been killed after all. But he saw nothing.

"Where is that damn freaky looking fish?" he sneered angrily.

"I'm actually a reptile."

Ackerson's head shot up and looked back. Behind him and the Techie was Thane, no worse for wear, night-vision goggles in one hand and looking rather cross at Ackerson. The techie was thrilled.

"Oh thank god," he said "no one's dead on the course for once."

"How did you get up here?" Ackerson demanded to know, not at all thrilled at how his plan had unravelled.

Thane pointed up at a nearby overhanging vent, it's mesh plate open wide and hanging off its hinges.

"That is a considerable security hazard." He said nonchalantly "Almost as bad as your guards mistaking live ammo for blanks."

The alien then held up the night-vision goggles.

"Care to explain what this is?" he asked

Ackerson kept a stiff up lip of defiance as he strutted past the alien.

"I guess someone thought it would be an interesting curve if you had to run the course in the dark." He said as he hurried out of the room "I'll need to speak with the requisitions officer about those live bullets though, someone could've been hurt. Severely."

Thane stared on at the fleeing Ackerson, his denial see-through and obvious. Thane knew he had something to do with this. The techie of course was just happy no one was hurt. Thane however knew that he had gotten lucky this time. He would have to warn Shepard, which meant he'd have to endure that lecture after all.

"Way to ruin my mood Colonel." He grumbled to himself.

* * *

><p><strong>August, 10<strong>**th****, 2552**

Shepard had gathered up the people he was gonna need for this. Legion, Garrus and Thane of course. Holland said he needed snipers, particularly stealthy ones. Thane and Garrus certainly fit that description and Legion was a Geth infiltrator, despite it's declarations that they "did not infiltrate."

He still hadn't really talked to Thane. Ackerson's murder attempt had made him decide Thane had been through enough for the time being. Against his better judgement he delayed settling things yet again. In any case they were gonna need to be more careful. Ackerson would pull something like this again, he was sure of it. They weren't finished with him.

For now though he just wanted to focus on this mission Holland had for them. He said it required stealth. They could do that. He found Holland and Noble Two in the designated Ops room, waiting for them all.

"This your team Shepard?" Holland asked

"The people best qualified for this type of mission as you described it." Shepard replied "I assume we're ready for the fireworks to start?"

Holland walked over to the holographic display, activating a few buttons.

"Almost, we're just preparing for one last major probe into the Dead Zone, this one on the ground." He explained as a recon picture appeared before them. "This mountainous region makes up much of what we assume is enemy territory. It's impossible to spot anything significant from the air, and we can't risk the Covenant shooting one of our boys down."

"They must know we're coming by now." Garrus noted

"They probably do, they just don't know when." Holland replied "We need to keep it that way until we're ready to hit them at dawn on the twelfth we suspect they'll still be getting out of their bunks by then."

Holland enlarged a section of the map and pointed at two separate areas.

"Your insertion points will be here and here," he said "one for your team Shepard the other for Noble. Your objectives are to find the epicentre of the dead zone in the middle of the region and strike at targets of opportunity. You will provide over watch for each other when you can and try to keep firefights to a minimum."

"What if we get spotted?" asked Thane asked

"It's not mission over, but there are parameters." Holland told him "We can't let on to the Covies that we're preparing an attack. We're keeping this team small in the hopes they'll assume you're just a raiding party of sorts. Or maybe a bunch of dumb humans who lost their way. So long as the main force doesn't spot you or is alerted to your presence we should be fine."

Shepard never had been one for stealth missions, but this was important. They needed some kind of idea of what they were gonna be running into for the attack. With any luck they'd just be engaging small isolated squads. They could handle that, anything more they weren't prepared for.

"Do we know anything else about the area?" Garrus asked

"Little," Noble Two said "satellite imagery is spotty. This is the best picture we got and we've only identified a few covenant outposts along the Cliffside. It's like something is blocking our view of the dead zone, we can't get a fix on it."

Shepard wasn't surprised. The satellites were probably encountering interference from whatever it was that was playing havoc with their communications. Still, he expected some kind of picture of what they were dealing with.

"Now one important thing," Holland stated "you'll be under Noble Two's command, all of you. This is her op. I expect you to follow her orders like she's the president of the United Republic of North America. No questions asked."

He turned to Garrus specifically.

"Is that understood?" he asked

Garrus simply nodded, no sense in arguing.

"You set off tomorrow night then." Holland acknowledged "Get you gear ready, make preparations. Remember, you're the prelude to the real show. This recon is important, we need to know what dealing with or they will slaughter us in the first wave."

"We won't let you down sir." Shepard promised

With that they were dismissed and Shepard's began walking back.

"So how many you think we'll be facing?" Garrus asked

"Probability highly suggests a substantially large force. One that has built up significant defences." Legion warned "Inherent risk in operation considerably great."

"In other words assume the worst." Shepard concurred "We'll know soon enough when we head in. Best we get ready. Which reminds me Legion..."

The Geth turned to Shepard, it's iris blinking.

"How you feel about tinting your flashlight's colour just a bit?" he asked "For psychological purposes."

"We have no objection." Legion stated, sounding awfully cheerful

Shepard smiled, if there was anything he liked about this mission it was the prospect of striking back some fear in the hearts of the covenant. Lord knows they had given him enough grief already. In less than a day they'd finally be taking the fight to the Covenant.

And in the ensuing battle, Halsey's word would at last be put to the test.

* * *

><p>AN: Not heavy on the conflict side of things obviously, but this is primarily a set up chapter for certain things. Certain lines in the sand are being drawn and agendas and plans on both sides are being put into motion. Expect things to change next chapter with an actual combat mission, which will be followed up by another combat mission. So you'll be spoiled, trust me. It will more than make up for the lack of bullet hosing action.<p>

Also more Halsey stuff next chapter, just a little more. We're not gonna be seeing less of the good doctor any time soon considering how big a player she is. And I have set up a few things with her and Tali now so there you go.

I've wanted to write that scene for awhile. Mainly because whenever people seem to bring up the Morning War they kinda forget a few things. Firstly that while the Quarians acted in haste, it doesn't mean that they deserved the end result. You'd still feel pretty pissed off if someone, no matter how justified, threw you out of your house. Imagine being kicked out of your home for centuries and having the rest of the world spit on you while you're forced to sleep in a dingy old box? You'd be pretty pissed and unreasonable when it comes to the people who you blame for your misfortune. I'll elaborate it more later on in the story, but for now I wanted to show Tali at a crossroads. She's trying to give up her prejudices against AI, but hatred that seated and rooted doesn't go away over night. Like the trust issues between the Normandy and the UNSC, it takes time to let go of such things. We've seen Tali try and come to terms with the fact everything she was taught since her childhood isn't entirely true. We've seen her compliment Legion and EDI, but she's in a delicate stage of transition nonetheless and her old habits are proving hard to kill.

That and I just love talking about the nature of Artificial Intelligence! And giving Tali something to do besides fawn over Shepard, which too many a fanfic makes the mistake of doing. She's more than just a sexy alien nerd guys, she's like an onion... with layers.

Expect the armour equipment to come up more next chapter, if the Normandy team is gonna integrate anything into their arsenal it's that stuff. Come on, you know the idea is fucking cool, don't deny you wanna see Shepard use a hologram or Grunt with armour lock, or hell, the frickin jetpack on anyone!

So with that said, ready your breakfast and eat hearty fellow Spartans. For next chapter the action begins a new... and it won't stop for a good long while. The preliminaries are over folks, the real Fall of Reach is about to begin.

EDI: Credit where credit is due, thank you Roboreader-21 for the flash cloning food idea, helped out a lot.


	9. Darkest before Dusk

Chapter 9: Darkest before Dusk

**August 11****th****, 2552**

Getting to the drop zone was taking time. The falcons were flying low and slow in an attempt to keep under the Covenant's radar. It would be even slower going in on foot considering how they were being dropped off a few kilometres from the edge of what had been designated enemy held territory. So there was plenty of time to concur with the other members of the team about the mission.

Legion would be going with Six and Jun, Shepard, Garrus and Thane would remain together. It had been decided that two three man sniper teams would be best. They'd cover more ground and see more of the potential battlefield that way. The more they knew prior to the attack the better. Kat in the meantime would be aboard another Falcon, keeping in contact best she could. She needed to be close by, otherwise she'd lose their signal once they were in the dead zone.

There were on a tight schedule though. They needed to be done before sun up. The attack would be going ahead at 0800 the following day. Right now it was the middle of the night and despite Reach having more hours in a day than earth they still didn't have many hours before dawn hit. Shepard hadn't been on many stealth missions in his time, but he knew enough that they would need to be quick and precise.

Luckily, Legion, Garrus and Thane weren't pushovers with sniper rifles. That would more than make up for his lack of proper training. Still, if push came to shove he'd be there for the close ranged combat. He had already armed himself accordingly. The Scimitar shotgun and the Avalanche cryo-weapon would be useful in the operation. It was the quietest heavy weapon they had. He also ditched the flashier armour in favour of something more fitting a night time mission, the Terminus Assault Armour. If nothing else it was good camouflage and the reserve ammunition storage on the suit would be of use in the sustained battle ahead. They'd be out here for awhile, he didn't want to risk running out of thermal clips.

"You think Legion will be okay by itself with the Spartans?" Thane asked as he sat patiently in his seat.

"Legion has a better reputation with them than I do," Garrus assured him as he calibrated his rifle "they're all practically best friends with each other by now."

Shepard wasn't sure about Legion being friends with anyone. Did Geth have the emotional capacity to recognize someone as a friend? It would probably be more accurate to say Legion was trying to facilitate unit cohesion. It was always big on doing that. Then again Legion was full of surprises, or the Geth were. He'd been working with the machine for months and it was still difficult to wrap his head around Geth culture. He wondered if the Spartans were having more luck than him.

In any case, it was irrelevant for now. Legion had its job to do, they needed to focus on their end of things.

"According to the map we've been provided," Shepard began as he opened up his omni-tool to show an image of the recon picture "we're taking most of the high ground for this op. It's gonna be steep in some places and we don't have the luxury that Noble Team has. Their path is a bit broader. Goes without saying we need to watch our steps."

"I'm just hoping there's some good sniping positions." said Garrus, trying to be optimistic "And preferably not as many patrols up there."

"Let's just worry about getting to the dead zone epicentre." Shepard told him "Whatever we find up there we're more than capable of handling."

In the falcon flying next to Shepard's team, Jun, Six and Legion were already going over the final details.

"First structures we'll run into will be a nice little Cliffside housing complex." Jun told the others jovially "Great view from the top floor no doubt. Course it's probably overrun with Covenant by now. Most of structures in the region probably are."

"Are we to assume that none of the previous residents are still functioning?" Legion asked, it's red beaming down on Jun.

Jun shook his head almost immediately. Not enjoying the thought of the civilians and army personnel who had been stuck here for weeks on end.

"After this long I'm kinda hoping they're dead." He responded despondently "If they're still alive they're probably prisoners. I don't want to think about what happens to the ones they catch."

"What about resupply?" Six asked

"Plenty of military structures in this area," Jun said as he peered out the side of the falcon "we should find scattered supplies around the cliffs. It depends largely on how much of its intact."

As they kept flying Six periodically looked into his sniper scope. He scanned the distant horizon as they made their low and slow approach. Even tonight, against a full moon, it was incredibly dark out. The best light they had was Legion's red eye. Thankfully it was a low light colour so it wouldn't give away their position as they headed into enemy territory.

Six was a bit surprised at Legion's look when he showed up. The all white paintjob and the red eye were a little creepy to him. He asked Legion how he changed the colour of his eye and it said it was just a simple filtering program. It said the whole look was psychological in tone, Six could certainly see why.

Soon enough Kat called over the radio.

"Alright, you should be approaching your drop zones." She said "Let me now when you make first contact. Do not engage, just assess the threat first."

"Acknowledged Noble Two," Jun replied "it will probably be awhile though considering we have to hoof it."

"Better than landing in a hot zone Three," Kat told him "just don't get your heads all blown off before you find the target."

The Falcons landed in their separate drop points, Shepard's team on the high ground, Noble Team on the low ground. Jun scanned the area once with his scope.

"Clear, how about your end Shepard?"

"Nada," Shepard replied "looks like we got under their radar."

"Or they're waiting to ambush us." Garrus quipped

Shepard gave his Turian friend a disgruntled look.

"Must you damper everything with the worst case scenario?" he asked him

"It keeps you on your toes sir."

Shepard just shook his head and motioned ahead of him.

"Move out."

He hoped Garrus was wrong about that ambush thing. After so many things had gone wrong since they came here, he wanted at least one mission to go smoothly. No surprises. No new stolen tech from their universe. No sudden appearances by aliens that hadn't heard about yet.

But when were they ever that lucky?

* * *

><p>Jack lay up against a wall in lower engineering, reading over the dossier Miranda had handed to everyone a few weeks ago. Normally she'd tell the bitch what to do with her intelligence briefings, where to stick them to be precise. She looked at what the ex-Cerberus agent had for a few minutes before agonizing over the details more and more.<p>

The fugly cockroach people weren't too scary, the freaky looking long necked bug eyed invalid in the chair didn't bother her, it was the last one that made her shiver. The one Miranda had marked "Highly Dangerous" in bold.

She remembered seeing gorillas once in a documentary vid she downloaded about a nature preserve back on earth. These aliens, Brutes as the UNSC called them, they were like those guys on steroids. With guns. She was rarely freaked out by much, rarely put off by many adversaries. The Brute with its snarling maw and giant fanged teeth within put her off her game. Their bladed weapons were worse, plasma was bad enough, but these bastards wanted to carve you up before you died. Then she saw the attachment video Miranda had placed in the OSD, marked graphic and with the title "Fucking Savages".

Normally Miranda's definition of graphic was tame by Jack's standards. But while she didn't like the cheerleader much she knew that if it brought her to swear, something she only did when someone got under her skin, Jack took notice. She watched the video once and hadn't bothered to work up the nerve to do so again. It showed Brutes eating... but it wasn't typical monkey food. It wasn't bananas.

Jack wanted to throw up. How could any species be this sickening? Even Krogan were tame, reasonable and relatively sane by the standards of the Brutes. Ever since she saw the video she now wondered if that big ass sword/grenade launcher they carried was for more than just killing the enemy. She wondered if it was to make them easier to swallow. Of all the sick depraved shit she'd seen in the galaxy, this crap took the cake and according to Miranda and the UNSC it was a common occurrence. Not some random act of depravity.

She had been sitting in the dark for hours now, trying to work her last nerve just to watch it again.

"You are not fucking weak Jack," she said to herself adamantly "you can watch it. It's nothing!"

Her attempts to convince herself failed. Her finger just edged short of pressing the screen and watching the video again. She just couldn't do it. How was she gonna handle this shit in real life if she couldn't even watch it on a screen? Why was it so hard to be desensitized to this stuff? But when she remembered the screaming man, his head being bashed into the floor before the Brute took his still twitching form and brought it up to his mouth... then she stopped thinking and tried to forget she had seen it.

"What kind of crap have you stumbled into now Jack?" she asked herself.

She was starting to wonder if maybe she should've left when Shepard first told her she could. First told everyone he recruited they could actually. What made her stay with these crazy bastards who threw themselves into insane situations? Not that she had ever complained before, she had fun when it counted. It was better than Purgatory and its semi-legal slave labour bullshit. At least, according to Shepard, she was doing something good with her talents for once.

"Bleeding heart." She thought to herself "Always trying to bring out the best in everyone."

While she derided him though, Jack knew he was probably the reason she stayed in the first place. The commander had a strange talent to draw people to his cause, whatever it was. At one time she tried to excuse her reasons to stay because with the Reapers coming she had nowhere else to go. That they were all dead anyway, so why bother leaving the ship that offered you free food and board.

Perhaps deep down though, in reality, her old survival instinct was kicking in. That Shepard and this crew were probably her only chance to avoid that. That if she wanted to survive she'd have to be here at ground zero, the Normandy, commanded by the only person who seemed to be doing anything concerning what was coming.

Perhaps that was why working for this Halsey was pissing her off the most, because she trusted Shepard. That for all his pussy "save the galaxy and do it right" bull that he gleamed from starry eyed cheesy 20th century vids, at least she knew where he stood. What she could count on him for, to be this annoying as fuck little conscious pushing her one way or the next. Like he did with everyone.

Now he was working exclusively for someone he would've read the riot act to, given the chance. It was disconcerting to say the least.

Her mind drifted back to the file on the Brutes, on the video. She looked at the dossier for five seconds before deciding she just didn't have the nerve to push that button. She needed someone with a stronger stomach to do it for her. Now that was certainly new to her, needing help to watch something. She wasn't sure if that spoke volumes of herself or of the Brutes.

"Guess I could use the fresh air anyway." She said

Jack wandered out of her hidey hole. She exited out into the main hall and went towards Grunt's room. He wouldn't mind watching the vid, it wasn't like his people were being served up to the Covenant in it. She entered the Krogan's room, something only she and Shepard were probably brave enough to do. Maybe Zaeed too, considering how many Krogan he had killed off.

Grunt was there, hunched over next to his tank, the dossier pad in hand already. Even from here Jack could hear the familiar sounds of the video. She could hear the snarling and screaming of their respective actors. Playing out their assigned parts in the perverse snuff film drama they had been told to watch.

"Knew you wouldn't be fazed by it." She said, announcing her presence

Grunt didn't acknowledge her. He just kept staring at the pad in his hand. Jack shrugged, that was how Grunt acted with everyone. He only paid attention when he felt it was deserved. Of course, you could always demand the attention, he'd give it. You just probably wouldn't like the results.

Jack wasn't stupid enough to push that angle though.

"How many times you watch it?" she asked, genuinely curious "You must be bored of it by now. I mean it must be pretty tame by Krogan standards right?"

She was never good at this conversation thing. That was Shepard's shtick. Talking was never her strong suit, and talking to Grunt was most of the time like talking to a wall. You got nothing back and you usually just embarrassed yourself. Hell, outside of a fight, she wasn't sure if she ever had much of a conversation with the Krogan.

Grunt at least looked her way a bit before turning back to his vid. It annoyed Jack, but in the end she wasn't even up here to chat anyway. She wanted to be able to watch the video, to get over this damn stigma she had.

She marched over slightly, trying to peer over the alien's massive shoulder when she got close. She stood there for a few moments trying to get a good view, motioning her head around on a swivel. Grunt didn't seem like he cared, at first.

"You mind?" he asked at long last "Your hovering is distracting."

"I just wanna see." She said, snapping back

"Use your own." He shot back

Jack couldn't just admit she was having trouble stomaching the vid's contents. But that said, she wasn't an idiot either. She had already thought up an excuse before she was even half way out of her hidey hole.

"The pad the cheerleader gave me is broken," she said "I can't view the file again for some reason. I think it got corrupted."

Grunt snorted in frustration. He stood up and motioned the still playing video towards Jack's face. They both now had a clear view of it all. Jack did her best to hide her discomfort, grimacing best she could to look tougher. She kept her eyes glued to the screen, watching as the Brute began rending flesh from bone. It was sickening, seeing spinal column pulled out and faces bitten off.

After watching it for awhile though, as Grunt kept rewinding it and replaying it, her disgust was replaced with another emotion, a desire to see these monsters get a taste of their own medicine. She looked to Grunt, remembering something he told her just before they arrived in this dimension.

"So, are these guys worth killing?" she asked

Grunt nodded quickly.

"Yes, they are." He said with absolute certainty

Jack smiled a bit. If anyone could take care of these things Grunt was the one to do it. Sure the Hunter caught him on a bad day, but that had been a surprise. This time around they were prepared for them damn things.

And something told Jack that Grunt had his own personal reasons to kill these bastards. It probably wasn't similar to her own desire to see these Brutes suffer, but it would be more than enough. These overgrown apes thought they were hot-shit now. Thought they could get away with making meals out of humans. Well, they'd soon learn this crew was a hell of a lot scarier than they were. She was scarier than they were.

Her fears evaporated she left Grunt to keep studying. But before she did Jack looked back to ask one last question.

"Best way to kill them?" she asked

"Don't waste time on the small stuff." Grunt warned her "You'll need to hit them, and hard, with whatever you have. Go for the head too, seems like it's the weakest part of their body."

Jack nodded in thanks and left. It was about now that she decided that old theory she heard about a long time ago was right. If you wanted good advice on how to kill anything a Krogan had more than enough to share on that front.

* * *

><p>Shepard's team kept moving through the rocky pass. It hadn't been long since they got dropped off, but they still hadn't encountered the Covenant as of yet. Fine by Shepard, the longer they didn't know they were here the better. Garrus was on point, keeping watch as they moved through what little vegetation was on the plateau they were marching across.<p>

"Hope we ain't lost," he voiced in concern "I'd hate to imagine we took a long turn somewhere up here."

"These upper cliffs are big Garrus but they aren't too difficult to navigate." Shepard assured him "We're headed the right way trust me."

To make sure though, Shepard check the map in on his omni-tool.

"In fact we should be overlooking the first structure in a matter of minutes if we keep walking this way.

"Good," Thane added "we need to stay on schedule. Legion and the Spartans are probably almost in position."

Shepard gave Thane a firm look over his shoulder.

"Just remember what we talked about Thane." Shepard warned

How could he forget, it was only a few hours ago.

* * *

><p><strong>Six Hours Prior...<strong>

Thane sat in his chamber where he usually did. Busy contemplating and thinking about his life. Or what little of it was actually left. He'd been deliberately avoiding the others for awhile now. He supposed it was rude, considering how he had pissed off Shepard a bit. The smart thing to do would've been to seek him out to talk things over. Instead he let it simmer.

The dreaded confrontation finally occurred when the Commander himself marched in.

"We're heading out in a few hours," he said "I think its best we go over a few things. I don't want there to be complications during the mission."

Thane didn't answer at first. Shepard thought he was brooding again. Trying to avoid the talk they needed to have. Shepard had put it off for awhile. Thane guessed he should've been grateful. It allowed him to collect his thoughts, think about what he wanted to say. But Shepard still didn't seem sure if it was time yet, even now.

"Well you seem busy," he said sarcastically snapping his voice at him "I'll come back later than."

"Shepard," Thane called out as the human started to leave "I want to talk."

The Human Commander nodded at last and walked back to the little table Thane had set beside his makeshift bed. He sat down across from him as he usually did.

"Was hoping you did." He said before cutting to the chase "I'm not gonna lecture you on what happened, you already know my feelings on it and how it could've gotten you killed. And I know you won't be trying anything like that, at least not within reason."

Thane blinked once and nodded with a sigh.

"Yes, fair enough." He admitted "we are supposed to be a team. We need to work together."

"We also need to be open," Shepard added "so you mind explaining what the heck is going on with you lately?"

Thane bowed his head and breathed in deeply. Honestly he didn't understand why he hadn't said something sooner. It wasn't like he made any secret of his core problem at the moment.

"Mortality I suppose." He answered "And the fact it has slowly but surely creeping up on me."

"You've known about that for awhile." Shepard said seemingly confused "What does that have to do with anything?"

Thane almost seemed to look past him, towards the emanating glow of the drive core behind the glass.

"When I was younger, it was easier to plan my life." Thane explained "At least I thought it was. I believed myself, invincible. When I was told at last how little time I truly had left... well illusions shatter quickly. It speeds things up, forces you to sort out what accounts need to be settled."

Shepard leaned back a bit in his seat.

"If you have any more debts you need to settle I'll see what I can do about them when we get back." Shepard promised

Thane shook his head.

"No, nothing like what you did for me and my son, nothing on that level I assure you." He told him "In fact you can't really help me on this I think. It is not a tangible problem."

"I hate it when you're cryptic Thane." Shepard said as he sighed "I don't mean to be disrespectful but we don't have all night."

Thane supposed he was dancing around the issue too much, even now. It was just difficult to explain. At least not all at once, he needed to work up to it.

"We need to face the facts here Shepard," Thane began "we may not get home and even if we do there may be no home left for either of us to go to. Between finding the wormhole and the Reapers, the odds are not good. We could be searching the entire galaxy for the way back for decades, centuries even and by then..."

Shepard didn't need him to spell it out. He supposed it was another reason he himself was so eager to figure out more about this wormhole and what the Covenant were doing back in their dimension. The Reaper invasion wasn't helping either, it just made things even more urgent.

"I'm hoping this zealot will solve some of those problems." Shepard reminded him

"We should not put all our hopes on him Shepard," Thane responded glumly "for all we know any cybernetic implants he had were added on this side of the wormhole. He probably has not been to our dimension."

"He has to know something." Shepard declared, somewhat wondering if he was assuring Thane at the moment.

In any case, Thane got to the heart of the problem.

"I need to accept the inevitable possibility Shepard." Thane said as morosely as ever "I may not live to see this through. And I do not mean being killed in battle. I may die before we ever get back home. I may never see my son again. So, I need to make due."

"And how do you make due by turning lone wolf?" Shepard asked, unconvinced by the reasoning

"I can not help my son, I can not protect him from the reapers but I can protect these people." Thane explained as plain as possible "I can make a difference here and now. I have accepted that. As for my actions, the explanation is simple. I have always been more comfortable on my own. I suppose I am just trying to maintain that edge."

Shepard leered a bit over to the Drell.

"I can sense another reason." He told the reptile

Thane's head lowered once more.

"You will not always have me Shepard." Thane informed "I do not want to get too attached to any of this and I do not want you to be dependent on me. My soul may be willing to continue this journey but my body will tire eventually. I will be of no further use to you. I will be a burden."

"If you feel like that you should've just stayed with your son." Shepard told him sternly, a sense of conviction in his voice "Believe me he needs a father right now."

"I was more useful to him by your side, and I am more useful to these people on the Normandy as well." Thane responded, once again seemingly plainly "I can only do so much for anyone anymore, but what I can do is what I have always done. Kill evil. Make up for my past. Save lives. And again, in a way I am preparing all of you for when I pass. You will need to rely on others as well as yourself."

Shepard could see what Thane was trying to do. It was a bit weird having him go on about this, about needing to rely on his own gumption on his own skills. That he wouldn't always have friends to cover his back. Reminded him of another talk he had long ago.

He didn't like it then either.

"That time isn't for a good while Krios." Shepard informed him as he stood up "For now we need to rely on you, like you said we're a team. That's the whole point of being a team, relying on another. We're going to get home Thane, all of us. You'll see your son again and you're gonna be there for him for as long as you can."

Thane looked back defiantly

"And when I become sickly and frail he will have to be there for me. Waiting on my every need, trying to make my final hours comfortable. When I am finally gone what does he have then?" he asked the Commander "How much more can I possibly prepare him for? I will just be scarring him all over again Shepard, its better this way."

The Drell looked down at the floor, ashamed with himself from the looks of it. Shepard was usually understanding of his moods, but at the moment he was thinking of other things.

"It would be better if you tried to be the father he didn't have for several years. That would be making it right. You said you wanted to make it right didn't you?" Shepard asked

"That was before I learned what was coming." Thane countered "The best gift a father can give his son is the tools to survive or at the least the chance."

Shepard thought for a moment about bringing up how he could solve his problems if he underwent surgery, replaced his lungs. It wouldn't cure him but it would give him more time. But he remembered Thane telling him once, that when it was time to go it was time. He didn't want to prolong the inevitable.

"We'll talk about this another time," Shepard told him firmly "right now we should get ready for the mission. Just remember we need you on the team now, we need to rely on you as long as you're able. You're not a burden Thane, you're a member of our crew. We need you with your head on straight. If you need to sort yourself out more talk to Kelly when you get the chance, it will be helpful, trust me."

He wondered if Chambers would appreciate the goodwill he sent her way. But Shepard was pulled out of his thoughts once more as he walked away.

"You seem so confident we will get home Shepard." Thane spoke up "I am surprised, after all we have witnessed, you still maintain an optimistic outlook on the future."

Shepard paused for a moment, the gears turning in his head more and more. The future, the undiscovered country as he once heard it called. Yeah, he sure had high hopes for that. He reminded himself, don't let them see you blink Shepard you need to be strong for them. They can't see you break, not now.

"Tomorrow will come when it comes, and we'll face it then." He told the Drell "Worry about the now for today."

Shepard hoped Thane hadn't picked up on his dismissive attitude and walked away. With any luck his words would stick with Thane, both about the team and his son.

* * *

><p><strong>Presently...<strong>

"I remember Shepard," Thane swore "no heroics tonight. I promise."

Shepard just nodded, that was all he needed.

"Come on let's get into position." He said "Legion and the Spartans are probably almost at the first set of structures."

* * *

><p>Scooting along these narrow cliff-faces was nerve wracking, to most people. To a Spartan it was a walk in the park. The real worry wasn't falling it was what was up ahead. They knew the Covenant were only a few feet away from them all. The biggest clue was the spotlight from the Phantom flying right over their heads. They weren't entirely subtle to be frank. As the three of them moved along the edge of the cliff to the more wide open are that lay out ahead, Jun conversed with Noble Two.<p>

"Recon Team Bravo reporting in, Three, Six and Legion in position." He said "starting to get crowded up here. I'm spying a good number of Covenant ships and patrols up ahead."

"Then we're closing in," Kat said "keep an eye out for any Covenant vehicles or structures. We can't see much on electronic surveillance up ahead thanks to whatever is making this zone dark. Direct action may be necessary."

It was a rather simple command. Kat took that kind of style from Carter it seemed. Six and Legion joined Jun up on the Cliffside overlooking a small covenant outpost. Nothing big but they could see at least one Elite from where they were standing.

"When Kat runs an op direct action is always necessary." Jun mused as he dug into his ammunition pouch.

"Was expecting a few more to be honest." Six said

"Yeah well they'll be up ahead," Jun told him as he passed several ammo clips to Six "here special rounds. High velocity and armour piercing. They'll take the hat off an Elite at 2000 yards. And they ain't cheap."

Six understood the final sentence, which was spoken more directly and firmly than Jun usually did. It was the command not to waste shots. He'd make sure they didn't.

"Let's try and limit our gunfire for now." Jun told him "We still have surprise, be nice to keep it till we hit the structures past these guys. Shepard and the others should be in position about now, so let's not keep them waiting."

Jun began marching away on his own path while Six and Legion readied themselves to drop down below.

"I'll be in touch, meet you on the hill up ahead."

Six acknowledged and he and the Geth slid down to the ground below. They snaked up the hillside slowly, the moon their only real source of light. As they approached the top of the path they noticed a single Elite standing guard, looking down on a large pit below.

"Elite, he's yours." Jun radioed

Six snuck up on the Elite. He was unaware of the Spartan even as he moved in for the kill. Six struck without warning. He jumped on top of the Elite's back, climbing up the eight foot alien and stabbed downward into the creature's neck. He used his other hand to muffle the creature's cries as he fell to the earth dead. Purple blood leaked onto the ground, but the Elite's subordinates were none the wiser to his demise. The grunts carried on like nothing happened.

"Taken care of," Six said "let's thin out the patrol now."

Legion approached one Grunt that was walking up a path to their level, he dropped in behind and grabbed the alien's head. One quick twist and it was dead.

"Target neutralized."

One last Grunt was nearby, sleeping soundly, slacking off. Six punted its head back into the rock with his foot and then stabbed downward into the alien's head. The Grunt fell forward, never uttering a word.

"That's one sleep he ain't waking from." Six noted

There was a single Jackal patrolling the grounds. Again, he was unaware all his other comrades were dead. Legion handled this one. Realising the need for stealth the Geth had endeavoured to attach a silencer to its Widow Anti-Material Rifle. Legion now took aim at the Jackal, lining up the sight. The alien must've thought it saw something out of the corner of its eye cause it turned to Legion, but the machine had already pulled the trigger. All that was left of its head a second later were feathers and blood.

While both Legion and Six nodded at each other at their success they didn't wait around the chat and congratulate each other. Both rushed up along the ridge towards the hill where Jun said they'd meet. He was already there, spying on their first target.

The structure ahead was indeed a nice little housing complex, possibly an administrator's building for some of the important infrastructure in this area. It was sticking out of the side of the cliff, rising like a man made rock formation. It overlooked a circular courtyard and a smaller building on the edge of the ridge that looked like a garage and storage area for heavy equipment. They could even some of the said heavy equipment, some forklifts and the like in the courtyard itself.

However as expected it was now overrun by several Covenant patrols, who had made it their makeshift little outpost. Already they could spy a good chunk of Elites, at least four and there were probably more they weren't seeing hiding behind parts of the structure itself. The building itself had a large circular pillar in the middle blocking their view of the roof.

"Ain't gonna be easy taking out these Elites." Jun noted "Very spread out, we take one out the others are gonna know. It'll take them awhile to spot us, probably draw out the rest."

"Or they could duck into cover and try and find our position." Six added "I think we should call Shepard see if he's ready. Then Kat, ask her how she wants this to go down."

Jun agreed and turned to Legion.

"Call your boss," he said "ask him if he's ready."

Legion nodded and quickly radioed the Commander.

"We are in position Shepard Commander, what is your location?"

"Just overlooking the administration building." Replied the Commander "Up and way to your right in the cliffs near some rock outcroppings to be specific, we got a good view of the roof mostly and the courtyard, not so much the back of the place though. Pretty crowded down there from what I can see however. Crap ton of Elites that's for sure. They're the real problem from what I can gather."

"Agreed." Jun added "I think we should coordinate our strategy a bit on this. Once the lead starts flying there's no telling how things will go down."

Before Jun went any further he contacted Kat. He knew at this point that when Kat ran things you always asked her first before you did anything. She liked to keep a tight grip on her ops like that. Besides, it was always nice to hear her input.

"Kat," he said "we're at the first waypoint, the administrative structure. We got a mess of Covenant down below. We can't sneak by them. But Shepard's in position, we were thinking of coordinating a two pronged sniper attack, keep them off balance."

"Fair enough," she responded "how many elites?"

Jun looked to Six who scanned the area once with his scope and held up the number he counted with his fingers.

"Least three we can see in the open, they're patrolling the area." He told Kat "And I saw some phantoms earlier so-"

"They could call for back-up as soon as they know what's going on." Kat finished for him

Jun then thought of something else.

"By the by, you think this is what we're looking for?"

"No too small, and you're not in the dark zone yet where our satellites can't see anything." Kat then switched topics "Engage at your discretion. They'll probably think it was a small incursion come the dawn and it will be too late for them to do anything about it. Take out the Elites fast, first and foremost, mop up the rest and move on. We're on the clock here."

With that Kat was over and out and left the deliberating of the strategy up to the two sniper teams.

"Okay, there's a million ways this could all go down." Jun began as he opened up a channel to both Shepard's squad "Our best chance right now is to keep them off balance. There's two sniper nests so as long as we can keep them guessing where the shots are coming from we should be able to mop most of them up."

Legion raised its head up towards Jun, its red eye opening and closing slightly.

"Three Noble if we may provide a suggestion?" it asked

Jun nodded, lord knew he was open to anything right about now.

"This platform has several subroutines relaying to identification of threats." The Geth began "We can locate any other Elites on your hub via thermal imaging."

"So you could pick up their heat sigs?" Six asked

"Affirmative."

That would make it difficult for the Elites to hide in cover, and reveal how many were actually out and about.

"Good idea, anything else?" Jun asked

"Well I got one."

That voice belonged to Garrus, Jun just sighed. He may not have been as pissed with the Turian as Emile was but he was still annoyed at having him perk up with advice. Still, it could be helpful and he knew better than to just outright dismiss someone's idea before he heard it.

"Alright, shoot Vakarian." Jun replied at long last, not sounding all that excited

"Well," the Turian began trying to sound as confident as before, Jun's tone of voice not helping. "I figured that maybe we could get past this whole dead zone thing, just a bit. I mean, Legion can hook up to the neural network from light-years away right? So what's to stop him from him and Auntie Dot connecting up? Legion could be used as some kind of conduit, get us a better general idea of the area and what to expect up ahead."

It was a weird sounding plan. Jun usually left this techno talk up to Kat and thus stuff like neural networks and the like were a bit alien to him. They weren't entirely, but anything like this, connecting two AI together, he wasn't sure. He turned Six, hoping he knew and even better actually understood what Garrus was suggesting. He just shrugged, not understanding it anymore than he did apparently. Legion helpfully filled the void.

"It is possible that the connection could be established, we have done so before." The Geth acknowledged "However the deeper into the dead zone we progress the weaker the connection will become. Do not expect to rely on it for any considerable length of time."

Any extra pair of eyes would be helpful and if Legion said it could do it who was he to argue? He just didn't know what Carter or Kat would say about it. Dot was only an intelligence program, a dumb AI with no real strategic ability. Nevertheless, she could still relay them information on the enemy.

"Alright," Jun told Legion "if you think it can be done. Give us that thermal imaging first though, then open up a channel to Dot."

Legion peered out over the area ahead. It's red eye scanning the dozens of covenant troops below them. The thermal imaging worked well enough, spotting each individual hostile wish ease. Before long the Geth had indicated each of their positions on its hud and passed the information along to its comrades.

"Elites designated, seven in immediate area, plus a substantial amount of Jackals." Legion told them

Said Jackals were indicated by red waypoint dots on their hud, all of them were currently inside the building, out of sight. Same with two Elites inside the administrative building, they were all taking cover for the moment. That would change when the lead went flying. Now that Legion had helped spot their targets for them, the two sniper teams began to pick them out. An easy task no doubt with so many potential victims.

"I'm seeing one at the far back of the facility." Six said as he lay flat to the ground, his eyes peering down the scope "Standing on top a raised bit of land Ranger armour classification from the looks of it. No jetpack though, so we're good on that end. He's got a friend to the right of him, on the ground level, couple of Grunts beside him."

"I have visual on two of them on the roof," Thane called in "me and Garrus can probably take them out at the same time."

"That leaves us with two Elites still indoors and one of their buddies patrolling the grounds with the Grunts." Jun observed, a plan forming in his head "Okay here's how this is gonna go down then. Six and I will hit the two at the back, Thane, Garrus you go with the two on the roof. Legion, see if you can take out the patroller. Course even if we do kill most o them in the first salvo we still got their friends inside and they'll probably call for back up. That's not counting the Grunts either. They're gonna start shooting where they think they saw the shots come from so try and keep them off balance. Plasma pistols aren't terribly accurate at long range, but they can still hurt no matter how far away they're fired."

Everyone began lining up their shots, they wouldn't fire until Jun gave the word and that would be when he felt he could make the shot on his target. His Elite was a minor officer, regular armour, not really unique. Still, like most enemies in a sniper's sights it didn't really matter how high a rank you were. Snipers were a great equalizer in a sense. So it didn't matter in the end who you bagged with the bullet, it just mattered if you hit him.

The Elite was standing at attention, wandering back and forth in its patrol. The grunts beside it followed at a distance. Part of the hierarchy system, they weren't equal to the Elites so they were required to keep their distance from him out of combat. Then they crowded around him to protect his ass with their bodies. What little good it did the Elites, how did you protect an eight foot giant with dwarfs? It didn't matter tonight though, his meat shields wouldn't get to him in time to save him. He'd be dead before they even knew what happened.

"On my mark," he said "hope you're all as good as you say you are. On my shot you're weapons free. Make it count."

The Elite turned about face to patrol back, as he shifted his stance Jun readied his trigger finger.

"Mark."

The bullet whizzed out of the barrel and rocketed towards the patrolling Elite on the ground. He didn't see anything, not the flash of light, not the streaking path of the rifle's shot, not even the bullet entering and exiting his skull. The Elite plunked dead on the ground, the shot slicing through its shields like butter, the helmet providing no resistance at all.

The Ranger Elite looked down to the snivelling Grunts as they crowded their fallen leader. He looked back ahead, trailing a thread of white smoke leading to some rocks ahead when another bullet was fired. The glass of the ranger helmet shattered to pieces as the shot careened into the Elite's head. The round exited the creature's lower neck, creating a purple jet blast that forced the alien to fall forward to the ground below like a sack of potatoes. Six's shot had been clean.

The Elite in the courtyard began rushing towards its fallen brethren, before it realising the real concern was in the rocks behind it. It turned just as it reached the cover of some metal mexh walls that were sticking out along the center of the circular platform in the courtyard. It readied to fire on the position but it never got the chance, a single shot ripped through the right side of the Elite's jaw, blowing half its face off. The alien fell to the ground twitching in shock. Another shot rang out, hitting his still exposed head a second time.

The Elite hadn't been killed cleanly enough, a miscalculation on Legion's part. That and the Elite had managed to get further away than the machine had hoped it would be able to. Still, it couldn't let the alien suffer for its mistake.

The two Elites on the roof looked to where the shots had hit their comrades, realising what had happened they raised their weapons and scanned the area. One of them realised only too late what was happening when a round penetrated his neck. His shields had offered no resistance to it. Even as he clutched at the wound another round slammed into his shoulder and the Elite fell to the ground, slamming against the grated roof of the building's patio before he landed in a heap.

His partner saw where the shots had come from and began firing on the area up in the cliffs above. As he moved backwards he was hit with a blast of energy that shorted out his shields. He rolled into safety behind the pillar in the center of the building. He waited a bit for his shields to recharge then threw himself into the fray once more. Three bursts simultaneously slammed into the shield surrounding his head. The protection withered away as the third round rammed into his forehead. The Elite flipped backwards and fell to the ground with his legs high in the air.

"Gotta hand it to this Incisor," Garrus told Thane as he watched his kill fall back "it makes cutting through shields a breeze."

"I still took mine down faster." Thane noted in a bit of a friendly jab, a bit uncharacteristic, but Thane was trying his best to remain socialble.

By now the courtyard was in full pandemonium as the grunts were rushing around firing desperately at the cliffs and rocks in fear. The two teams kept their heads down as plasma bolts flew overhead. There was direction anymore, the grunts were completely leaderless. The Jackals inside filled out the back entrance, keeping their shields at the ready. They weren't gonna make themselves target more than they had to.

The Elites stuck close to the Jacks as they made their way outside. Order would have to be restored for any success at repelling the attackers. Both Jun and Shepard knew they'd need to keep that from being re-established. They needed to break the Elites away from cover somehow though. Luckily Six had an idea.

As one Elite travelled down to the courtyard, his Jackal escort in tow, they saw something running down from the hills. They could tell it was human from the look of the armour. the Elite was the first open up on it. As it got closer they could tell the Human was a Spartan now, one clad in green. At the moment he was just charging them not even firing. The Elite rolled to cover as the Spartan passed through the Jackals turning their shields to face it. Then one landed a good solid hit on the Spartan with a fully charged plasma shot. Suddenly the human vanish.

For a split second the Elite and the rest of the covenant on the ground were shocked. The Elite realised a moment before it was too late what had happened and ducked into cover. One jackal was not so lucky and a single shot rang out. The Jackal's unprotected backside was cut into by a sniper round which travelled through him to hit a second Jackal in the hip. He was dead, the second Jackal was severely wounded. Meanwhile another bullet soared over the Elite's head, where only moments before his skull was located.

While the Hologram hadn't worked out entirely in their favour, they at least got two of the Jackals. One less covie to cover his boss. Of course by now the Covenant now knew where one of the Sniper teams was and opened up on the hill with plasma fire.

"This area is compromised." Jun told the others as he huddled behind a rock "Six go left, Legion right, we'll try and keep them off balance and guessing. Use the Hologram again when you can Six, just let them know you're actually down there with them before ya do."

"See you on the other end of the courtyard Three." Six saluted as he rushed off.

Jun now turned to Legion. He pulled something off his belt and tossed it to the Geth, it was a armour upgrade from the looks of it. Small and compact.

"I know what you said about infiltrating, but unless you have a cloaker on that body of yours..."

"Damaged beyond repair during our first incursion." The Geth finished for him

"Well then use that one for now." Jun said as he ducked forward from another plasma shot. "It's cloak module, should make you invisible for awhile. Hopefully it's compatible with you."

Legion attached the armour upgrade to its side and clicked a button. The Geth vanished; all except it seemed for the glowing red eye. Still, good enough. Legion travelled down the edge of the slope to the right while Jun kept his position up top and called for Shepard.

"Gonna need some support here Shepard," he said "keep their heads down!"

"Already on it!" Shepard assured

Garrus and Thane were doing their best to keep the Elites pinned where they were. There was still one indoors taking pot shots outside of windows while he kept moving. Thane fired excessively, trying to pin him down but the alien was aware of snipers and constantly on the move. The one in the middle of everything was less difficult to handle. He was blind firing, not willing to stick his head up and take a chance. Garrus could still put the fear of god in him by taking out his cowardly subordinates. The Grunts just kept running around firing, the chaos not sued by their two remaining leaders. It made them easy targets.

Garrus took the scalp off one as he leapt over the Elite's cover trying to make a dash for the back of the building. The Grunt's body fell next to the Elite, who didn't even flinch at his comrade's death. He just kept firing. Cool as ice those Elites, they shared some qualities with Turians after all, thought Garrus.

Shepard didn't have any real long range weapons at the moment, but he still had his pistol, that would be good enough at this range. He didn't risk using his biotics though, not with Legion down below and in the line of fire. It was mainly just suppression fire, keeping the Elite's covered while Jun tried to get a shot off. Right now, the focus had somewhat shifted to cleaning up the Grunt infestation.

Another Grunt took three shots to the back and fell over dead just a few metres from the cover of the shed. Garrus had struck again, but his intention wasn't really to kill the Grunts, so much as heard them. He spied Six making his way down towards the shack and watched as the Spartan tossed a grenade into the fray to let the covies know he was there. The Grunts scattered away from the explosive as it detonated. It was one of the rare times they had managed to move fast enough to keep away.

The Grunts then saw the Spartan again running across the field towards the back of the administration building. They opened up with needlers and plasma pistols, but when they hit the Spartan didn't even flinch, it just shook like it was static. They realised only too late what had happened when the Moved out from behind cover in the shack and fired two shots from his pistol, both connecting with the heads of two more Grunts. Before he could get off another shot a Jackal fired a plasma overcharge shot at the Spartan. It drained his shields completely and forced Six to retreat back inside the shack.

The Jackal now joined the Grunts and acted as a shield as he and the two remaining gas suckers on this side of the courtyard moved in to take the Spartan down. They motioned around a corner to see a Spartan moving across their plain of vision but before they fired the Spartan just laughed uproariously, not even looking at them.

"You think that this is a real Spartan?" he asked

The two Grunts and Jackal looked at each other, could human holograms talk? Was that a new feature? They got their answer when the Spartan turned to them, their guard still down.

"It is!"

A flurry of pistol rounds tore the covenant soldiers apart from within. The Jackal had made the stupid mistake of lowering its shield. The Grunts of course had no such protection. Six just smirked a bit at his triumph.

"Always wanted to say that." He said as he returned to the fight.

On the other side of the courtyard a lone grunt had retreated within the administration building, finding three more of its kind there taking cover. It felt it was safe, but the three Grunts were looking behind him in fear. Confused the Grunt turned to see nothing... but a strange floating red light.

It was over before it even realised what happened. The Grunt's skull caved in, as some invisible force punch into it. A couple of pistol shots came next as Legion's form soon revealed itself in full, the shots counteracting the armour upgrades' camouflage. Legion's hand cannon finished off the remaining Grunts cleanly. But the shots were loud enough to get the attention of their commanding officer near the door.

The Elite knew its flank was now open to attack. Someone was in here with him. He saw the dead bodies of the Grunts on the ground floor as it headed down. The idiots had gotten killed by their own foolishness and carelessness no doubt. That wasn't the concern now. He was looking for the intruder.

He kept up the search as best he could, scanning every corner of the ground floor. As he made his way to the front exit on the patio he didn't notice the red eye of Legion behind him as it floated towards him. The machine raised its rifle to the Elite's head. That when it did feel something was wrong. The alien turned and batted the rifle away as it discharged. It kicked below the red light and forced Legion into a wall. The cloak failed at last, uncamoflaged Legion darted to the side as plasma bolts slammed into the wall. It punched forward into the Elite's solar plexus. The Elite gasped once and swiped at Legion's face. The Geth's head was forced to the side, only for it to deliver an uppercut to the Elite's lower jaw.

As the alien's head lurched up Legion fired full blast into the alien's torso with its assault rifle. The Geth plasma shots tore through its shield and forced it out into the open. It stood on the patio now, but not for long. The Elite roared in anger and charged at Legion knocking the Geth onto its back. The Elite now went in to stomp the machine to death with its mighty foot only for Legion to grab it as it came down. It then used the momentum of the Elite's attack against him and forced him onto his own back. Legion quickly recovered from its fall as the Elite rolled onto its stomach and raised itself. Legion quickly fired a series of rounds into the alien's head with its plasma rifle. That was one problem solved.

Only one Elite left now and for some reason even it seemed to know it. Most of the Jackals had been shot to ribbons now, it was alone, completely. Normally that made it easy prey, but it was still in cover and still just as dangerous as ever.

The Elite flung a plasma grenade at where it thought one of the snipers was, on the hill ahead. Jun saw the arcing blue fireball and rushed to get as far away from his position as possible. He was off the hilltop by the time the grenade landed and exploded seconds later. The Elite now ran to safer cover as Six fired from the shack. It fired back, but took it's eyes off the other threat, the second team of snipers.

Thane had a clear shot, so did Garrus, but they didn't have much time.

"I'll take down his shields, you go for the kill shot." Garrus told Thane.

The Drell silently agreed and Garrus fired three consecutive shots with the Incisor. They hit center mass, draining the Elite's shields to practically nothing. It felt the attacks but it was focused on getting to cover more than anything and keeping Six's head down.

That left Thane with enough to get a bead on his eyeball and fire. The round slammed into the side of the Elite's face, but only just grazing him. The pain was excruciating and the Elite roared out in anger. It's momentary pause gave Jun, Garrus and Thane all the chance to fill the creature with as many holes as possible. The Elite was taken apart bit by bit as each sniper round and shot slammed into its body. The alien fell dead to the ground at long last.

There wasn't much time to celebrate though.

"We're heading on to the next structure through the tunnel in the back." Jun said as he emerged from cover and joined up with Legion and Six "They probably know we're coming by now, try and thin them out from up top."

Shepard acknowledged and raced to with his team to the other end of the Cliffside. They could see a large silo of sorts up ahead and a cautious Elite patrolling it. Thane had the shot first, the Elite saw him but it was too late. As the alien opened up, Thane slid into position and fired two shots from his sniper rifle. Both connected with the alien's neck. They cut through his shields easily and the Elite stumbled around clutching at the wound before it fell over the guardrail.

Down below the same scene from before occurred, Grunts running about scarred as their leader fell, other elites rushing up to take his place. Then Six, Legion and Jun emerged from the tunnel firing on the emerging enemies as they came out of cover.

Finish one fire fight another starts soon after, so was the nature of war as far as Jun was concerned.

* * *

><p>The Normandy's armoury wasn't usually this busy at night. Jacob retired to quarters long before this hour usually, but tonight was special. He was overlooking their new stash of armour upgrades. Needless to say he liked what he saw. While he couldn't use all of them it turned out, due to technical issues like the things only being compatible with Spartans for example, the ones he could use were more than helpful.<p>

"Holograms, invisibility, armour lock, protective bubble shields," he said listing some of them off "we usually need special equipment for stuff like this. Gotta hand it to the UNSC I guess.

Zaeed was in the room himself, looking over the upgrades that were strewn across the armoury table. He picked one of the armour lock ones.

"Could damn well use this one in a tight spot." He said "I wouldn't mind keeping things the bullets from perforating me."

"Also says it can disable shields and take a light armoured vehicle drive at it full speed." Jacob added, even more impressed now "The vehicle more often than not ends up breaking against it like a wave on a rock. Guess Newton's third law really is a bitch."

Zaeed laughed at that.

"Kinda makes me wish the defence contractors had this kind of tech back home." He said cheerfully "Or at least more readily available. Could've made life a hell of a lot easier for some kind of portable cover like this bubble shield here."

He held up the strange rod like device.

"Bloody ingenious." He thought aloud "And immune to all kinds of concussion technology too, not your average barrier that's for sure."

"Can take an artillery shell as well." Jacob added again "Shepard made a damn good choice in requesting these, along with some spares. Course I hear we had to give up one of our spare micro-replicators."

Zaeed just snorted, indicating he obviously didn't give a shit about losing the spare micro-replicator.

"Fair trade I say." He noted "Got us materials for the weapons and particle beam I hear. That and the added upgrades is a fair crop by me. Besides, we were never gonna use those spares anyway. Engineers keep them in tip top shape."

"And they get to make our traded weapons a bit faster too." Jacob added "They get more of those guns we showed off, more phasic and inferno round capable firearms, probably will save a whole heap of lives on the battlefield tomorrow."

Which was good by Jacob, giving those leathernecks and assorted troopers of all kinds all the firepower they would need to take back this planet was reason enough alone to give them the spare micro-replicator. Jacob wouldn't lose sleep over protecting his fellow marines. He wasn't in the Alliance anymore and they weren't Alliance period, but the connection was still there.

Mr. Taylor was broken out of his thoughts however when a small hooded Japanese thief materialized in front of the table and picked up one of the upgrades with eager eyes.

"Oooh, new toys!" she said happily "What's this do?"

Suddenly another Kasumi appeared and began running around the room. Kasumi just smiled even bigger.

"Double your fun," she said merrily, her mouth turning into a devious smile "I couldn't ask for a better decoy during heists. And I really like her sense of fashion too."

Jacob snatched the hologram upgrade away from her and turned it off. The second Kasumi vanished with it.

"Oh nuts," she said, mocking displeasure "I wanted to see if she was as good at haikus as me."

Jacob brought her back to reality a bit.

"How the hell did you get in here?" he asked "I didn't hear the door open."

"Well this ship has a lot of vents." Kasumi noted as she pointed behind her "It's not hard to get around. Kinda disappointing tonight though, I usually catch a far better show than this."

Jacob didn't like the way Kasumi was smirking.

"Have you been spying on me?" he demanded to know

"Oh not all the time," Kasumi assured with a fiendish grin "just during your breaks. That's the most entertaining. By the way, great job on beating your push-ups record yesterday."

With a cheerful laugh Kasumi vanished once more, leaving Jacob to groan at it all. Zaeed had a smile of his own.

"Maybe you should take your breaks somewhere a bit more private?" he chortled

Jacob just sighed, he should've known better than to expect privacy on a ship with a woman who could turn invisible at the drop of a hat. He just hoped that if she was taking pictures she was keeping them to herself.

* * *

><p>Installing the final weapons systems to the Normandy was a chore, but Miranda insisted they get it done by tonight. That was why Crewmen Rolston and Patel were out on the left wing at the moment, hooking up the final adjustments for the new missile launcher.<p>

"So we're packing now then huh?" Rolston asked "Good, I always felt the Normandy could use some extra firepower."

"We even got some new torpedo classes." Patel added as she screwed in the last bolt for the attachment "Little extra boom than regular high explosive."

"Can't wait to see how we do in ship combat." Rolston said as he looked over his omni-tool "We may be small but we sure as hell pack a lot of heat."

The Normandy had indeed changed significantly since the upgrades began. There was now a thick extra layer of armour over the top of the ship which had been hastily repainted as soon as they got it all nailed down. The UNSC said it was from a decommissioned destroyer, one that had taken a pretty big licking. Since their ships were so huge they had more than enough bulkhead to spare their little dingy. They couldn't much, not without sacrificing the Normandy's greatest advantage, agility. But they put just enough to make sure the Normandy could take a hit and keep going. Some of the new weapons systems had come from the UNSC ship as well. Despite the rocky start to this alliance it seemed the leaders of what was left of humanity in this universe didn't want to see them dead. No doubt the new tech they had been supplied by Shepard had proved how useful it was to keep them alive.

So now the Normandy was a bit bigger in mass, could take a bigger hit and could bite harder. Rolston wondered if anything less than a Dreadnought would be able to take them when they got back home. This train of thought suddenly made him think about a hypothetical question.

"You think if our ships were friggin huge like the UNSC's we have as many problems?" he asked Patel "You know like with Batarian slavers and what happened in First Contact."

"Well it would certainly make people think twice about attacking our colonies." Patel told him as she thought aloud "I don't think it would've deterred the Collectors though."

"Yeah," Rolston said, his thoughts starting to get rather melancholy "I guess they wouldn't give much of a shit huh? And it's not like we had any ships period near those colonies that got taken. I guess it ain't so much about the size as it is the quantity then?"

Rolston was just glad his family had avoided a similar fate, for the time being. He remembered how they'd been relocated to San Francisco on Earth just before their colony was attacked. At first he was grateful, Cerberus had done the moving. Course once it sunk in that Cerberus had moved them somewhere safe in the nick of time and what the Illusive Man himself pulled with Shepard on Horizon, he became a bit suspicious. Did Cerberus know that colony was gonna get hit before hand? Then again did any of them know anything about this organization they joined other than they'd be working with Shepard?

He shook the thoughts out of his mind, returning back to ones concerning his family. They were probably living the high life now, or at least the safe one. With any luck they'd keep out of trouble, at least until the Reapers finally arrived. Not much he could do about though could he? And he doubted Cerberus would be as willing to help out any family members of the now independent Normandy.

Patel noticed the sudden sense of homesickness Rolston was feeling and tried to cheer him up.

"Course if we did have big ship we'd probably have gotten into the council earlier." She told him "I mean those things make the Destiny Ascension look tiny!"

Rolston laughed a bit.

"Yeah, gotta say the thought of the Asari comparing sizes between our ships out of jealousy is kinda funny."

As Rolston laughed however Patel noticed an unexpected guest below, the crew's resident Asari to be precise. Samara was looking up at them, flat faced as ever and it wasn't clear if she had heard much of anything. But everyone was wary around the Justicar, she was the oldest Asari either Patel or Rolston had ever met after all. She just seemed to know everything about everyone. Whether that was a Justicar thing or a general Asari thing didn't matter, it was creepy.

When Rolston caught what Patel was looking at he clammed up along with her.

"Oh uh Sammy," Rolston said with a nervous smile, wondering if it was appropriate to use the crew's given nickname to Samara to her face "we were just-"

"Do not mind me crewman." She politely replied "I am merely taking a walk outside. I cannot see the stars as well from my room while we're in dry dock. I'd like take a view at the alien skyline of this universe and this world."

Patel was the first to ask the obvious question.

"You sure you wanna do that alone?" she asked "I mean we got security teams who could escort-"

"Please Crewman Patel, I do not wish to waste their time." She said looking up at them regally "I more than capable of handling myself. I will not go far."

Still, both crewmen were a bit concerned, they were aware of what happened with Thane after all. Everyone on the Normandy knew about it by now. For a Drell that essentially had lung cancer he managed to fight off his assailants pretty well. Still, they didn't like knowing some shadowy organization was after their people. More specifically one shadowy individual with his own agenda.

"Just watch yourself okay?" Rolston told the Asari "There's a war going on out there after all."

"I appreciate your concern Crewman Rolston." Samara bowed "If I do not come back within the hour you may send someone out to search for me. I will not be gone long."

With that Samara took her leave, letting the two continue their work. She'd find a suitable place to meditate and look out on the void before heading back, hopefully without incident. She did not want to be jumped like Thane was. Not for her sake, she was more concerned for who ever tried to attack her than for her own safety.

* * *

><p>Inside his bunk, Private Kowalski stayed awake eyeing the new technology he'd been given by that armoury officer. One of those new fancy weapons he'd seen the crew of the Normandy use. He couldn't fire it in here of course, but that didn't stop him from giving it a once over nonetheless.<p>

He'd been on the range with it a few hours ago, seen what its different ammo settings could do. Needless to say it was pretty awesome to set targets on fire or freeze them. The real useful one was the phasic round setting though. He'd like to see the Elites stand up to bullets when they didn't have their precious shields to cover for them.

Kowalski wasn't the only one unable to sleep however.

"It's supposed to be lights out Kowalski."

He raised his head up to see Ellingham peering over the side of his bunk up above him.

"Can't sleep or something?" he asked

"A little," he admitted "guess I'm just a bit too wound up. Anyway I wanted to look over this pistol again."

He held up the weird looking weapon to Ellingham, what the Normandy's people had called a Carnifex heavy pistol. Ellingham recoiled a bit at the sight of it.

"Hey careful where you're pointing that thing okay?" he asked

"Relax I took out them thermal coils or whatever they call them." Kowalski assured "Don't wanna risk it going off in here. Won't fire without them inside."

Ellingham stuck his head back over the side at that news. A bit more confident to stare at the thing.

"Huh, weird kind of gun. Not using bullets and stuff like that." He noted "I mean plasma I get but this whole sand grains propelled at the speed of light is a bit freaky."

"Pretty effective from what we've seen." Kowalski told him "I hear they're starting to hand out these weapons to at least one man in each squad. The Phasic round setting alone is enough to make every gunnery sergeant clamour for the requisition forms."

"You any good with it?" Ellingham asked

Kowalski just shrugged.

"It's like any normal pistol, you just gotta get used to it not using bullets. Weight doesn't change as much when it's expunging rounds." Kowalski explained "Been beefing up a bit on the tech with this thing the Normandy's XO passed along to us. They call it a codex."

"A what?"

"Some kind of electronic portable encyclopaedia from what I can gather." Kowalski informed his friend "Holds a ton of info on this mass effect technology and all the guns the Normandy has passed along to us. I get the feeling it ain't complete though, it has none of the information on the aliens aboard the Normandy on it."

"Well it's not like we need to know much they're on our side remember." Ellingham laughed as he laid his head back against the bunk. "Sides, I doubt having info on the blue alien's people is gonna increase your chances with her."

Kowalski the bottom of Ellingham's bunk with his fist.

"Shut up, it's not like that okay!" he denied "Hell I've barely talked to her since after that first Biotics training exercise in the gym. She's very reclusive and all. I just like watching her crush stuff with her powers is all. She's cool, that's all it is."

"I prefer when she just throws, the crushing looks painful and makes me check my balls half the time." Ellingham told him "Anyway I'm just playing with man. Don't get touchy."

Kowalski sighed he supposed he was getting overly sensitive. Like he said, he was wound up, they heard they were probably gonna be headed into the shit again. He'd be using this pistol soon enough. With that in mind he changed the subject.

"You heard anything about this offensive?" he asked Ellingham

"Just that about everyone and their mother is involved somehow." He answered "I hear they even have a group of ODSTs ready to drop in on a moment's notice. That and they're scrapping up every trooper they can find nearby. I hear they're gonna let them go in first to soften the covies up and then we head in next deeper in once the beachhead has been established so to speak."

"I just hope we got air support." Said a worried Kowalski

"They're bringing in the Grafton and Saratoga, of course we got air cover!" Ellingham said in a hushed bit of excitement "Those two frigates got MAC Cannons man. They're gonna rip the Covies a new asshole. I tell ya, when we're done no one will know those alien freaks were ever here. Probably give us all a metal for it."

"Don't get your hopes up Ellingham," Kowalski warned him as he put the Carnifex back in the drawer near his bed "chance are we're just gonna get a nice pat on the back a job well done and maybe shore leave. Fine by me, been meaning to check out the night life in New Alexandria."

Ellingham snorted a bit at the rather downer statement.

"Always the buzz-kill Kowalski."

Ellingham had a point. He always did unfortunately keep himself levelled in the reality of things. Didn't bother to let his mind wander or slip into fantasies. Guess that's why he didn't think much of his brief conversations with Samara the Justicar. He supposed it was difficult for him, what with the times being what they were, to think of anything other than what seemed possible. What seemed possible for the most part was the worst case scenario. But maybe now was the time to be more optimistic. Sure the Covenant had found Reach but the UNSC was about to open a dozen barrels worth of whoop ass on them soon. And they now had some kick ass weapons to boot. Perhaps that old expression was true; maybe it really was always darkest before the dawn.

* * *

><p>The connection with Auntie Dot had actually proven helpful. The dark zone of this area was keeping them from getting an image from most satellites, but Legion allowed her to boost her own surveillance abilities where it counted, in their immediate area. Dot was able to bypass the problems within the dead zone, even though the satellite surveillance remained dark. Utilizing Legion's sensors she was able to spot a group of enemies along the trail leading out of the complex. More importantly she was able to detect what lay ahead and the positions of several Covenant patrols by utilizing the Geth's sensory systems and boosting them with her own.<p>

So far this conduit idea was working like a charm. As they moved down the trail Jun and Six were able to easily dispatch the majority of the Covenant forces. The grunts and jackals had lost most of their Elite officers by now and were not too much of a challenge. Legion let loose his drone once more and let cuddle up to a group of Grunts hiding behind a Jackal. Then the Geth let the drone explode to finish them off. The rest rushed down the trail to escape.

"Well we scared them off." Jun noted "Alright Dot, what do you got for us?"

"The pump station is a few clicks down this trail." She radioed into her helmet "An additional warning, I have picked up Covenant chatter concerning an encounter with something. They have moved patrols into the area to hunt it down."

Jun was somewhat confused by the choice of words.

"What do they mean something?"

"It is unclear, they do not know themselves." Dot informed them "Possible indigenous life forms. Nonetheless, expect increased patrols."

"Maybe if we're lucky they'll chop all these dead Covies up to whatever it is they're hunting." Six suggested, trying to remain optimistic about the situation

Jun supposed that was a good silver lining, but he just hoped they didn't run into whatever it was that was giving the Covies problems. With Shepard now separated from them, they're paths deviating largely for the next little while, they'd have to make it on their own. They also wouldn't be able to rely on them once they got to this pump station, so there was that to consider as well.

Jun just hoped they wouldn't have to deal with as many Covenant as they'd inevitably be facing along their route.

* * *

><p>The Phantom hovered low with its wingman, both dropships releasing a payload of Elites and Grunts respectively. Why they were so high up on these cliffs, Shepard didn't know but he suspected it was bad. That was why he decided to follow them at a distance and it let him and the others to a small complex, a former human look out station. It was once a small military outpost from the looks of the concrete lookout tower, which had now been significantly shot up by the Covenant. No doubt from back when they took this place over.<p>

That wasn't the concern right now, it was the portable antenna that had been set up outside the tower and the hulking object on the end of the ridge itself. It looked like a Wraith Tank, but it was firmly planted into the ground.

"Must be some kind of artillery," Shepard observed "and it's pointed directly at where we're gonna be coming from tomorrow."

"Which means we're gonna get hit with Plasma hail unless we do something." Garrus added "Alright we got a plan?"

There were a lot of Elites up here right now, fewer grunts but it was still quite a bit. It wouldn't be easy to just blow by the all. They'd need to do like they had before, take out the leaders first.

"Alright let's play this to our strengths then." Shepard began "I'll go in with Thane up close. Garrus you hand back keep us covered and make sure their shields are kept down."

"Good idea," Garrus nodded "I'll keep a bead on the Elites heads. Just make sure the grunts don't sneak up on ya."

"We'll stay in the rocks, thin them out a bit." Shepard explained "They don't look very high in rank, mostly Minor officers from their armour class, at least one guy clad in gold he's probably the lead officer here. When we get spotted take him out first."

Garrus nodded and took off towards a set of rocks to set up. Meanwhile Shepard and Thane slunk to the right side keeping to the rocky cover of the area. Many of the Elites were patrolling the perimeter for the moment, where the rocks gave way to the flat barren ridge overlooking the arid plain below. The lead gold Elite was stuck close by to the artillery weapon, looking it over and talking strategy with his men. At least that was what they suspected.

Both Shepard and Thane closed in on two Elites who had stopped mid patrol. It would be an easy takedown, two less enemies to deal with when the shooting started. So long as they both went down clean and at the same time they'd be okay. Thane, preparation for the mission, knew he was gonna need something a bit stronger than his bare hands to kill an Elite. So he packed a knife in preparation. Shepard didn't have one, but he was relaying on his biotics mostly to stamp his Elite out.

They got into position in their cover and made sure no one was looking their way. They moved fast, catching the aliens off guard. Thane stuck the knife in the back of the Elite's head and pulled him back into the rocky cover. Shepard grabbed his Elite by the back of his armour, tossed him to the ground within cover and used a biotic punch to knock his skull into the hard ground beneath them. Thane's Elite's blood was pooling around his head while Shepard had merely cracked the alien's skull with his biotics. The blood stayed inside, less mess.

The two moved up until they couldn't advance along the rocks no more. Shepard had a clear shot to one of the remaining Elites up ahead. Shooting now would signal Garrus to fire the second shot, taking out the Elite in gold and start the inevitable fire fight. But they'd have one less Elite to deal with in the attack itself. It was better than nothing and they couldn't wait around all day for another lucky opportunity like the two Elites before.

Shepard set his heavy pistol's ammo for inferno rounds and took aim at the Elite's head. A few well placed shots and the alien would be roasting inside its own armour. Unfortunately this was when Shepard's luck for the night seemed to desert him for a split second. When he fired a Grunt had inexplicitly walked into the crosshairs. The midget alien's head exploded into flames instead of the Elite's. Who by the way was inevitably attracted to the poor screaming gas breather behind him as it fell on the ground lurching in pain and bleeding out from its head wound.

"Nuts." Shepard shouted angrily

The Elite turned to Shepard and fired it's Plasma Repeater at him. Shepard and Thane wenty their separate ways as the plasma rounds smacked into the rock.

Garrus didn't waste time when the shots started flying. He took aim at the gold Elite as its head turned. First an Overload attack to lower the shields, no chances. The attack struck out and knocked down the shields of his subordinates alongside the gold elite, as well as disorienting them a bit. The instant the overload hit Garrus fired. The three consecutive shots of the incisor cut through his shield and sent him wheeling back into the artillery platform. The Elite smacked into the weapon and then collapsed to the ground in a heap. His two comrades immediately began firing on where the shots came from, forcing Garrus to rush out of cover.

Meanwhile, Shepard had to deal with the Elite he missed. He readied his shotgun and began rushing towards the alien, weaving and dodging around the plasma fire. He closed the distance and launched into a biotic charge. He impacted head on with the Elite sending him flying into the air, Shepard followed the attack up by unloading round after inferno round into the now airborne alien. He then turned 90 degrees to the left and shot a Grunt once at point blank range just as the little bastard was readying his needler.

Thane rushed out of cover, his tempest submachine gun armed with shredder rounds. He cut a swatch through the Grunts in front and to the right of him, killing them relatively quickly. Shredder rounds were unforgiving towards organic flesh. He turned his attention up ahead to two more Elites, their plasma rifles blasting all around him. The Drell dived and wheeled best he could to avoid the shots but his shields still took hits. Luckily Garrus was watching his back and an overload charge from the Turian drained the shields of the Elites. The momentarily disorientation gave Thane the chance to lift them up with his biotics. As they floated in mid air Thane used his shredder ammo to rip apart the unshielded aliens.

Thane then heard his own shields crackle and die as he got hit by a salvo of plasma shots from an Elite to his right. He cart wheeled out of the way firing with his submachine gun. It was Garrus who once again threw an overcharge attack at the Covenant officer, taking down his shields once more. Nothing to protect him now, Thane used a warp attack sending it careening into the Elite's head.

As the alien clutched his skull in pain, feeling his genetic make-up being twisted and torn from within he was suddenly lifted up and pulled in one direction. Shepard had used pull and utilizing his heavy pistol once more fired several cryo rounds into the hovering Elite. The Covie froze in mid flight and the blue aura of the biotic pull soon vanished. The Elite fell from the sky and shattered on the ground into a million pieces.

Shepard didn't marvel at his latest kill long, he focused on the last two Elites on this ridge. The ones near the artillery gun. He sent a shockwave their way, the broad spectrum of the biotic tremor forcing the two to separate. He charged into one sending him careening over the cliff scream. Turning around he saw the other Elite stumbling and trying to take aim with his own weapon. Shepard didn't hesitate he fired a shotgun slug into the Alien's gut and then another one. The Elite fumbled backwards straight of the cliff and fell to his doom.

"Area clear," Garrus said jubilantly as he approached the others "outstanding. You know we should really consider having those helmet cameras the marines back at the base keeping yammering about. We'd at least have some kick ass battle vids to show folks."

Shepard didn't disagree, once he heard about these helmet cameras most marines and troopers had he immediately wished the Alliance hadn't slashed that part of their field equipment budget. He certainly would've at least had some evidence the damn council wouldn't be able to ignore. He'd make a mental note to bring a helmet camera back with them when this was all over.

"Let's find out what our friends were doing up here shall we?" he told the others

Shepard led them around the side of the artillery emplacement. It looked deceptively like a wraith tank but not as mobile and its gun was certainly bigger. The large plasma cannon up top was so huge it didn't retract like it did on the wraith, it was permanently sticking out of the main body of the object. On closer inspection there was no doubt, the large bulbous piece that made up this gun's body was in fact and actual Wraith tank. One that had been permanently tied down into the very rock of the ridge to act as a proper artillery cannon.

"Looks like they modified it to shoot bigger fireballs." Garrus noted "They wouldn't be able to drive around with that giant gun on top."

Shepard was more curious about the pilot's seat. Or lack of a pilot seat. The front of the Wraith had been replaced almost entirely by a strange metallic piece of equipment that seemed all to familiar. On the very nose of the artillery emplacement was a laser sight of sorts, one Shepard recognized.

"This looks like a piece of that Geth cannon we encountered on Aite." He said amazed as he kneeled down beside it "They've integrated its targeting system into the emplacement's design."

"Of course," Thane realised "they've made it automated. No need to waste resources on spotting the enemy when a computer can do it for you."

"But I thought Halsey said the Covies weren't big on computers and this kind of tech." Garrus remembered "That they weren't tech-savy like this."

"She also said they weren't big on using technology that wasn't forerunner," Shepard noted as he stood back up "and we know they've gotten past that taboo somehow. However they're justifying this doesn't matter now, we need to worry about what this is gonna do to the attack force when it heads in."

Shepard knew how accurate the Geth Cannon on Aite had been. They made it because the hammerhead had booster thrusters. A warthog wouldn't have the same luxury. And who knew what other modifications the Covenant had made to this thing, or whoever gave them the designs to make it. Point was they couldn't let this thing fire even once.

"We can set a remote charge on it, blow the thing when the attack starts." Shepard said as he pulled out an explosive "They won't know about our little monkey wrench until the things blows sky high."

"At least there's only one." Garrus noted

"Don't be so sure."

They looked back to see Thane by the antenna equipment. He had a dread look on his face. They rushed back to find the antenna attached to a view screen, with information that was clear as day. There were status bars for two other artillery platforms. There was also a small map to the side with three rings encompassing it.

"They have a system," Thane said gravely "from the looks of it the guns are all connected by these terminals. Judging by the map each of these cannons has a designated kill zone. Where they all crisscross they can feed information to each other about specific targets."

"Pretty much obliterating any force that comes through the choke point." Garrus finished "Devilishly clever of them. A bit too much I'd wager."

"We could take out the antennas," Thane told them, but quickly shook his head "but while it would ruin their targeting systems it would still leave the cannons intact. We will need to find each of them to remove the threat for good."

With how expansive this dead zone was that could take all night, unless... Shepard got on the comm.

"Auntie Dot do you read me?" he asked "I need your help."

He hoped Legion's connection to the AI and his role as conduit was strong enough to get her on the horn. Thankfully it was.

"What do you require Commander Shepard?"

"If I connect you to a separate communications network could you find each location it's transmitting too and send the coordinates to my omni-tool map?"

"Of course Commander Shepard. It will be of no difficulty."

Shepard used his Omni-Tool to synch up to the terminal and broadcast antenna. It didn't didn't take long for Dot to get back to Shepard with the information, little waypoint dots appearing on his helmet's hud briefly.

"We got a bit of a walk ahead of us and it's gonna take us off course a bit." Shepard told the others, he then contacted Kat over the radio "Noble Two, we have a target of opportunity, artillery guns on the ridge. We're gonna take them out. We probably won't be able to assist Noble Team while we're tracking these guns down."

"Understood," Kat acknowledged "just so long as you get inside the dark zone and eye their positions in the process."

Kat signed out and Shepard looked back at Garrus who seemed a bit concerned.

"Think they'll be okay?" Garrus asked

Shepard shrugged.

"Hey they're Spartans, the bad asses of this army." He said confidently "I'm sure they can handle things by themselves for awhile. It's not like they're gonna run into any monsters or something, covenant notwithstanding of course."

* * *

><p>Dot had turned out to be pretty accurate. The Covenant were fitting something, something big. A large creature in the distance, two of them in fact, were in the midst of a small battle with a group of Covenant. Grunts screamed and went flying in all directions as a lone Elite officer in red tried to rally them to the fight. The Jackals were fighting back rather viciously as well, slamming their plasma shields into its leg hoping to kill the creature that way when the plasma just seemed to do nothing. They ended up getting stepped on with nary a thought.<p>

The creatures themselves had large vicious looking hooked claw as well as a set of massive tusks. There was a stubby but significant in length tail lashing around swiping Grunts and Jackals alike as the attack continued. Its massive head looked a bit like a Rhino, but without the horn and containing rather big fangs. The thing stood on two legs as it thrashed at the little ants trying to take it and its companion down.

One of them picked up a Grunt in its mouth crushing it with its massive jaws and tossing him into the rocks behind him. The second one slashed at a large group of Jackals, rending them apart in one fell swoop. All the while the lone Elite kept its vigil up, firing what it could at the creature's back, but these monsters had thick hides, not even the plasma was able to burn through it fast enough.

One of the creatures finally spotted the Elite and charged at him. The alien stood his ground as the monster rammed into the Covenant officer and threw him several feet into a rock wall. Remarkably the Elite was still alive and got up to renew the offensive, firing point blank into the creature's stomach. Howling in pain now, the beast lurched its head to the side and thrust forward, impaling the poor Elite on one of its massive tusks before shaking him off. As the Elite lay dying though, the monster now spotted new prey, Jun, Six and Legion. It roared in their direction.

"Of all the things the Covenant had to piss off why'd it have to be this thing?" Jun asked

"And I was kinda rooting for it too for a bit." Six grumbled

The beast charged at them, prompting the Spartans and the Geth to open up with everything they had and back up as fast as they could. The bullets were all aimed at the monster's head, perhaps they'd have better luck considering their weapons were meant to pierce not singe.

Legion had its Drone drive towards the hulking monster, now bleeding from the forehead at this point. It saw the tiny glowing object and stomped on it with its foot. The self-destruct sequence of the drone activated and the monster was thrown on its back as the explosion finally seemed to do it in.

But they had a second one to deal with it, and it was done playing with the new dead covies. It had seen what the new meat had done to its friend and wasn't happy. It was a little farther off though so while it was charging at full speed Jun actually had time to aim. He kept the crosshairs on the monster's eye, always the weakest part of any skull no matter how tough the animal. The monster bellowed as it closed the distance, Six and Legion made a move to fire but Jun waved them off.

"I got this." He told them

Then with a pull of the trigger the bullet zipped out of the barrel and cut into the monster's eye. It didn't kill it, but it stopped its charge, forcing to clutch at the new hole in its head. Another shot and Jun had taken out the other eye. That was enough and the monster turned over dead.

Jun breathed a sigh of relief.

"Damn," he said "last thing I'd ever guess we'd be facing off of."

"Kinda anti-climatic though," Six admitted "I mean those Covies put up a huge fight for hours, we end it in a few seconds. Not to mention are weapons being more accurate and all, kinda feels cheap."

Jun didn't really care about cheap right now; he cared about making it out of this place alive. He contacted Kat to give her a visual.

"Kat, you seeing this?" he asked

"Yes," she replied calmly "it's called a guta. They're an indigenous species. Not normally violent though."

"Yeah guess we just caught it on one of its bad days." Six joked

Legion walked over to the beasts, cocking its head at the corpse of the first one they killed. Then it turned to the place where the Covenant were fighting it before. It noticed there was a gap in the rock. It walked closer to investigate, Jun and Six following. They found a large open small cave at the back of the battlefield.

"Possible reason for attack territorial instinct. Defending home from perceived intruders." Legion observed "Not too dissimilar from our own mission."

Jun supposed he should feel bad for killing an animal for defending its home, but it wasn't like they could reason with it at the moment. Considering they just killed the second one's friend or mate for all they knew.

"I just wanna know if there's anymore." Jun said

"Unlikely," Kat said "Guta rarely are seen together outside of mating season and they try to stay away from people. These are probably the only two for miles as up ahead has a number of structures from what these old maps tell me. You should be okay. Keep pressing. Kat over and out."

Well that was final and rather abrupt, not that Jun could argue they still needed to get to this dark zone after all.

The only way forward was through the now vacant cave. It was small, probably only a temporary den for the two guta that once housed inside it. Before long they were outside once more in a gulley, occupied by less harmful creatures a flock of moa. They skittered about rushing away from the squad as they moved forward. Suffice to say it was a nice change of pace from the encounters they were having so far this night.

Before long though the calls and scared cries of the Moa were interrupted by gunfire, The birds themselves knew better than to head towards it, but Jun and Six recognized the sounds immediately and pressed forward.

"Pistols. Magnums. Security side-arm, standard issue." Jun rattled off.

The pump station was just ahead, perhaps there were human survivors in this neck of the woods after all. They rushed up the path to find the station itself. It was a flat series of buildings not going anything more than a foot or so off the ground. Above it was a single Covenant Phantom strafing the area and dropping off a number of Grunts into the fight.

There were concrete dividers along the edge of a ramp leading up to the main area of the station. Dividers that were now being used by what looked like two humans armed with pistols. Except they did not look like security for the pump station. They were too ragged, they had no uniforms and didn't seem like the security type from their looks.

"Local militia," Jun noted a bit exasperated as he called Kat once more "Noble Two we're at the pump station. Got eyes civies, look like militia, engaging covenant."

Kat's response was somewhat unorthodox for her, all things considered.

"Move to assist," she said "who knows how long they've been here. They could have the intel we need."

Jun rogered and started running in.

"Alright then Six, you heard her. Keep them alive."

No one could see it, but Six smiled a bit under his helmet.

"Heh, nice change of pace. Saving militia, not killing them."

"Is this what organics call irony?" Legion asked as it followed Six in.

"Call it whatever you want buddy." Six told the Geth "I just like that we're all on the same page for once."

Legion ran towards the objective, as he did the machine spotted an Elite. It was on top of one of the buildings on a part of the walkway on the outside of the building. Said walkway was overlooking the two militia members and the Elite was in the process of pinning them down. Making their lives hell for the time being. The Geth stopped and took aim with its Widow rifle, a single shot sliced through the shields of the Elite, taking the head with it. This caught the attention of militia members.

"Well what do you know?" Said one rather jubilantly "Hey you come to give us a hand here? These bastards keep coming!"

The militia man peered over his cover firing several shots that found their marks on a single Grunt. Jun slammed into the cover beside him, poked his head out and fired once at a running Elite, catching him in the head as he strafed their position.

"Considering we both don't like them it will be our pleasure." Jun complied.

Legion was soaking most of the fire as it moved out of cover and onto the ramp itself. Its Geth Shielding activated, Legion was safe while Six and Jun lined up their shots best they could. As one Grunt took it in the shoulder, the Jackal next to him shifted his shield up, blocking the next shot. The next bullet however slammed into the alien's unprotected legs. He toppled over, the other Jackals in the area rushing upwards as another Elite started to rush behind them. Six saw the tactic and lobbed a plasma grenade he picked up from a previous dead Grunt over the shields of the Jackals. The stuck to the Elite's face, exploding moments later, taking his bodyguards with him.

"Legion move up I'll cover you!" Six told the Geth

The machine elicited a single nod and was on its way. Six saw a great number of Grunts, the ones that the Phantom had dropped off, rushing up along the left flank, aiming for the synthetic. With lighting fast reflexes he fired into the crowd with his pistol, taking out two of the little bastards in the first go. He then lobbed a frag grenade into the group. It exploded in the center, sending the aliens flying in all directions. A straggler he struggled to his feet was shot by one of the militia men.

Legion made it up to the edge of the ramp, pressing itself against one of the nearby walls. The remaining Elites had retreated up to the more secure position, at least three of them. The Grunts hadn't fared as well. They were down to a trickle. Legion let its Drone enter the area first. It scooted around boxes and supplies strewn about the courtyard. The first Grunt it encountered it zapped instantly, killing it quickly. The second got up close enough to bash it once with its plasma pistol. This rare act of bravery was its downfall. The Grunt was zapped repeatedly with an electrical pulse, killing it after three shocks.

One of the Elites rushed in firing its Plasma rifle intending to finally kill the drone. It succeeded, thus activating self-destruct. The Elite's shields took the brunt of the hit, mostly because he wasn't close enough to the blast. But a lack of shields made it vulnerable to Legion's next attack. The machine hoisted its rifle at the Elite and fired a burst of rounds. The Geth Assault Rifle was effective enough to cut through the armour, but even still bleeding the Elite refused to die. It bellowed at the synthetic and rushed at him, a glowing plasma dagger in hand. Legion merely took the end of it's rifle and thrust it forward into the Elite's head as he charged. Then he followed it up by swiping at the alien's head, putting him down for good this time.

As it seemed they were making some headway though, Jun, Six and the militia members rushing up to help Six, the Phantom turned its guns on them. The Grunt plasma gunner fired repeatedly at the group from on high, its head bobbing insanely as the recoil overtook him. It was amazing the little freak was able to keep stable. As the squad scattered for cover, one of the militia men took aim at the gunning Grunt with his pistol and fired. He scored a hit on the alien's eye, halting the chattering plasma turret.

"Ha! And to think I made fun of putting scopes on a damn pistol." He laughed

There was still the main turret to contend with and it was nipping at their heels. Jun however remedied it quick, taking aim at it and tossing a plasma grenade at the gun in a perfect arc. It stuck to the cannon, exploded and took the gun with it. The Phantom turned back, deciding it could do no more for it's friends on the ground. Leaving the last two Elites they could see to contend with.

One rushed out, its plasma repeater blasting insanely all over the place. The collective group of humans plus one synthetic opened fire on the charging alien, ripping apart his shields and then body respectively. But while they drained both shields and blood they didn't fully grasp what was occurring.

The second Elite had climbed up a series of boxes and was taking aim with a strange triangular device in hand. He pointed the crosshairs in the scope at Jun and readied the trigger. However, it did not count on the combined sensors of two AI.

"Legion," Dot sounded in the Geth's figurative ear "Elite shield energy signature to our right."

Legion reacted swiftly, turning its attention to the top of the crate and unloading a full thermal clip into the Alien sniper. The gun discharged, sending a beam of hot white energy into the air. The Elite fell backward onto the ground, his partner dead long before him.

The team rushed around the boxes to confirm the kill. They saw the dead body of the Elite, lying in a pool of purple blood. Satisfactory as far as they were concerned.

"Good work," Jun said as he moved to side and closer to the building they were next to "any other surprises Dot?"

The AI's answer was simple and direct.

"Detecting movement above you!"

Dot's warning came just in time as an Elite jumped down towards Jun. It slashed forward with the butt of its plasma rifle as it landed. Then it rushed the Spartan and attempted to grapple him. Jun kicked the Elite off and into the wall of the building and unloaded all four shots into the alien's torso. He didn't even bother with the sights right now, enough rounds to the chest would kill him just as well as a shot to head. The Elite charged into the gun fire and certain death. Jun could only imagine the Elite wasn't trying to avoid it.

"That Phantom will be back with reinforcements soon," Jun noted, not even missing a beat "or it's sending some of its loaded friends our way. Best we prepare for it."

Legion walked over to the strange white energy weapon. It was a long sleek weapon, with a circular ring near the stock of it. Very unusual looking for a long ranged weapon, thought the Geth.

"Particle Beam," Six noted as he walked up "good thing you spotted it. Would've ripped right through our shields, it's a nasty piece of work. Ionized particles don't care much for shields."

"Intriguing." Legion said as it looked the weapon over. "Potential usefulness against shielded enemies high."

The Geth's eye wandered into the sight, it looked down range, towards the large stream of water flowing through the pump station's canal duct. It now scanned potential sniper points it could use in the coming attack.

"We desire to field test weapon further." Legion announced to Six "Will you allow us permission?"

Six seemed a bit off put by the request.

"Why you asking me?" Six asked confused

"Your superiors have voiced a dislike towards us holding onto Covenant weaponry." Legion explained

Six knew what Legion was getting at. The Normandy wanted advanced tech, but they hadn't been given access to everything. He wondered how much that taboo had slipped concerning Covenant weapons. After all, Shepard was sharing most of his tech with them.

Perhaps now was the chance to give back.

"You can take it back with you if you want." Six told Legion "I don't think either me or Jun are gonna complain."

Legion's eye opened wide and its head plates lifted upwards. As weird as the robot's expressions were, Six was strangely getting accustom to them, even partially understanding them.

"We are grateful." It said "We hope this will not harm you in the long term."

"Hey, I think it's obvious by now whose side you're on." Six replied confidently "No sense in holding out on your friends I think."

Legion didn't say anything, but something told Six, maybe it was the strange downward look or the slow smoothing of the head plates, that Legion appreciated that statement somehow. He wasn't sure exactly what the machine was appreciating, he couldn't read the synthetic's mind, but it was nice to know he had done something that was seemingly special to the collection of Artificial Intelligences. Technically he had seemingly made 1183 people happy. If Geth could feel happy that was. Six remembered he was talking about a machine.

Meanwhile, Jun was having his own conversation with the Militia men. One in a ragged green jacket with jeans and a black ballcap, the other a slightly shorter man with a similar outfit and a bandana around his head, both of them looked a little shady. But then again, who else did they suspect to find out here.

"Little bit more trouble than we're used to, but we managed." The one with the ballcap said "You Spartans are everything the headlines said."

Jun didn't let the flattery get to him. There was reason these two were here, no sane person would've stuck around this place without some kind of reason.

"What was left of the people in this area packed up and moved out." Jun explained to them "We then evacuated the survivors we could. So mind telling me what you're doing out here?"

The Militia trooper snorted a bit and walked over to a set of containers near a chest high wall.

"Look we didn't really wanna leave it to your guys to save our homes okay?" he said "You were taking so damn long to get in here to kill these bastards so we took the initiative."

"You weren't seriously thinking you could kill all the Covies on your own." Jun said exasperated "There's only two of you."

"Used to be five," The militia trooper retorted "in any case we weren't to do that. We just wanted to come back and snag this."

The man opened the containers, revealing inside a sniper rifle, a DMR in the first container and a rocket launcher in the second container. Jun called Six and Legion over to take a look. Now they knew who these people were precisely.

"That's UNSC property." Jun noted "Something you folks aren't supposed to get."

The militia man just laughed.

"Like it stops us from getting them, people manage to get illegal drugs ya know." He told them "It's not that hard to get a gun. Especially on Reach. You UNSC types have so much surplus it's not hard to snag. We got stashes like this all over the territory!"

Six shook his head and grumbled to himself.

"Smugglers, and for a second I was actually buying that protecting your homes shit." He remarked "You're just protecting your profits. Hope the other three that didn't make it were worth it."

"They knew the risks." The militia man shot back "Just like your marines who volunteer. Besides, the farming business is dying man. And water works technician don't pay much. Maybe if you people actually worried about the common man instead of your damn war we wouldn't be stealing off of you. Though with all your propaganda about the Covies going around more people are itching to get a military grade side arm of the black market. So I'll give ya that."

Six wanted to ram his fist into the jackass' face. Who was this militia weekend warrior to lecture him about the war? If they weren't putting the effort they were into things they'd all be glassed by now. Sorry if I'm keeping our species from becoming extinct, he thought.

Jun looked at Six once, getting the Spartan to calm himself at last. This was no time for politics.

"Fact is this stuff is stolen no matter the reason." Jun told the militia trooper.

"So what?" he asked with a jerky smile "You gonna arrest me for it?"

"Nah," Jun replied smarmily "I'm gonna steal it back. And if you don't want the ever encroaching aliens to burn your skin off and both of you to get out of here to smuggle another day you're gonna let me and you're gonna help me and my associates. That cool with you?"

The two militia troopers looked to each other and sighed.

"Yeah, okay." He said "Where you want us?"

"Somewhere with a lot of cover." Jun told them "Those jackets aren't gonna save you from a plasma round."

"We got armour under these things too ya know." He cried out. Seemingly offended at the suggestion he was ignorant of the dangers of plasma.

Despite this revelation though, the Spartan was unmoved.

"Again, won't save you for long." Jun retorted

* * *

><p>Mordin didn't really have many guests, especially not at this hour. The Salarian was terribly chatty but he wasn't exactly one for regular conversation. If you wanted to talk to Mordin about anything you had to do it when he was working alongside you on something specific or if he had made a breakthrough and wanted discuss it. Otherwise Mordin was locked up in his lab, trying to crunch numbers and pound out data on several personal projects.<p>

One of those personal projects he was working on was something that was coming down to the wire. Shepard told him the attack on the infamous dead zone was to go ahead soon. Mordin didn't really like the name Dead Zone, sounded too morbidly chest pumpingly militaristic. He researched the proper name for the area, the Viery Territory. That where they'd all be headed and it was Mordin's job to make sure they were ready, at least that was what Shepard had told him.

Mordin had put together what he could for the others, but he was having difficulty his last and final projects before the fight. He was used to all nighters, but he wasn't use to missing such important deadlines. He contemplated getting someone familiar with this, after all these projects were all using tech that was from this dimension and not his own. Thankfully he did know at least one scientist he felt could help him out.

Halsey's picture was on the large screen at the back of the room now, conversing with the good Salarian over his problem. Or problems more accurately as Mordin had found.

"What exactly is the problem concerning the integration of the technologies?" Halsey asked

"New programming accepted. Problem concerns proper activation. Needs to be passive and consistent." Mordin explained "While increased upon activation of the device. Would be easier if maintained control over Hunter armour but-"

Halsey knew the feeling. You rarely got to keep the raw material for any experiment. Still, a solution could always be found. She considered the issue and came up with an idea.

"Do you have some kind of connection between the armour and the organic tissue?" she asked

"Yes we have a system," Mordin said recalling the many skin weaving upgrades they had researched "encountered problem. Nanotech won't interface with it properly. Extremely problematic."

Halsey wondered for a good while, pulling up some notes on her own computer concerning the nanotech and hunter armour. She didn't have the same clearance she once did to ONI's data files, but she wasn't completely locked out.

"Apparently the nanotech was interlaced into the Armour Lock device rather haphazardly." She said "It's not a passive function because they're sharing the same power source. They can only work when the device is switched on otherwise they're inert."

Mordin quickly caught on as if he and Halsey were on the same wavelength.

"Of course. Solution simple now. Nanotech with own monetary power supply. Wireless connection to armour lock device would allow boost of energy" he said as he rushed back to his terminal and typed in the data "Looked at as an interfacing problem. Problem with actual interfacing. Decreases efficiency. Would've taken longer without that information. Thank you Doctor."

Halsey remained modest despite the Salarian's praise.

"You would've figured it out soon enough I'm sure." she told him in all honesty "I only know cause I have access to what they've been doing with it since you handed it over."

"Appreciate help nonetheless." Mordin told her as he took a deep breath "Difficult aboard Normandy at times. Not many fellow doctorate holders among crew. No offense against their abilities. However this work tends to exceed their fields of expertise."

"It is always nice to work with people who know what you're talking about, I'll admit." Halsey replied with a nod "Makes things easier to explain. Still, I'm sure there are plenty of people aboard the Normandy with good heads on their shoulders. Even if they are as steeped in biological and medical fields as you are."

Mordin blinked once and nodded at the same time. He couldn't argue with that point. Shepard's crew had all proven exemplarily in their fields. Even if those fields were more hands on, less scientific than his, Shepard's boast that he was looking for the best did indeed ring true.

"Yes have met many highly qualified people aboard." Mordin agreed "Tali'Zorah Vas Normandy for example. Tremendous help concerning shield upgrades. Even helped the reprogramming of nanotech. Best lab assistant you could ask for. Completely devoted to task. A bit slower. But Salarian minds tend to work faster. Mine described as 'on coffee' by humans."

Halsey turned to her own computer for a moment and typed something down as Mordin talked. She chuckled a bit at the coffee comment. She had noticed Mordin's rapid speech pattern almost immediately. She hadn't said anything out of a sense professionalism. In the back of her mind though she kinda wished her own mind ran on caffeine. It would make her life easier.

Then Mordin took her off guard with a different question.

"Did you work with similarly skilled people?" he asked. His speech a bit slower, his tone of voice lower than usual "During your work on the Spartan project I mean."

Halsey paused a moment and looked back, her face a bit sullen at the mentioning of her past.

"I suppose," she admitted "although frankly they weren't really scientists. Mostly military personnel. They looked to me more often than not."

This elicited a low 'hmm' from Mordin.

"Was involved in a similar situation." He said calmly and stiffly, he turned back to the screen, his head raised up from his terminal "If it helps, I understand your position."

Halsey's eyebrow rose a bit at that.

"What do you mean?" she asked

"Doing something questionable for greater good." He elaborated "Admittedly not all aboard Normandy agree with me..."

Halsey wondered for a moment how much of an understatement that was.

"But you did work. Saw the numbers. Knew the dangers. Did what you felt was right." The Salarian finished "Difficult to handle morally, but nonetheless necessary."

"I suppose." Halsey nodded, not sounding all that convinced at the moment. "Still, hard to sleep sometimes."

Mordin lowered his head at the words. He knew that feeling all too well. Perhaps Halsey and him were more alike than he first imagined. Sensing the shared feeling of causative responsibility he looked to what comforted him before, the facts.

"If possible Doctor Halsey," he began earnestly "would like to see statistics. Concerning pattern of civil war. Could share with colleagues. Perhaps change their minds. Instil trust."

Halsey nodded and looked to her side. Typing a few buttons on a laptop she called up Jarrod once more and asked him to bring up a copy of her study on screen. It was a real old file, but she had kept. She needed to keep it. She needed to remind herself why she had done what she had. She sent it Mordin's screen directly, prompting he professor to walk out from behind his terminal and stare at the file. It was a huge multipage diagram of trends. With newspaper reports and lines upon lines of text strewn throughout the tables and charts. It was heavy reading, but Mordin sped through it relatively fast. He slowed down at part look at in detail. As he suspected, Halsey was no amateur. Crossed her T's and dotted her I's, that sort of thing.

"Pretty scary stuff to be sure." She admitted "Scarier when I found out that ONI and the Military already knew and they were just waiting for me to figure out and go to them."

Mordin looked at another addition to the file, Haven Arcology, or more accurately the explosion that destroyed the building and much of the city surrounding it.

"That was when I realised I needed to commit fully." Halsey said, spotting where Mordin's eyes went "A nuclear device that was detonated like some old fashioned suitcase bomb. An insane level of escalation, no point to it, no gain. Just two million people killed in the name of some perverse idea of freedom and independence. We couldn't let it continue."

Mordin didn't seem as shocked, but he bobbed his head in agreement all the same.

"Justification not needed. Something had to be done." He said stoically "Normal forces insufficient to quell attacks. Other scenarios led to further escalation. You covered every variable."

"Tried to at least," Halsey said, her thoughts lost in her past as she eyed her studies once more "I knew to take down the insurrection with minimal losses we'd need to minimize our task force. Small elite teams of men and women that could stand up to the demands of war in every theatre, they were the answer. It would minimize collateral damage as they'd focus on what actually mattered. Not large scale battles, taking out leaders, destroying strongholds, crippling supplies and after witnessing what a few well trained highly modified people could do they'd have no choice but to surrender."

"Of course greater enemy emerged." Mordin reminded her "Mission was shifted."

Halsey interlocked her fingers and nodded weakly.

"It was funny, an alien invasion pretty much ended our civil war." She said, laughing a bit as she did "And if it hadn't been for the Spartans, well, you can connect the dots on that count Professor Solus."

Mordin remembered what Shepard said. That Halsey claimed the Spartans had saved many lives, bought them time. Were it not for her actions, the covenant would've killed the human race long ago. Mordin wasn't sure about data, but it was clear to him now through these statistics and subsequent information that Halsey made the right call. She even saw the forthcoming results of her study in real time. An escalating conflict without end happening before her eyes. Mordin only had numbers to go on during his time in the STG, Halsey had visuals.

He wondered if he should share his own similar story. About how he and his fellow scientists helped keep a species' fertility down, to save them and the galaxy, about the project's after effect and what he went through personally when it was over. But then again, wasn't he considering undoing it all? How well did that fit into things?

"Doctor Halsey," he started "consider all you know now. Do you believe the experiment a success?"

"My Spartans are a success in every sense of the word." She responded quickly "At least, in how they've performed. Personally though... I'm still waiting for things to run their course."

Mordin was a bit a confused. Run what course? The experiment was concluded. The Spartans alive and well and battling the Covenant. Their lives were traded to the UNSC so the species could survive and so far that was working. Then it hit Mordin, she meant if they could save humanity, like she intended in the first place. The enemy had changed, but not the goal.

"Must run experiment till conclusion." Mordin said, his head sinking a bit lower

"Indeed," Halsey remarked "I can hope that the end is soon."

With that Mordin and the good doctor returned to his other lingering projects that needed to be finished. The Salarian contemplated showing the files he'd been given to the rest of the crew. Perhaps, like he said, it would ease tensions concerning this alliance. As he pondered this though he looked back to lab and where he had stored the work concerning the Genophage cure. Perhaps his own experiment's results were close to being run to their conclusion as well.

* * *

><p>The empty void greeted Samara as she took her place on the ledge overlooking Sword Base. The ice shelf was cold, but it didn't bother her. She had long since learned to ignore such trivial things like discomfort from adverse weather. She had been through worse after all.<p>

Reach's night sky was worth the cold in any case. You could see the two moons of the planet perfectly tonight. It was partially cloudy, but nothing that obscured the stars too much. Many people didn't take the time to look at the sky, what with all their possessions and obligations. It was comforting in a sense that even though she had given up everything she still had nature to comfort her.

Her thoughts drifted a bit back to her own universe's sky and whether or not she'd ever see it again. She knew it was futile, but her eyes started scanning the heavens, wondering if she could spot what brought them here.

"Where are you?" she asked the elusive wormhole

Eventually she put it out of her mind. No sense worrying about something she'd never find without an actual telescope that was a thousand times stronger than her eye.

So she contemplated other things, like the upcoming battle. It was inevitable either way they would be headed into it. But reservations remained. Samara hoped Shepard's trust in this Halsey was well placed. That this Zealot had the answers they sought. Nevertheless it would do the galaxy good that he were punished for his crimes. Along with his fellows of course. She suspected Shepard would keep him alive as a prisoner, he was not one to execute those he captured. Not without reason. It was one of the reasons she had stuck around, Shepard's moral code. But even she wasn't blind to what was happening.

Her thoughts to the heaven once more, contemplating supernovas, the deaths of stars, how it is slow gradual, how it the break from within and destroy all around them. It was a chilling thought, and relevant as well.

She tried to put mind at ease, going into meditation, turning her subconscious off. It took only a few seconds. However minutes later she was brought out of her peaceful daze. Something, or more appropriately someone, was behind her. Not sneaking closer, watching her. She could sense his very presence. Hear his slowed breathing. Yes she could tell it was man, it sounded like one, felt like one.

She heard something starting to click into place.

With that she sprung into action. She twisted her body around, calling up her biotic powers and grabbed hold of the man. She pulled him closer violently, the rifle slipping from his hand. It wasn't a standard weapon, it was too big and bulky in the barrel of regular bullets. She a single dart explode from the chamber and embed itself in the rocks.

Tranquillizers.

She pulled the assailant closer, his face obscured by cloth and shaded visors. A backwards officer's cap on his head. She pulled the cloth off with hand as she held the man in place and then ripped his shades off. A fresh faced young man, early thirties looked back in fear.

"Don't kill me!" he pleaded "Please! I wasn't here to put ya in the ground, I swear!"

"You were just attempting to put me under, I know." Samara remarked

She finally just grabbed the man by his collar, pulling his sidearm and knife away while he still remained in shock. Now disarmed, Samara was free to ask questions.

"How did you find me?" she demanded to know, her voice authoritative and strong "Who are you working for?"

"I've been tracking you for hours! I saw you leave!" he confessed "I can't tell you who I work for! He'd make my life hell! He'd hurt my family!"

Samara's expression only softened slightly at that word, "family". Perhaps he had attacked her, but there was the possibility it was not his choice. The old, "just following orders" line. The code was clear however, he attacked a Justicar.

"By the rules of my code I should simply kill you for attempting harm on my person." She told the man, a whimper escaping his throat "But I must be practical."

Samara's calmer tone seemed to put the would-be kidnapper by a bit of surprise.

"Should I kill you there are no witnesses to corroborate my story. The only evidence I have is this gun of yours." The Asari explained "Your death would only make things for my comrades on the Normandy harder. I imagine your employer thought that was a win-win for him."

"So where does that leave us?" the assailant asked a bit worried

Samara's face remained as blank and expressionless as ever to the untrained eye. To more careful observers, one could spy a bit of a smile as she spoke her next words.

"I'm taking you to someone far worse than me." She explained "My ship's XO if you will, Miranda Lawson. She'll know what to do with you. And she will find out who you're working for."

She dropped the man on the ground and pushed him up with his hands behind his head and marched him forward, using his own sidearm to make sure he stood in place. Samara didn't voice much after that, she didn't feel like talking now that her night was ruined so to speak. She had a suspicion as to who had wanted to see her drugged and kidnapped. But she'd hold it in. Miranda would sort things out when they arrived.

* * *

><p>The dropships came soon, the Covenant were now aware humans were in the area and they weren't about to let them get any further into their territory. From all accounts there were only a few and they could be dispatched easily enough. None of them knew that two of the humans were Spartans. Everyone who had gotten a good look was dead after all.<p>

They also didn't know that Noble Six had fought enough guerrilla militias to know their tactics. Speed and surprise were the best ways to annihilate an overwhelming force. They'd hold off against these reinforcements and then hoof it out of there as fast as they could. That was at least Jun's plan.

Six had set himself up with the Rocket launcher on the roof of the pump station and eyed the dropship as it closed in. He took careful aim with launcher aiming for the back of the vehicle near the thrusters. When it got close to ground and started to let troops off he fired. The red glare of the flying projectile attracted all eyes. It slammed dead center at the back of the dropship and the vehicle lurched to the side, a single Grunt was thrown out of the ship before he readied himself to jump. He didn't die, but he landed in a heap, probably broke a leg.

Another rocket hit the dropship and blew out one of its panels on the side. Flames poured out and the dropship began to back off. Six wasn't planning on killing, just forcing them away so they could focus on the real problem, the Ultra elites and their grunts that were now spewing out everywhere into the pump station.

The second dropship let off a squad of Skirmishers and Jackals alike. They'd make things difficult but they were ready. Jun was set up in a sniper's perch near Six's position to handle them.

"Dropship is pulling out, focus fire on the Elites and Grunts, thin the heard." Jun ordered Six and the militia men "Make sure they don't get behind and flank us. We need freedom of movement here."

First of the Skirmishers started running up through one of the closer buildings in the courtyard below them. They were keeping to the cover the inside of the doorway provided, but they could see their Needle Rifles as clear as day. Those spines were a bit of a giveaway.

"Don't got a shot on them, circle a bit around." Jun told the two smugglers.

Despite being militia, and criminals as it were, these regular Joes weren't pushovers. Their work required it after all. They moved around the edge of the roof, keeping to cover as plasma bolts started slamming in to the metal siding of the guardrail. One of them, the leader of the two as he did all the talking, had been given the smuggled DMR. When he got into position he took aim at one of the Skirmishers' behind the doorway, he could just barely see his beak-like mouth. He took aim and fired a burst of three rounds, one after the other. At least one of them hit and the Skirmisher fell to the floor. His friend popped up and tried to avenge his death only to receive a bullet to the back of the head from Six's rifle.

The militia man didn't gloat over his victory, he was smarter than that. He kept his head down as a fresh wave of Grunts started rounding the corner, their plasma pistols blazing. His friend leapt up and emptied a clip into the pack of on rushing gas sucking midgets. He took down two, injured three others. His buddy then joined him, opening fire on the remaining Grunts as they tried to toss a plasma grenade up on the ledge, luckily they seemed to have rather bad throwing arms as each one sailed past them or undershot.

Still forced them to duck down every time they heard an explosion, it was instinctive to them.

Not to Six, he'd gotten use to the plasma explosions. He was too busy sniping of the heads of Skirmishers trying to get to higher ground to care. They kept using that building in the middle of the yard for cover and leverage, jumping up and hiding behind the various generators and nooks up top. But Six had been sniping for a long while and he knew how to stay patient and wait. He wasn't as good as Jun, but he knew the key was to wait for the right moment nonetheless.

A Skimisher popped up from below firing his needle rifle at Six's position. A round cut through the alien's skull and the Spartan moved to his next target. The second Skirmisher on the roof caught it through the shoulder as he leaned around the corner. He failed to get off a needle shot and went down, his blood streaming out as he did.

The Grunts had stopped trying to flank around the side the Militia men were covering and tried to move through the little canal in the middle of the pump station. They knew they were still exposed to the snipers above but figured there was more cover than open ground. There were some large concrete light nooks lining the edge of the canal, allowing them a chance at safety as long as they could run the gauntlet. Unfortunately for them Jun was faster than their little stubby legs. The first Grunt that made a break for it got a bullet to the brain and collapsed into the water. The second and third tried their luck, they took a shot to the eye and left temple respectively.

They were holding ground, but everyone knew the true danger, the Elites. They were hanging back, proving fire support for their lesser, letting them take the major hits first so they could plan a more effective advance next go. Jun and Six had to keep relocating along the roof so they weren't pinned down. The Elites weren't giving them a chance to get a bead on them.

Jun had guess towards their destination, their weak spot in the defence. A tunnel below where the canal flowed through. They couldn't see it from up here and it led straight behind the building to their flank. Fortunately for them, they had planned on that.

One Elite with a plasma repeater stepped out from covered, drenching the upper guardrail with fire. Everyone ducked their heads as the Elite's plasma rained down on them. The Elite and it's comrades however had been so focused on the guardrail above though they hadn't been paying much attention to where they really wanted to be, the canal tunnel. Suddenly a white hot energy beam of ions exploded out of the tunnel itself and slammed into the head of the plasma repeater Elite. It sliced through his shields like tissue paper and burned a hole straight through the alien's skull. His land clutched at his repeater as he fell into to the ground, the gun firing all the way. His two fellow Elites, the Ultras turned to where the shot had come from and saw a red eye staring back it vanished into the Tunnel and the Elites rushed towards it. They kept firing on the guardrails above as they made their dash, forcing Six and Jun to keep their heads down to avoid the incoming shots. Concussions rifles weren't something to play around with, they'd take down your shields in seconds.

"Let's hope Legion handles them before they get through." Jun said as he returned to the matter of the remaining enemy forces on their end.

"No worries," Six assured "Legion can handle them."

Inside the tunnel itself the two Elites moved carefully, their concussion rifles at the ready. They'd blow apart whatever it was that killed their fellow warrior before his time. They remained silent as they moved through water checking each corner as they headed forward. They noticed a back entrance leading out of the tunnel. Perhaps their enemy had fled through here?

They kept searching. As they did a single red glowing eye appeared in the darkness. Legion didn't need it's iris to be open in order to see. It had plenty of other sensors. Heart-beat monitors, movement trackers, thermals, and right now it could clearly see how completely and utterly unafraid the Elites were. They had no irregularities in their heart rates, their temperature remained normal, their stance remained calm. It almost reminded Legion of Krogan and Turian soldiers back in their dimension.

Legion knew this invisibility armour module wouldn't last forever. It would need to make its move now in order to incapacitate the Elites and quickly. The Geth walked through the water, timing it's footsteps with that of its prey. It got close enough that if Geth could breathe the Elite would know. Without any hesitation Legion wrapped an arm around the alien's neck and grabbed the concussion rifle in his other hand. He forced the alien to empty a clip into his unwitting partner. The Elite took the full brunt of the assault, slamming into the wall of the tunnel as the shots tore at him. Legion kicked the Elite he was holding forward, pulled out the Geth Assault rifle and fired as many rounds into the alien's back as it could. The shields vanished as the Elite was riddled with holes, but Legion got warned of a problem as he was starting to finish the covie off.

"Second target still functioning!" Dot cried out "Left!

Legion turned its head just in time to see a battered and bruised Elite lash out with his fists. The synthetic dodged the first swipe, but the second knocked the Geth to the water beneath their feet. The Elite now grabbed Legion around the throat. It was unclear if the Elite was foolishly trying to strangle the machine or trying to rip off its head. Legion didn't wait to find out. Kicking with its leg, the Elite was pushed off Legion and the machine unloaded another salvo of rounds into the Elite's unshielded stomach. The Geth looked at the floating body of the first Elite he attacked, letting the other one slowly fall to the ground and die, its body splashing in the water.

Legion looked down at its former living shield. The holes in the alien's back were bleeding profusely. The alien remained still and lifeless. But Legion knew better. It took aim with its assault rifle and almost as if on cue the Elite sprung back to life, a plasma dagger in hand. The Geth fired two more shots into the alien's head. Silence followed.

Mere seconds later Jun contacted Legion over the comms.

"We fought'em off," he said "how things on your end?"

"Targets have been neutralized." Legion replied "Will reconvene at your position."

Legion joined the Spartans and their newfound militia friends outside at the back of the pump station. They weren't wasting much time talking from what it looked like, just laying out a plan of sorts.

"Okay we can't stay here," Jun began "that much is obvious. We need to keep heading in."

"Heading in?" the lead smuggler asked "You crazy?"

"No I'm a Spartan, I have a mission." Jun replied firmly "The sooner we finish the sooner we get to go home. So mind helping us out?"

The two militia men didn't want to go any deeper into the territory, they were trying to get out. But they knew the UNSC, they'd have a pelican ready to take these guys back. It was that or they could bum it through Covenant infested canyons.

"Well, there's the road leading to the hydro plant, but the door doesn't work."

"Alternative?"

"Riverbed," the smuggler pointed out "we use it in the smuggling operation. Transport rations, guns..."

"Everything the UNSC considers contraband." Six finished for him.

The militia man just nodded. Jun wasn't here to lecture them about right or wrong, he just cared about the mission. Still he could tell Six was a bit uncomfortable about this.

"Show us." Jun ordered

The smugglers led the way, Six and Jun hanging back with Legion as they made their way towards the riverbed.

"I don't trust these assholes." Six said "I fought their kind. They're gonna pick up and just run for it rather than stick with us."

"Right now they're in the same boat as us Six." Jun replied "Just keep your cool for now. Remember we're here to kill Covies tonight, not each other."

Six grumbled a bit, he supposed he should be grateful that was the case. But it was a force of habit.

The riverbed was all the smugglers said it was, a discreet and out of the way passage for them to use. Now it was at least serving a more noble purpose though, keeping them safe from the Covenant patrols flying search patterns above.

Just like the one they heard approaching moments into their trek.

"Covie Dropship. Down." Jun cried quietly.

They could see the nose of the alien ship peer around the rocks. Its preseance was like that of a shark, circling for its prey. Jun flagged everyone over to the underside of a rock bridge as he saw it start to pass overhead. The group remained silent, the spot light's glare coming within inches of them.

Six remembered how at times, Phantoms seemed comical. Giant bulbous looking flying saucers with purple tones, looking like huge overgrown bruised noses, their design looking silly compared to the professional look of their pelicans. But when was searching for you, it's rotating plasma turret and side door gunners keeping a looking out for any sign of humans to torch, it wasn't as funny looking.

Eventually the ship just passed over them and they were able to go about their way. The rest of the trek upriver was uneventful, save for the discussion of what lay ahead.

"Tell me about this hydro plant," Jun began "it big?"

"High walls, lots of good cover," Said the head smuggler "powers the whole territory too. We built it forty five years ago, shame if it got wasted."

"Didn't know you cared." Six chided them both

The smuggler turned back with a scowl.

"Hey pal, just cause I came here to protect my profit doesn't mean I don't care about this place period alright?" he retorted "It's still my home. The sooner you get these Covies out of here the better. Then we can all go back to our lives already."

The smuggler kept marching on, Jun shook his head at Six.

"So is this playing cool for you?" he asked

Six bowed his shoulders in a submissive gesture as Jun took up the lead. Legion joined Six by his side.

"You do not like these militia troopers." It stated as it looked over at the group ahead, it wasn't asking a question.

"They're too much like the separatists," he responded "they only care about themselves. Fuck the rest of us trying to make sure they have a future. I'm putting my life on the line for these people and all they care about is how they can steal from us."

Legion looked Six directly in the eye now.

"We have found that organics tend to think of personal survival over the needs of others." Legion explained "It's is an instinctive response. A software error. They are merely fulfilling their programming, however flawed."

"So you agree with me, we can't trust them." Six said, seemingly happy about that.

But the Geth shook his head.

"We suggest you consider that their survival currently depends on your mission's success. Therefore their programming will lead them to conclude it is best to see it through." Legion told him "Trust does not factor into it, they simply see its benefits. They will most likely play their part out of convenience."

Legion's words did little to comfort Six it seemed as he stomped off after Jun.

"Great we're united because we're all trying to save our own asses," he said bleakly "our species is so gonna survive with that mentality."

Legion was disappointed it's attempt to dilute Six's displeasure had not worked. It would try again later, perhaps when the smugglers had done more to prove themselves.

The riverbed eventually ended and a dirt path opened up for them. At the end of that the hydro plant lay in sight. It was on the other side of a deep ravine. Conencted both sides of the gap was a bridge patrolled by a single Elite, but they could see a number of Grunts sleeping on it as well. They could also see Covenant lining the walls of the hydro plant's outer perimeter itself. One of them looked to be a field marshal of sorts overseeing the troops. But he wasn't the thing catching their eye. It was the large three legged structure on the ridge, the one with three plasma turrets defending it. In between the legs they could see a gravity lift leading up to the main platform of the structure. Rising high above this platform was a large shining stream of light that was holding up another piece of the towers above it. This top piece was pulsating regular with some kind of small energy shroud.

"Dot, can you analyse?" Jun asked

"Covenant pylon, has been used as fortified position and communications post." Dot relayed "Scan suggests possible jamming frequency as difficult to ascertain exact signal output."

Jun heard enough and called in command.

"Kat, you seeing this? We got some kind of pylon here. Dot say's it emanating some sort of jamming signal."

"That's the source of our dark zone then." Kat replied

"Alright consider it blown."

Kat was quick to correct her fellow Spartan.

"No, command doesn't want to give away the game yet. Prep the pylon for destruction instead. It dies at dawn. Noble Two out."

Jun nodded, he got the picture. Rip apart the jamming signal just as the attack went through. They'd have full communication then, be able to coordinate better and the Covenant wouldn't have time to think of a way out of it.

"Alright let's head in." Jun said

"Wait we're gonna go in there and blow it?" the smuggling militia man asked

He wasn't on the same radio frequency as Jun was, he didn't know the plan.

"We're gonna plant a remote det charge on it." Jun explained "I suggest you stay here and provide cover fire. If you want that is."

Jun tried to move forward, but Legion held him back.

"Should we not wait for Shepard Commander?" it asked

"We could at least radio him concerning our mission." Jun complied "We've been out of contact for awhile, but something tells me he's a bit busy with something else if he hasn't checked in on his end."

* * *

><p>The shotgun round ripped the Skirmisher's arm clean off as Shepard advanced, a shockwave rolling out in front of him and sending Grunts into the air. A biotic charge rocketed him towards another Skirmisher, tossing him like a rag doll into the sky. He turned to see a lone Jackal taking aim next to him, Shepard simply took the hand that wasn't gripping his Shotgun's trigger and fired a cryo round with his pistol. The Jackal wretched backward from the cold on his hand, another couple of shots to the torso froze him in place. A simple kick to the head sent it hurtling off the alien's body and when it hit the ground it shattered.<p>

That was Shepard got radioed and he quickly took cover behind one of Covenant's weapon storage units as the plasma rounds started smacking against his shields.

"Shepard we found the source of the Dark Zone," said Jun voice over the comms. "Can you assist us in getting close to it?"

"Bit busy myself Noble Three," Shepard replied, trying to sound rather nonchalant about things "targets of opportunity. Artillery positions. Can't chat right bud, some covies wanted me to demonstrate some of my heavy weaponry for them. I'll call you back when I'm free."

Shepard readied the Avalanche in hand. As it charged he looked over at his target, two Elites that were using him as target practice currently. They were joined by a Skirmisher and Grunt respectively. Making things considerably more difficult for him.

"Garrus, overload! Now!"

The Turian was a few metres away, thinning out the Grunts swarming all over the bluff. As it took another head off the little bastards he swivelled towards the Elites and let loose a overload charge. The blast annihilated their shields. This meant nothing would stand in the Avalanche's way. Shepard fired the Avalanche, fully charged now. The blast slammed in front of the two Elites, freezing both them and the Skirmisher and Grunt. Shepard didn't wait to let the warm up again, he took out his submachine gun and fired a stream of bullets into the flashed freezed aliens. They crumpled to pieces as the rounds ate away at their icy bodies.

Thane had his own Elites to deal with at the fore front of the bluff. With knife in hand he raced forward, dodging the shots from the needler the Elite was using. He flipped right over the covenant officer's shoulder and slashed as his back once then thrusted forward. He saw the spine of his target severe in two before he pulled back and slashed at the neck of a Skirmisher that was trying to bum rush him in retaliation. Another Elite activated his plasma dagger and slashed towards the Drell, who leaned backwards as the blade sailed past his head. When he recovered he plunged the knife deep into the Elite's stomach and then forced it upwards towards his throat. Thane was drenched in purple blood as the Elite screamed out in pain.

Garrus held his own, slowly advancing up the left of the bluff towards the objective. Grunts were everywhere, using the rocks and their own equipment as cover for their advance. That was always the strength of these little gas suckers it seemed, sheer numbers. But the incisor was perfect for crowd control. Garrus was able to take them down as they rounded the corners of their cover, although the three shot burst was usually overkill unless another Grunt was behind the first.

When he thought he had cleared out the midget alien hordes he moved up to next bit of cover, a small rock formation that rose upwards on one side. It was here he encountered a ion blast that skimmed just past his head, bringing his shields down to almost nothing by the sheer heat. He quickly put his head down and peered out slightly. There was one lone Elite sniper on the far end of the bluff, wearing Ranger class armour. He used his jump pack to get on top of the artillery cannon and began raining fire down on Garrus' position.

"Well at least he's a bit more of a challenge." He shrugged

Garrus had an idea of how to get out of this. Arming his concussion shot he targeted the Elite Sniper. The attack wouldn't kill him, but it stop him from firing for a few seconds. The blast knocked the Elite down, but he quickly back on his feet. It was enough time however for Garrus to pop back up, get a bead on his head and fire three rounds into his head. Garrus watched the Elite's helmet crack apart and it's body slump to the side of the artillery cannon.

Shepard in the meantime had the avalanche out in full force. Squads of Grunts were stopped in their tracks, turning to icicles as the human advanced forward. A shockwave follow up shattered what remained. A Skirmisher turned a corner to fire several shots from its needle rifle into Shepard's center mass. The shields stopped them from penetrating and Shepard charged at the Skirmisher, batting him into the sky as shot from the avalanche froze him in mid-air.

Three Elites now stood in their path, keeping cover just behind the artillery cannon itself. Unable to actually move they maintained their position and kept firing plasma bolts, hoping to fend off the small yet extremely difficult to kill group of combatants attacking them.

Shepard was undeterred by this. He aimed over the artillery position, hoping to arc his shots past the gun and hit them. He poured on the Avalanche attack, the cryo-based weapon assaulted their shields with each hit. Soon they felt the cold sting of the weapon's artificial frostbite. Their shields gone there was nothing to stop it from eating away at them, but they had nowhere to go. Except forward.

Even as the ice formed on their bodies, slowing their movements, freezing the blood in their veins, the Elites rushed out shooting. They'd die like warriors, not cowards, it was their way. Shepard would usually admire the courage of his adversaries, not tonight. He pulled his pistol and fired two shots into the nearest Elite's head, it shattered partially, cryo-rounds not fully taking. Garrus finished off the second, a three round burst cutting into the Elite's skull. Thane just threw out a biotic throw, the Elite was tossed off the side of the cliff.

With the bluff cleared they placed their remote charge inside the artillery gun.

"One more to go." Shepard said "Let's get this done."

"What about Noble Team?" Garrus asked "They've asked for assistance."

Shepard knew they had gone severely off mission. They'd been trekking through the territory scrambling across rock bridges and leaping gaps for awhile now. But he knew they had a perfectly legitimate reason for their actions. One as equally important as the dark zone being taken down.

"We can't just leave these guns active while we're here." Shepard told Garrus "The final gun isn't too far now and it's close to the next assigned waypoint in our recon route. We'll handle it and link up with them there."

Garrus would've added more to the discussion, but Shepard didn't wait. He took off down the path towards the next gun, marching slowly but briskly nonetheless.

"Let's move people." He ordered "We have one last present to leave our friends in the morning remember."

Garrus reluctantly joined with Shepard along the path. He knew this was the right call. Those guns had to be dealt with and Noble Two had ordered they take out any covenant structures. Still, he felt a bit bad abandoning Noble Team for the time being. They'd probably understand, maybe even appreciate what they were trying to do. Still, it wasn't something Shepard was prone to doing, leaving someone to fend for their own hides. And the thought of not being there when someone probably needed him, it gnawed at Garrus and reminded him a bit of Omega.

"Could we at least ask them if they can take care of things on their own?" he spoke up at last.

Shepard looked back, and for a moment his sense of honour won out. He called up Jun.

"Shepard to Noble," he began in a low drawl "we're trying to take out some artillery guns, plant remote det charges for the push tomorrow. If they're still active good people are gonna die. But you requested help and we're in the area. Can you handle things on your own or would you prefer us to come to you?"

* * *

><p>Jun considered what Shepard had just told him and looked to Legion and Six. He wanted to hear their thoughts.<p>

"We can probably take them." Six said with a sense of cautious optimism "I can get close enough to that field marshal, nab his plasma grenade launcher. Course once he's down most of his friends are gonna know what's up. You could use that as the moment to start opening fire on them from this end of ravine. When I clear the pylon of defenders you can move in to do your thing."

"We shall assist Six Noble in this endeavour." Legion added

Jun mulled it over, it was a good plan. They had done well so far on their own and Shepard's mission sounded just as important.

"We can handle it I think Shepard." He said "But thank you for offering."

"Garrus wanted to be sure we weren't leaving you out to dry to be honest, so thank him." Shepard humbly replied "Good hunting Noble Three."

Jun smirked a bit, so the Turian did care. Nice to know, didn't get him off the hook though. He turned back to the others.

"Alright I'll stay here with the militia to provide fire support," he began "once you clear the pylon I'll head up and plant the det charge. Just cover my back while I do."

Six nodded and he and Legion quickly set off towards the bridge, crouching low to the ground. Jun and the militia members headed to the large rocks on the side of the road and made a makeshift sniper's nest. The covenant wouldn't spot them as long as they kept their heads down. They'd watch Six and Legion's progress from here. Once their CO went down the rest of the Covenant were gonna notice, then the real fight would begin.

As they got closer Six fully comprehended how undermanned the bridge defence was. Hadn't they heard about the fighting at the pump station? Perhaps this was more of the Covenant showing their arrogance, that they didn't think Humans could penetrate so far into their territory, that they were secure, that this duty was an easy assignment.

Time to prove how folly that assessment was.

The sleeping Grunts weren't the problem, the lone Elite was. He'd have to go first. As they moved onto the bridge Six past a knife to Legion.

"It's quieter than a silencer." He assured "Course you could just punch extra hard and break their skulls. But the Elite first, then the Grunts."

"Affirmative."

Six had the Elite, he was on point after all. He snuck up behind the alien as he looked out over the bridge. Then he struck the Knife cut deep into the back of the alien's neck, then Six flipped it around in his palm and stabbed upward through the roof of the mouth. With a single push he sent the Elite falling off the side of the bridge and to his final resting place below.

With that done, Legion made quick work of the Grunts around them. The Geth silently rushed to each one and thrusted his fist forward. There was not much to comment on concerning the death, they were each the same, quick, efficient and clean. Just like any good operation. The Grunts slumped over against the side of the bridge, looking even lazier somehow than their standard tucked in sleeping position. It would be an easy cover should any find them in the time between now and when the shooting started.

Once off the bridge they moved across the path quickly to an open door that led inside the hydro-plant's walls. This place wasn't fortress after all. It wasn't built to keep people out. Usually these doors would have security guarding them, but the Covenant weren't as concerned it seemed, they felt they were secure. Again, it played to their advantage.

Six saw some nearby stairs on the side of the wall outside leading up to the top of the wall.

"I'll head up this way along the wall." Six said "You coming with?"

"We believe we should attempt thin out hostiles on the other end of the defensive position." Legion explained "We shall link up with you at center."

With that Legion activated its camouflage and vanished, leaving Six to hope the machine would be able to manage any covies it found on its own. Six continued up the stairs, slowly but surely. He could see the crest of a Skirmisher at the top, checking it's rifle from what he could tell.

It was an easy enough kill, Six Stabbed him through the side of the head with one blow and pulled the knife back out once more. The bird creature limped to the side and fell over. Six didn't stop long to marvel at his kill, he kept up the pace. He looked outside, he saw the Elite field marshal was just inches in front of him, his plasma grenade launcher primed and ready. Below Six could see a man made basin where the water drained out to the ravine below. The Pylon was overlooking the field marshal's position. He hoped Legion had his back.

He looked a single Grunt patrolling the area below around the basin near another doorway. In a split second the Grunt was thrown up against a wall, his neck sliced open as quickly. It was Legion alright, Six noticed the robot become visible for a split second before the cloak reactivated. All he could see now was the red eye of the synthetic slip into the doorway and vanish once more.

"Good he's close by." Six thought to himself "Now my part."

Two other Elites were at the far side of the wall, where it turned to dirt and merged with the hillside. They weren't watching his sector and the field marshal was marvelling at the pylon. Now or never.

Six rushed out and jabbed his knife into the lower back of the Elite. The covenant officer screamed in pain as Six turned him around and yanked the launcher away from him. He then unceremoniously kicked the Elite off the water and let him splash into the running water below. The elite's eyes looked lifelessly up at him as the man-made river ran purple with the alien's blood. Not as powerful an image given the colour, but fitting.

Six turned to the now startled Elites who turned, their Plasma Rifles armed and ready. But they were so focused on one assailant they had not noticed the second. Six saw the red eye of his synthetic friend appear over the shoulder of one and watched as a Knife slammed between the neck and shoulder blade of the Elite. A spurt of purple blood burst out like a fountain, the other Elite ahead of his friend turned to see what was happening. The knife that had been stuck in his friend was flung into his chest.

The Elite screamed in anger and tossed the knife aside, pulling it from his chest like it was a mere splinter. Even as he bleed profusely he pulled out a second plasma rifle and began firing at both assailants on either side of the wall. Six ducked under one of the volleys and, just as quickly, underhanded a plasma grenade at the Elite. It caught on his hip and exploded moments after. As the Elite was turned to scorching bits of mulch, Six dived down into the basin below while Legion remained up top. The grunts on the pylon were already running to their positons, firing on where thay had last saw the Spartan. Legion, in the meantime, began firing on the scurrying assortment of Jackals, Grunts and Skirmishers all rallying to the site of their commander's death.

Two Elites leading a group of Grunts rushed towards the river and the tunnel that led to the basin itself. They had seen the human, the one in the Spartan armour, dive into the basin, they'd cut off his avenue of escape, protect the pylon. As expected the human rushed out of the large doorway and they opened fire without remorse. The covenant would avenge their fallen commander by spilling his blood. Except no blood came and the Spartan vanished as if he was a mirage once it was hit by enough plasma bolts. More than enough to kill any man, the Elites and Grunts stood perplexed. Then the real Six jumped out, plasma grenade launcher had and targeted the Elite in the center of the group.

"Your CO let me borrow this." He said as he pulled the trigger

The plasma grenade shot out and locked on to the Elite Six had designated. They met their marks attaching to the Elite's body like burrs. Four of them to be precise. The Elite scrambled to pull them off, his compatriots fleeing, but the explosions occurred only seconds later and the massive fire ball took them all in one fell swoop.

Six turned back into the basin as a Skirmisher jumped down into the water and pointed a neddle rifle in his face. Six closed the distance brushed it aside and kicked the alien straight into the far wall as hard as he could. A group of Grunts were at the nearby doorway firing plasma bolts at the Spartan, he pulled out his pistol, dropping the plasma grenade launcher momentarily, and advanced forward. The shots were enough to send the Grunts scattering for cover. Six exited the basin and began filling their backs with holes as they tried to scramble up a nearby staircase.

Up above, Legion had switched back to the Widow and was making good use of it. The Geth had rushed over to the inside wall of the basin and had begun taking potshots at the Grunts scurrying between some metal pillars. Soon the synthetic was reminded why they were really here however as a volley of plasma bolts slammed into its shields. The Geth took cover behind the wall. The attack had come from the pylon itself. One of the Grunts was blasting away at the Geth's position. Activating it's Geth shielding, Legion jumped back up and targeted the little alien. The turret was unshielded, thus making it easy to line up a shot. Legion only had to fire once and the Grunt's head was blown apart.

The machine heard gunfire to the left and saw a Jackal fall dead to the ground on the other side of the wall. Six walked out, Sniper Rifle at the ready and took his own position near. As plasma rounds began hitting his cover he took aim at the Grunt on the turret and fired once. He caught the little alien in the eye and the creature stumbled around aimlessly before falling off the side. Six lined up another shot at the last turret and fired again, catching the Grunt in the back. He fired once more, ruptured his methane tank and sent him flying. There were other Grunts on the platform but they'd be easy pickings now.

But the fight was far from over as Six was soon reminded. A concussion rifle round slammed next to him, forcing Six to the ground as an Elite Ultra dropped down from above. Six aimed his rifle to shoot him in the chest but the Elite swatted it away. He then began to try and stamp the Spartan head into the ground with his foot, but Six grabbed and used it to force the Ultra off him. Then a sniper round from across the ravine sliced through the Elite's head.

"Got ya covered Six." Jun spoke over the radio

Six just stood up once more and gathered his sniper rifle from where the Elite had batted it to.

"How things on your end?" he asked Jun over the radio.

"Spotted some Grunts in the trees near the gate to the southeast. Took care of them though, seem quiet now. I'm moving up, civies are taking up positions at the bridge to provide cover fire."

Six doubted they would. Legion approached Six soon after, regrouping with him at the center of the wall.

"Dot has managed to obtain a partial break in the dark zone's frequency." It said "Detected large covenant force behind gate to southeast via satellite in area. More than likely they have been alerted to our presence."

"We'll deal with them when the time comes, right now let's worry about the pylon."

Six and Legion joined below the covenant structure. Already a plan had been formed.

"Alright you two head up to the top," Jun said "it will take some time to get this demo charge in the right spot."

Jun set to work, fiddling with one of the legs on the structure. Legion and Six took the grav-lift up and set up positions along the side of the pylon facing the bridge. It didn't take long for the contacts to make themselves known. A covenant phantom swooped in from the southeast and began firing on them. Six and Legion ducked behind what little sheter they had near the turret's firing positions, but the covenant suddenly stopped shooting. Of course, they weren't gonna risk damaging their dark zone device.

The phantom dropped low instead and a large port in its underside opened up. Out of it came two Hunters, loaded for bear.

"I guess this is what the Covies consider a light touch." Six commented

The plasma cannons on the Hunters probably wouldn't harm the device, so long as they remained on target. They aimed for Six and Legion's positions instead of the structure's center. Huge green blasts sailed past their heads, a third shot destroying the turret near Legion.

"Situation unfavourable." Legion noted "We must draw their attention away."

Six wondered how they would do that before the Hunters noticed Jun below and took him down. Then the answer presented itself. The militia smugglers began firing on the Hunters, their backs turned they left their vulnerable orange flesh exposed for the humans on the other side of the bridge.

"Suck it down ya fucking pieces of shit!" the leader smuggler called out.

Six was a bit astonished, somewhat in awe even. Still once the Hunters turned round and targeted them they would both be dead. So he wasted no time. He took up the plasma grenade launcher he had retrieved and began shooting them into the distracted Hunters as they charged weapons. The blasts took apart the back armour of one of the Hunter exposing him more fully to the elements. Six didn't wanna chance it that these Hunters had those upgrades in their armour too. So he turned to Legion.

"Take the turret!" he said and he jumped off the platform.

Six landed as another shot passed him and hit one of the legs of the device. It left a huge scar and exposed some wiring, but the device seemed undamaged for the most part. Still the aliens did not risk another shot as long as Six was there.

He armed the Plasma grenade launcher again, this time aiming for the one that was only lightly wounded by the attack and fired a full salvo of plasma grenades. The Hunter took the full brunt on its arm shield, letting them explode as Six rushed in close. The Hunter lashed out, trying to smash the human under toe, but Six rolled beneath the attack and the shield arm sailed gracefully overhead. Six tossed yet another plasma grenade onto the Elite's back by hand this time. The explosion forced the alien forwards, arms stretched out wide. It fell to the ground dead.

But the second hunter was still alive and enraged by its companion's death charged at Six. The Spartan ducked behind a rock, rolling into position. Legion meanwhile opened up on the Hunter's back, peppering it with plasma rounds. Six didn't want the Hunter's attention to return to the Geth though. He activated his hologram once more and let it run out past the rock. The Hunter turned and fired, dissipating the hologram in one shot. It had no time to wonder where the body had gone as more plasma bolts hit its back.

It turned to face the oncoming assault, shield held high and waited for the gun to overheat. Legion kept firing until the turret began to smoke and the Hunter took new aim at the synthetic, its plasma cannon charging anew. Then two shots rang out, sniper rounds hit the thin layer of orange flesh exposed around the Hunter's neck. Orange blood poured from the wounds as another sniper round hit its mark and the Hunter fell silent onto the ground face first.

Jun emerged from beneath the covenant structure, his gun smoking.

"I'd like to mark that as my kill." He noted

"Hey we softened him up for ya." Six remarked as he gathered his bearings

"Fine, it's an assist then." Jun shrugged "I can deal."

Six turned to the bridge to see the militia men rush up to meet them.

"You could've run." Six told them "Or hell, not fired at all. Those two hunters would've disintegrated you in seconds flat had they fried."

"Yeah," admitted the leader "we probably could've just stayed quiet and hoped ya made it. You looked like you had things under control and all. But, well if you hadn't shown up at the pump station..."

"Favour for a favour," Six acknowledged "I can understand that."

Legion jumped down to join the others, Widow in hand. When he did Jun contacted Kat.

"Noble Two we got our little surprise set-up."

"Plant it somewhere inconspicuous I hope?" she asked

"It's in the pylon's power supply. They won't think to look there."

"Good, keep moving, let's find out exactly what the Covenant are hiding up here."

Jun nodded and the group raced off to the gate. Legion of course informed him as they trekked up the hill to it about the mass of Covenant waiting for them on the other side. It was a humbling thought. When they arrived he turned the militia men.

"You should stay here." He said "Things are about to get bumpier than you can handle and you've pulled your share enough tonight."

"As long as we get a pelican ride out of here we're good." The Militia man said "Just don't forget us okay?"

"We'll trek back to the pump station for pick up when we're done." Jun assured "Just stay here for now."

All the while Legion worked on opening the door which slowly lurched open for them. Their final objective was close, all that stood in their way were a mass of Covenant soldiers. As if that was somehow new to them.

* * *

><p>"I won't stand for this Holland," Miranda remarked "neither will Shepard."<p>

Miranda Lawson was a very demanding woman, as both Colonels Ackerson and Holland soon discovered. She had pulled them both out of bed, at a very late hour, for a video conference. They both asked if it could wait, she said no. It became clear soon as to why she was so adamant.

"One of my crew is tracked by an ONI agent, with the intention of kidnapping her." She spat aggressively, she turned her backwards for a moment at Samara who was keeping to the shadows "This follows directly on the heels of another member of our crew almost being murdered. A murder the perpetrator hoped to cover up by making it look like an accident."

"That theory has yet to be proven." Ackerson remarked, seemingly bored over this abrupt hearing.

Miranda did not back down.

"I think this recent action proves it," she said with an angry glare "it's far too timely to be a coincidence. Wouldn't you agree Ackerson?"

The ONI colonel looked offended.

"If you're accusing people Mrs. Lawson I suggest you be direct," he commanded "and that you actually produce some evidence."

Miranda's face turned more confident and relaxed; a smug smile across her face. He didn't know who he was dealing with. Miranda never went into anything unprepared.

"I looked up the files of the would-be kidnapper." She began "His name is Agent Sully Gerns, he works at Sword Base. He's supposed to be a filing and intelligence clerk. As evidence by how easily Samara caught him he has never really done field work. More importantly, he is assigned currently to YOUR division in ONI, Mr. Ackerson."

The colonel seemed unfazed by the support Miranda lent to her accusation. He merely snorted at it all.

"Why would anyone put a desk clerk up to the task of capturing someone like your alien friend?" he asked "It's seems stupid, if I wanted to do something like that I'd pick a more experienced man."

"I assume after the attack on Thane you didn't want to risk losing a treasured agent. And you needed plausible deniability." Miranda suggested harshly "The lower on the ladder the less chance it could be traced back to you."

Again Ackerson waved the accusation off.

"Gerns was always a bit of a pervert in my opinion, he probably just wanted to feel up your alien friend while she took a nap." He said

"That's not what his personnel file says." Miranda remarked, disbelievingly "Unless of course someone left out those details, I don't see why they would though."

Ackerson sighed, seemingly bored. He looked to Holland.

"Unless Mrs. Lawson can produce some sort of written by me to Agent Gerns I see no point to this charade." He declared "Anyone could've put Gerns up to this. Under Winter Contingency ONI agents are substitute to the wishes of the military, my commands and issued orders can be over-ridden by anyone of significant rank. Someone probably went over my head on this. That's a re far more likely explanation than me being the guilty party."

"You're the only one with motive." Miranda reminded him "Considering your personal distaste for my Commander and my crew."

Ackerson bent close to screen and scowled.

"You sure about that Mrs. Lawson?" he asked menacingly "You sure you're as popular with the brass as you think you are? I highly doubt it. I can name several people who would want you gone and not even shed a tear if you did so."

"Enough!" Holland ordered, he turned to Miranda "Mrs. Lawson unless you can actually prove Ackerson is involved I cannot press charges of any kind. However I will increase security around your people when they're outside your ship and I will personally head an investigation into the matter. After we've dealt with the covenant, we have more important matters to attend to than accusing one another of wrong doing."

Miranda turned to Ackerson, a smug snake-ish smile on his face. She merely nodded, figuring it was the best she would get.

"Glad we settled this quickly," Ackerson remarked "now excuse me I have far more urgent matters to attend to."

Ackerson logged off, his presence gone Miranda was unafraid to share her fully feelings with Holland.

"You know he's involved in this." She told him

"More than likely but my hands are tied." Holland assured "I can't do anything with sufficient evidence and Ackerson is no doubt too smart to leave a written order lying around. We can investigate all of this more thoroughly once the Covenant have been dealt with, we can't go about accusing each other on the eve of an important counter-offensive."

"I understand Colonel," Miranda replied "but he's getting bolder. He tried to take Samara just a few kilometres outside out dry dock. This close shave won't deter him, he's just gonna try again. We don't even know what he hopes to accomplish with these attacks!"

Holland shook his head in despair.

"I agree," he replied "but all I can do is give you more security. I'll make sure to pool from own ranks, people I can trust. I suggest you beef up security as well. We'll get him eventually Mrs. Lawson, trust me on that. Ackerson will slip up eventually. As he grows bolder he's gonna get more careless. Just watch. Holland out."

As Holland's screen went black, Miranda knew Shepard was gonna be pissed off beyond all measure when he got back. A second attempt on his crew by Ackerson? That was gonna send him off the wall. Thankfully with the offensive coming up he wouldn't storm into his office and ring the bastard's neck. Lord knows though she wouldn't object.

"Holland is correct," Samara assured "Ackerson only appears confident. He will grow more reckless with each failure. With any hope he will reveal his true nature in time."

"I just hope none of us pays the price for it." She told the Asari.

She really hoped Shepard was letting off some steam right now. Then he'd be in a more agreeable mood when he got back.

* * *

><p>Shepard let the Elite fall to the ground, a gaping hole in his torso from the shotgun round. He stepped over the lifeless body and towards the artillery cannon itself. He looked down upon the area the cliff overlooked. He could see a large spire of sorts in the distance and it did not look human in origin. He knew there were Covenant positions within the rocks, just laying in wait for them.<p>

Garrus rushed up behind him, breaking him out of his trance.

"Alright, let's set these charges and get out of here." Garrus told him

"Wait," Shepard said "Garrus, remember when we analyzed the targeting systems of the Geth Cannon on Aite?"

Garrus looked perplexed but he answered nonetheless.

"Yeah we figured it could help improve the Normandy's target parameters why?"

Shepard answered thusly.

"Is it possible that you could hook up the targeting system of this gun to my omni-tool?"

Garrus was confused by the question at first, but Thane filled in the gaps.

"Turn their gun against them," he said "use it to pound their positions, drain their manpower. Clever tactic."

Garrus liked the idea himself as it gave them an asset of the enemy. A trump card they could use. Of course he knew it came with a problem.

"I can give you the frequency and lock out the Covenant from the system," Garrus admitted "but there's a chance the Covenant may figure out what I did, reverse it and regain control before we can do anything with it."

"You're good with auto-target systems Garrus," Shepard told him, a sense of utter faith in his friend apparent and obvious "if anyone can hide the fact from the Covies that they don't own this gun anymore it's you."

Garrus liked Shepard was confident in his abilities, it's just the plan was risky. It could backfire in their faces, even if garrus did everything right there was always the slim chance they'd be found out. It would be safer to just blow the thing. Shepard took risks all the time, but this kind, it wasn't like him.

"Maybe we should just blow the-"

Shepard cut him off aggressively.

"We need every advantage we can get right now Garrus." He told him "The stakes are too high here. If we can snag this gun we could use it to destroy the covenant positions down there. We could save lives. Isn't that worth the risk?"

Garrus supposed it was, still something itched in the back of his mind. A sense of déjà vu, but reversed.

"Alright Shepard, you've always done right before." Garrus assured "I'll set you up. Get you control."

Garrus went to work on the targeting system.

"Take your time and do it right," Shepard told him "I want to make sure they won't spot it. Minimize the risk. But work as fast as possible, we need to link up with Noble Three for extraction."

* * *

><p>The covenant shade turret exploded in a blaze of purple and blue flames as Grunts and Jackals alike scattered for cover. The Elite manning the turret lay dead on the ground, surrounded by several Grunts who had taken up the gunner's position before him and met the same end, but thanks in part to a bullet not an explosion.<p>

A lone Elite Ultra stood in the center of the small woods firing wildly and calling to its comrades to return to its side. Calling them every word it had in its language for cowards. It saw a blue and orange rolling ball of light rush up to him, blasting bolts of electricity at his shields. The Elite's repeater fired endlessly into the drone, it exploded in a blaze of fire, sending the Ultra flying into a tree nearby.

Six, Legion and Jun rushed up the side of the hill, firing on the fleeing combatants as they rushed into the rocks below. They had no real chance of escape, they were just trying to dig in and hold out. Legion kept firing the ion rifle at the fleeing enemy, wildling them down to a handful relatively quickly. As they rounded the corner, Jun looked over to a part of the sky behind the rockface and eyed an Covenant corvette.

"Kat, we have eyes on one covenant ship, at least."

"Don't stop now keep moving!" Kat ordered

The last few Grunts were of no consequence quickly dying before any of them could put up a proper fight. The group followed the path down, marked by red lights to a small crawlspace within the rocks. They walked through the low hanging ceiling of the rock face, and slowly but surely found what they were looking for.

"Jackpot." Jun said as he looked down at their target

"Transmitting visual." Six said, tapping the side of his helmet.

Said visual was a massive Covenant landing zone, lit up with purple lights, anti-air emplacements lining the corridors. Several corvettes and a good chunk of phantoms could be flying about it, checking the perimeter. Lighting could be seen above the landing zone, adding the ominous scene of it all.

"Kat, you getting this?" Jun asked

"Yes, other feeds coming in now," she said plainly "Shepard reports he spotted something similar on the horizon of his cliff. Can't get much closer but it looks big he says. Other recon teams report similar findings, Covenant strike force has been located."

Jun scoffed at the wording.

"Strike force? That's an invading army." He corrected her "They could take over half the continent in days with this, ready themselves a beachhead for their ships to just glass the rest! We wanna smother this thing we gotta hit it hard and fast."

Legion was quick to crunch and share the numbers.

"Estimate precise strength of force in relative range of 10 to 20 thousand armed combatants." Legion warned "The beach head has more than likely been established. Possibility of attack imminent."

"Good thing we're ready to hit them then." Six added

Kat summed everything up quickly.

"All recon teams pull out, move to extraction zones now." She ordered "the sun is going to be up in a few hours, and it's going to be a very busy day."

They all now knew the full weight of what lay ahead of them. That the Covenant were probably stronger than they seemed at first. They had been here for a good while, they would not leave quietly. Massing every armed service on Reach for the attack had at first seemed like overkill, now Six was wondering it would be enough.

"What's our chances on winning this thing right now Legion?" Six asked his synthetic friend

The Geth's answer did not ease his fears.

"Likelihood of success at fifty-three percent." It said "If it comforts you, this average is statistically higher for us than usual."

Six welcomed the gesture, but from where he stood right now it just meant that this could still go either way. Still, as they say, it was always darkest before the dawn, wasn't it?

He looked out onto massive force ahead of him, and he smiled. A glorious battle awaited tomorrow. A glorious fight. One that would be sung about for ages. One that would go down in legend. Plunder no longer mattered as much anymore. Tomorrow they faced the humans. Tomorrow they'd begin the end for this world.

He watched as a banshee flew over head, circling the tall spire.

"The dogs of war shall soon be unleashed." He said "This canyon shall be painted in blood before day's end. By dusk tomorrow, there will nothing left but ash."

* * *

><p>AN: This took longer than expected due to some... complications. I wasn't too great to be honest, paused my work more often than I wanted too. If it pleases you though I've already started on Chapter Ten. Just don't expect it to hit soon. School's coming and there may be delays. But I have until the sixth, so I'll probably get lucky. Depends.<p>

Anyway, the big theme of this little chapter was essentially how everyone is preparing more or less. Mordin, Miranda, Samara, Jack, the marines, Ackerson even, and of course Shepard and Jun's teams in this chapter. It was nice to have a chapter devoted to Noble Three, he get's left out quite a bit I think. I like him quite a bit, but I'm a sucker for snipers in stories. So now that we've all seen how each of them prepares for the worst the future has to offer, next chapter we'll see them face it. Also the title is a play on words, Darkest before the dawn means "It looks pretty bad, but it's gonna get better.", so reverse that a bit. Darkest before Dusk means "It's gonna get worse!" I love having a good sense of vocabulary, don't you?

And of course Shepard is still making some rather renegadish decisions, one of which seems awfully familiar and opposite of what he did on a previous occasion. I didn't hide it very well, you can probably find it if you look hard enough. It's a bit of foreshadowing for later.

And yes, I deliberately made a homage to Total Recall in this chapter. I'm not a huge fan of the film, but I could not pass up a chance to use the Hologram in a similar manner to how Quaid in the movies does it. If I could've had the Elites shout "He's got a hologram!" I would have. But that would've been over doing it. Besides, don't tell me none of you didn't think of Total Recall when you learned of the Hologram armour upgrade. Unless there's another 80's action film out there that had a similar scene.

Been on a bit of an 80's nostalgia trip lately by the by, blame Toy Soldiers Cold War, that thing if a homage to everything 80's. With excessive electric piano guitar music to boot. Buy it now! It's awesome! Got a turret defence game I mean.

Anyway, next chapter if another combat heavy one. Hope I don't get burned out. Also, a good number of things are gonna culminate in this chapter. Watch for them, some will genuinely take you by surprise I think, hopefully. Oh and expect a special guest in the chapter as well, I know you've been waiting for him after all. Although, considering how big this chapter is gonna be don't be surprised if I end up splitting it in two. So, yeah, expect these surprises and special guests to show up over the course of two chapters. Just saying that so you aren't surprised or disappointed.

Remember to review... if you want. I always appreciate it.


	10. Cry Havoc

Chapter 10: Cry Havoc

**August, 12****th****, 2552**

Grunt grumbled in his throat as Mordin fiddled with his armour, the part surrounding his hump to be specific. It was incredibly annoying.

"How much longer Salarian?" he demanded to know

"One moment. Delicate piece of equipment." Mordin informed him "Needs proper installation. Cannot be rushed. Much as like to."

Suddenly the Salarian clasped his hands together in accomplishment.

"There! Done!" he declared "You are now fully upgraded."

Grunt tried to look at his hump in futility until Mordin brought over a mirror. Grunt's armour had now been given a special little plate on the top of Grunt's small hump. Mordin didn't explain its function, but Grunt assumed it was important somehow.

"What does this thing do anything?" he asked "It one of them armour upgrades I kept hearing Taylor yap about?"

Mordin shook his head rapidly.

"No, more than that now." He declared "Much more intricate. More akin to Hunter's armour."

Grunt was rarely intrigued by anything Mordin said. This was one of those rare times. The Hunter's armour? Was he talking about that regenerative stuff he heard they had?

"Had thought occur." Mordin began "Hunters don't have natural regenerative properties. Given to them by armour enhancement. Potential to double the regeneration rate on a species that already has redundant nervous system. Krogan obvious choice. You only Krogan around. So created this upgrade."

An even footing for him to use against the Hunters? A way to place them on fair ground? An opportunity to redeem himself? How could he reject such a chance?

"How's it work?" he said eagerly

"Regeneration process passive for you at Hunter's regular rate when activated for them." Mordin explained "When activated by you, not only do you gain the armour lock shield, also increase the healing protocol output by over thirty percent. Added medi-gel dispensers also increase recovery time. Even installed UNSC medical additive."

Mordin now held up a tube to Grunt's face.

"Bio Foam." He said "Interesting accomplishment. Prevents internal organ damage and bleeding. Could prevent you from entering blood rage. But early trial stage for now. Only meant to close up major wounds for the moment. Needs further testing."

"If it means I maintain my composure in battle and not become a mindless tool than it is good." Grunt declared

A small silence filled the room, Mordin clearing his throat was the only thing that ended it. Grunt didn't seem to respond to it for awhile until Mordin spoke openly.

"I believe now is the moment you are supposed to thank me." The Salarian said sheepishly "Unless of course it hurts your pride. Understand, not inclined to thank members of my species for anything. Reasonable response."

Grunt sighed as the professor turned away. He didn't really feel like saying it. But he supposed Shepard would want him to. That and, well, Mordin had just given him a chance to better face the Covenant today. To restore the honour he lost at Sword Base.

"Solus," he said, seemingly exasperated, catching the Salarian's attention "thanks... I guess."

Mordin smiled widely. Even if Grunt didn't mean it, he appreciated the gesture.

"Alright! Ready!"

The voice interrupting them was of a certain Quarian inside a decontamination chamber Mordin had set up. Shepard insisted everyone get into appropriate battle gear. And he did mean everyone.

Tali stepped out of the chamber, a silver chest plate covering her and her usual purple envirosuit replaced by a sleek black one. Her visor even had a more appropriate Hud from what they could see. It was a small orange data screen covering one of her eyes. She looked more prepared for battle than she ever had been in her long service aboard both Normandys.

"I feel like a migrant marine in this," she noted "guess it's fitting for today huh?"

"Indeed," Mordin agreed "added armour protection will most likely be needed. Plasma weapons will eat away shields. Can't rely on them continuously. Armour more suited to stopping plasma attacks in long run. So long as built to withstand heat. Best solution overall though will always be cover."

It was still nice to have the added protection nonetheless. This wasn't the typical mission they went on, this was full-fledged combat. Actual real war. Tali was more at risk than anyone else, one puncture could send her to a medical wing. Thankfully she was swimming in anti-biotics and immune-boosters. That and this suit and several layers, just in case of a breach, all that added up to a pretty secure suit in her book.

"How long till the battle?" Grunt asked them as he double checked his own amour. It was also rather shiny new, even more so with its upgrades.

"Unsure." Mordin answered "Not up to Shepard. UNSC in charge."

They had gotten use to tackling their own missions on their own time their own way. It felt a bit weird being sent into combat under someone else's plan, not Shepard's. But it made sense; this was after all the UNSC's world, not theirs. Of course, they had their own set of objectives in mind for the battle. They couldn't forget that.

"This all must be bringing back memories of the SGT for you, huh professor?" Tali asked Mordin

"Hardly." Mordin replied as he went over to his desk and double checked his personal firearms "Never involved in large scale combat. Small skirmishes. Remained out of sight for most part. Couldn't compromise position. Still, working hand in hand with the armed services. Taking orders from the military officers. Similar in that respect."

Tali could empathize a bit. She had worked with the Migrant Fleet marines on several missions before. She supposed she should have a greater sense of déjà vu than Mordin. Although, for all the trouble she got into while she was with them the Marines had never been involved in large scale combat like what was coming.

Kal'Reeger even gave her the reason why, they couldn't go to war like that. They didn't have the resources. It was the reason the Flotilla hadn't attempted to retake the home world after all.

While Mordin seemed calm and Tali a bit more concerned, Grunt was itching for the fight. He was fidgeting around in his armour, trying to re-attach the heads-up display visor. Watching him struggle a bit with it for awhile, Tali shook her head in pity at the poor Krogan and helped him snap it back into place.

"Thanks." Grunt grumbled, almost meaning it that time from the sound of it "Could've gotten it on myself though."

"I'm sure you could've." Tali replied, figuring Grunt preferred to not to have his pride hurt. She turned to Mordin. "Strange how many of these new suits of armour all seem to have visors come with the package."

"Tactical displays are highly desired among many special operatives in varying fields." Mordin informed her "Captain Kirrahe, remember he wanted one. Keep track of his squad and vitals better. Range shots. Determine number of hostiles. Worth every credit with added information."

The discussion was interrupted by Joker over the intercom.

"Alright everyone, conference room time. Shepard has a heroic before battle speech to give and all. You know the drill."

More less everyone piled towards the conference room, Shepard no doubt wanted to lay out the final details before they went in. They'd get a proper briefing of the battle plan in the field, but the battle itself wasn't the main concern. It was the Elite Zealot they were all gunning for primarily today. Helping the UNSC kick the Covenant off Reach was just an added bonus.

Before long the conference room was filled with the other squad members. Garrus had finally gotten out of his battle scarred armour and put on the silver and red military standard armour, along with its matching tactical headset/visor. Miranda was also done up, ditching her more casual wear for actual battle armour. Tali wondered if she should ask why she didn't wear that more often, than she remembered this was Miranda and that is was probably not a good idea to ask questions of her fashion choices.

Shepard stood where he always did, at the head of the briefing table, a holographic map laid out before him. It had only been a few hours since he got bad and Shepard was already back in armour, the Kestrel Armour to be exact. Although he wasn't wearing the helmet, rather the Archon Visor instead. Tali again thought back to her and Mordin's discussion about Visors suddenly being the IN thing now a days.

He was a bit more composed than he was when he got back. Miranda told him of the attempt on Samara by Ackerson. He looked about ready to blow a gasket. Back when Tali first met him this kind of thing would've pushed him to drink, just to calm his nerves. Thankfully Root Beer was a fair substitute and Gardner had stocked up on it. It took all of the Commander's will power not to punch through some of the steel plating of the ship. It didn't take a genius to know he was tired of taking this kind of shit from the ONI colonel. He was putting his team's lives on the line for the UNSC and one of their own people was trying to kill them. It was not something he needed on the eve of a major battle.

But after awhile, Shepard composed himself and put on a brave face. This was no time for tantrums and anger spats, they had a war to fight.

"Alright we don't have much time here folks so let's go over what we can." He started in his usual 'before a dire mission tone' that they had all become accustom to "Now we're going in to help the UNSC get rid of the Covenant but we need to remember that the primary goal is the Elite Zealot. Needless to say that doesn't mean we're not gonna help out any way we can. Garrus, tell them about the plan."

Garrus proceeded to explain what had happened last night. That they had run into some Plasma Artillery cannons modified with Geth technology. That they had planted remote bombs on two and hijacked one via a hack. Specifically because its area of effect was in range of the UNSC's ultimate goal, a large tower like structure they were calling the spire.

"With any luck we can use the artillery's firepower against the Covenant and keep their heads down while the marines head in." Garrus finished up

"But I want you guys to assist the UNSC in any way you can throughout the assault." Shepard stated clearly and directly "Just keep your ears open for information concerning the zealot. Halsey will make sure we get it first so be prepared to move out on her word."

He heard a snort from over where Jack stood. He largely ignored it accepting she still didn't like this idea. Then again a good chunk of the crew didn't like it.

"So how are we taking down this bloke?" Zaeed asked "Fanatics prefer to go out guns blazin' rather than get picked up."

"Right you are," Shepard acknowledged "that's why I asked Halsey herself to brief us on the target."

He gave a nod to Miranda who walked over in opened up a laptop computer next to Shepard. On screen in an instant was Halsey, looking a bit dishevelled and tired. Yet she still somehow managed to command respect with each word she spoke.

"Good morning," she greeted "let's skip the formalities and get down to basics shall we?"

A holographic image of an Elite Zealot replaced the map of the battlefield. The hologram was animated, programmed to imitate known Zealot battle tactics and postures. It ran, dove, ducked, fired a weapon, growled, there was no sound but the general idea got across nonetheless. This alien was a nimble, fast and tough operative that was not to be trifled with.

"Elite Zealots are handpicked by the Covenant leadership." Halsey began "They are the most fanatical believers of their Forerunner based religion and would rather die than betray that cause. They are well trained, adaptable and difficult to kill let alone capture. Their shields are stronger than most Elites, they have to be. They're usually alone in small units with their fellow Zealots, sometimes deep in hostile territory. They need to be able to fight prolonged battles on their own if need be. Still given the assignments they receive it's preferable for them to remain undetected for as long as possible."

"But we killed his fellow Zealots," Jacob noted "so does that mean he's alone?"

Halsey shook her head.

"No he'll more than likely be surrounded by a small contingent of Grunts and Jackals for protection by now." She answered "That's not the chief concern however as they can be dealt with easily. I'd suggest removing the shields first once you have a shot at him. Your phasic rounds, the overload attack and whatever else you have in terms of anti-shield technology should be utilised. Once you got his shields down you can then attempt to capture him by wounding him with another shot to his injured leg or if need be actually fighting him hand to hand. Of course biotics would be the ideal choice in attacking him."

"The problem is though he could pop anywhere at any anytime and we may not have a biotic nearby." Shepard explained "So whoever responds will just need to make due."

"Can't we just wait for back up?" Kasumi asked "I mean I'd really prefer just having someone that can use stasis on him. Not that I couldn't knock him out with a swift blow to the head but, well, I just don't like the idea of getting my head stomped on by the eight-foot alien in a straight on fight."

Shepard immediately shot the idea down.

"No once we hear the call we can't rest on laurels." He declared adamantly "When Halsey calls we head in and take him down."

"Every second that passes after we locate him will give the Zealot more time to flee." Halsey added "We'll never find him again or worse he might end up killed by someone else in the UNSC. Then we'll never get answers."

"We?" Jack spoke up, venom in her voice.

Shepard rubbed his temple; he knew what was coming now.

"We're doing all the grunt work lady. Not you." She said, balking at Halsey's wording that seemed to suggest she was part of this team "Besides, I thought you said you'd keep the Marines from finding out about what we were doing."

"I can only keep them in the dark for so long." Halsey retaliated "A zealot's presence on the battlefield will not go unnoticed. You'll have Noble Team barrelling down on the Elite before too long. They will kill him, that is what they will be ordered to do. Command has no time for prisoners."

Jack still didn't look pleased, but she had said her piece, so she clamed up for the moment.

"I've given you all you'll need for the mission ahead, the rest, as I'm sure you're used to by now, is up to you." She told them, trying her to emulate a concerned nature through her grim professional exterior "Good luck and Godspeed."

The laptop switched off, leaving Shepard to close off the meeting best he could. Given the divisions among the team this partnership had made that was difficult.

"Well at least she wished us luck with a nice clichéd line." Kasumi commented "I feel more confident about this plan already."

"Bitch is gonna backstab us I just know it." Jack declared

"Can we just give her a chance before we jump to conclusions?" Garrus asked

Shepard politely got everyone's attention with a stern clearing of his throat. Everyone at last turned to him.

"I know we aren't all exactly thrilled about this," he admitted "I have my own reservations about Halsey believe me. But she's been on the level with us so far, which is more than we can say for Ackerson right?"

He looked over at Samara and Thane, who seemed to nod in unison with each other. That was enough for Shepard, they both knew first hand of Ackerson's treachery.

"Whatever old wounds between us this plan has reopened doesn't matter right now." He reminded them "What matters is getting home to find out what the Covenant are planning in our Universe. As well as defending this dimension's Earth. I don't think any one of us here wants to see it fall."

Shepard made sure to check each of his crew, sure enough none of them looked like they disagreed with that statement.

"That's why we're gonna throw the Covenant off this planet and make them go back to their leaders with their tails between their legs and both their arms in slings." He declared vehemently "I don't know how they know about us, where they got this tech from or why they're so hot to kill us, but right now its payback time. They wanted us so bad? Well we're going to them! And this time we're gonna make them wish they never tangled with the best damn crew in the Galaxy. Whatever God or tech they got on their side, we'll face it together and we'll beat them. Just like we've done before, with the Blue Suns, the Heretic Geth and the Collectors. Our ship has a new set of teeth and we got some new toys of our own, it's time we show them off to these fanatic sons of bitches."

For the moment the doubts of the mission seemed to evaporate as the team collectively smiled or nodded in Shepard's direction.

"Now get your gear, we leave in twenty." Shepard told them "We'll be briefed on the battle plan en route by Holland directly."

Shepard left, the others filing out of the room with him, all save for two. Legion stayed, working with his Widow's scope. Tali remained as well. Seeing Halsey again reminded her of their previous chat. The good doctor has talked about letting go, of getting past prejudices. And for all her upbringing taught, for all her reservations about doing it, Tali felt the need to finally follow through on that. If only to prove to herself that she could rise above her dislike of AI. That she would not fall into the same trap as her father had. She approached Legion, hoping the machine was not too busy to chat.

"What are you doing there Legion?" she asked

"We have determined that the UNSC sniper's scope has advantages over the Widow's standard optical zoom." It explained "Therefore we are modifying our weapon accordingly."

Legion had already removed the original scope and was busy attaching the new one. It was a hefty looking broad-lens scope, so it looked a little weird on their usually compact weapons. In fact Tali wondered how the rifle would close up properly with the modification.

"It still gonna be compact?" she asked

"This is why our modification will take some time." Legion assured "Rest assured it will be fully functioning long before we reach our destination."

Legion never was one for small talk, and while machine didn't get bored Tali didn't want to drag this out any longer.

"Legion," she started over, sounding rather unsure of how to phrase this "can you be honest with me about something?"

"Geth do not lie." Legion assured "Therefore the only option is to be honest."

Right of course, she had almost forgotten about that part. At least she now knew the machine wouldn't make something up to placate her.

"I know you talked about the 'Morning War' with Six," she said, not truly liking the fact she was using that title. "I overheard you."

Legion did not seem entirely shocked or nervous about this information it just kept working. Why would it? Legion had only not admitted to it because no one asked. That and the synthetic probably already had suspicions. Tali herself wasn't great at hiding the fact she kept avoiding the machine for a good while.

"Legion, tell, me," she said, getting to the heart of the matter "am I prejudice against the Geth?"

Legion looked back and finally turned around. Its answer was simple and plain, as usual.

"By your definition yes," it admitted "but it is nothing of great concern."

Tali's eyes widened, not in anger but in surprise at the suggestion. Prejudice was no big deal?

"How can you say that?" she said "People prejudge my species all the time! If I'm prejudice myself, that makes me a hypocrite! It makes me as bad as they are!"

Legion was quick to elaborate on its point. It's monotone voice sounding like a Codex entry without the chipper personality matrix voice over.

"The word prejudice is defined as an action that means to prejudge." The machine informed her "It means to form a preconceived opinion or notion of something based on little evidence or lack of. An opinion itself can only be formed via full-fledged consensus of all available information. You and others had never met the Geth prior to the attacks on human colonies over two years ago. Therefore what little knowledge you had was born from what you understood and confirmed when the heretics began their attack."

"Which confirmed everything I was ever told by my people concerning the Geth," Tali finished "that they were horrible machines that wanted to kill organics."

"Correct," Legion confirmed "we have done nothing to further this belief but we have also done nothing to minimize it. You reached the only logical conclusions based on given information, however incomplete it was. Nothing challenged your conception until we arrived."

Nevertheless, it wasn't nice knowing you were guilty of a similar action as the people who didn't hire Quarians cause they thought they were thieves.

"But the people who treat Quarians like dirt do get to know them and they do get their conceptions challenged daily." Tali explained "And it's how I treated you a lot too. What makes me different from them?"

"You are what organics call open-minded." Legion explained "Prejudice only becomes inherently negative when you refuse to accept information that challenges your beliefs. You have accepted that we are different, that the Geth you encountered are not like us. That is what separates you."

Tali supposed Legion was right, she had been more and more willing to hear them out, to see Legion's side of things and accept their help. But she wanted to make up for it. Like she had heard Legion say, both sides had to complete their sides of the equation.

"Still, I'm sorry for distrusting you so much at times." She said "I may still have reservations about your people but I know the Geth aren't all the same, that you're not the boogeyman we made you out to be. You're part of this crew and I've accepted that."

Legion nodded graciously at the gesture.

"I'm also glad to know you don't seem to hate me for it." She quickly added

"We cannot hate," Legion reminded her "organic emotion is beyond our understanding. In a sense your inability to understand the Geth mirrors our own inability to understand organics. It is a process we must continue to work towards overcoming. We are similar in that respect."

"I guess we are." Tali reasoned "You think we'll ever be able to understand each other?"

Legion's head plates rose up as if it was shrugging.

"We do not know." It responded "Hopefully it is an obstacle we shall both overcome in time. For now simply know that your prior feelings when we first met were understandable and I do not think poorly of you for them."

Tali smiled a bit and began to turn.

"Well I'm just glad we-"

She only then realised something, something strange. Legion... it said "I", not "we", not "us", it said "I". It never said "I", Ever. Tali turned back around.

"Legion what did you just say?" she asked

The machine had already gone back to fixing up its rifle; it now looked back at Tali, seemingly perplexed by her shift in tone.

"Excuse us?" it asked "Do you require us to replay our last sentence?"

"You said I," she told him firmly "you never say I."

Legion now looked even more confused than ever. Its iris opened and shut rapidly before finally answering.

"We have no record of saying this Creator Tali'Zorah." It responded "Are you sure you simply did not mishear us?"

"I'm positive you said I." She said standing firm by her statement "I'm not mistaken."

Legion went back to its rifle, continuing the modifications. Unconvinced that Tali was correct in her assumption.

"I have no record of saying that. You are misguided." It claimed

"I think I know what I-"

Legion turned away and began walking towards the armoury.

"We suggest you prepare for the mission." Legion told her "Shepard Commander will most likely not allow us more time to prepare than he has already given."

"But-"

Legion was already gone, the doors swooshing shut behind it. Tali knew she hadn't misheard Legion, but she also knew Legion wouldn't lie about something so minor. The Geth honestly seemed to not recall saying "I" to her. Why? She wasn't sure. Legion could recall hours or days in minutes and seconds. It could've been an error, something not noticeable to Legion because it bypassed it was hardwired into its programming. But this had never happened before. What kind of error could've suddenly cropped up now?

But now was not the time to figure it out. Legion was right, Shepard wouldn't wait on anyone. She needed to get ready as well. They would be under way soon.

* * *

><p>The marines had all jumped from their beds within moments of getting the call. Said call being the blazing claxon of alarms around the base, crying out to them to take up arms, an order they had no problem obeying. Today was the day, at long last it was time to beat back to Covenant, to remove their stain from Reach for good. No more training, no more false alarms, this was the real deal.<p>

Kowalski was one of the many rushing to the assembly area, barely catching a glimpse of most of the soldiers in his unit. No time to say good morning or hello, no one wanted to be last for this. He could already hear many of the excited fresh, young happy faces. They'd been stationed here a long time, with no action. For most of them this was probably gonna be their first fight.

Kowalski would've counted himself among them awhile ago, had it not been for the Covenant attack on Sword Base. He knew better than any other rookie that this would be the last day for a lot of good men. He didn't want to fill his head with the standard clichés though, he needed to be focused. They all had too.

As was per his luck he ended up stopping right beside Ellingham on the assembly line.

"Hope you actually got to sleep last night." He said "I have a feeling you won't be able to make it up with a catnap today."

"I eventually just dozed off," he assured "should be good to go. Boot Camp kinda drilled it in to me that sleep was a luxury I wouldn't always be able to have in the field."

The short discussion was cut short when the company commander marched up to the line, making everyone salute him upon arrival. He responded with "at ease" and they all stood at attention.

"Today's the day gentlemen." He began as he walked in front of them "Today we're gonna eviscerate some Covenant ball sacks! And tomorrow we're gonna be all proud to say that Reach is now Covenant free! Am I right Marines?"

"Sir yes sir!" they all responded without delay

The company's Commanding Officer was Lieutenant Colonel Dorian Jensen, or "Kong" as some of the men were fond of calling him, and he was a rather large imposing man. With a booming commanding voice as well as the bulk and the muscles to match he was not unlike a Silverback Gorilla, hence the nickname. He'd been training the unit since boot camp, he had not earned a reputation for being polite or easy going. Kowalski still remembered how he sent the staff sergeants in at early hours, with paint guns no less and forced them to do a drill in the dark. He made them run the course while the Non-coms fired on them. Anyone with a speck of paint on them was ordered to do laps, then take the course again. If you hadn't gotten through clean by sun-up you were on latrine duty.

Kowalski had been forced to run that course seven times, from end to end. He was one of the last to make it before the sun peered over the horizon.

The reason for it all? "The Covenant aren't gonna wait for daylight to hit you." That was Jensen's lesson. While Kowalski understood the sentiment, and somewhat appreciated it, he still felt the Lieutenant Colonel was an asshole for doing it. But like a good marine he got over it. At the end of the day Jensen just wanted to make sure they didn't become cannon fodder, even if he didn't admit it.

"Now you all know the stories of Covie war prowess and how damn good they are at killing Marines." He stated "Well, you got more than just your fellow Devil Dogs looking out for you today. Air Force, the Tank Corps, hell even got some frigates armed to the teeth headed in. It doesn't matter how badass these Xeno fuckers are, we got every damn gun in the store pointed at them today!"

Jensen always had been one for a decent pep talk speech. Kowalski still wasn't sure if it was for their benefit, because it was expected the company commander would give one or if Jensen just liked making macho analogies. You could never tell in the Corps.

"Now from what I understand the Covies are already attacking across the lines in the Viery Territory." He continued, his hands gesturing at a large spanning battlefield "What they didn't expect is that we've been building up our forces at key choke points and they're meeting stiff resistance from our counterattack. And while the enemy is so busy trying to hold on by his talons or tentacles or whatever else he's got we're gonna sock him on the side of his jaw and ram our boot up his ass! That's the objective today men, hit hard, hit fast and hit often. We don't give them time to breathe. Reach cannot afford having these freeloaders on our doorstep one more minute! It's time to evict them! With a bullet to the eye!"

There was a resounding "oorah" from the other members of the unit. Koiwalski hadn't realised he himself had said until a second later. It was that natural a response for him, for them, now.

"You'll be given further details when we get to the drop zone." Jensen finished as the officers began handing out sealed envelopes to all the Marines in line "These are intelligence reports, maps, photos, identified targets of interest. We got a bit of a flight ahead of us, spend it studying them. Any questions can be forwarded to your team's CO while we're en route. I suggest you settle any that pop up before we get our boots on the ground."

One Marine spoke up loudly with a salute.

"Sir!" He shouted "Is the Normandy going to be providing fire support for this mission sir?"

The question was of course from Corporal Pearson. It wasn't like he was unique in asking that though. It was the question many of the Marines in the unit had by now. Rumour had spread pretty fast among the division concerning the fabled ship from another dimension. They wanted to know if the now slightly infamous Commander Shepard was going to make a return to the battlefield today.

Jensen's answer was direct and swift.

"You'll find out soon enough if you spot it in the skies raining hellfire down on the enemy son." He assured "Don't let them have all the glory though. This is our fight, remember that. We're the UNSC Marine Corps and this is our planet, we're not gonna let them alien bastards have it period! You understand Marines?"

"Sir yes Sir!" they all shouted

"Alright then! Get in the birds! We're Oscar Mike!"

With that the marines began piling into the Pelicans set before them for the long flight to Viery. Pearson made his was over Kowalski and Ellingham's Pelican.

"Well at least this time you jerks won't be headed off into the shit without me." He said with a joking attitude "I hate being separated from you, I do need proper meat shields after all."

"Very funny Pearson." Ellingham said, punching him lightly in the ribs "You're lucky we ain't landing under fire from what I hear or I'd make you sit in the front seat."

As they neared the ramp they were joined by their team's Staff Sergeant. In the mix up of the fight at Sword Base they had gotten a bit separated from one another, dropped in different areas on different pelicans. Now they were making sure the squad stuck together.

So instead of having the bold boisterous bravado that was Sergeant Guerro, they thankfully had Staff Sergeant Alec Taylor. A more reserved soldier and veteran, he'd been reassigned to their unit when it was being formed. He was one of the only Staff Sergeants that were considerably nicer to the guys during training. Mainly because Jensen said "I want them to hate me not you", at least that was Taylor's story.

"Well the gang's back together again." Taylor greeted as he hefted his DMR over his shoulder "I trust everyone is prepared to step once more into the breach for today?"

Taylor hadn't been at Sword Base during the time they were garrisoning it, he'd been called away back to HQ for evaluation. It was a routine thing, every couple of years they pulled you in to see if you were still at your peak, still doing well and actually keeping up with your men. Physical and Mental fitness as it were, nothing major.

Once the team finally got back to their regular base at the end of the garrison period a few days ago they met back up, or at least tried to considering Taylor was busy trying to relax after the evaluation period. So today would be the first mission they would be on together in awhile.

"See you got one of them fancy firearms they've been handing out." Taylor noted, pointing at Kowalski's Carnifex

The private pulled it out and showed the pistol to his sergeant.

"Tested it out myself sir," he assured "baby is the real deal. Blow off an Elite's head easy. Specially with this phasic rounds setting."

"Good we're gonna need the firepower." Taylor nodded as they all took their seats "I've seen the recon photos, the Covies got some heavily defended positions. Like the commander says, we can't go around, we need to punch through. But what are Marines for?"

"How bad you think we got it sir?" asked Pearson as he secured his own weapon "Like oh shit we're gonna get fucked or holy fuck my face is melting argggh, cause I'd prefer the former I think."

Taylor just smiled a bit.

"Let's just say, I hope you're right about them Normandy folks coming down to help us." He responded.

* * *

><p>The shuttle was rather cramped, but no one seemed to complain. They had gotten use to being stuck in the same damn cramped quarters as each other for a good while. Thus it wasn't too big a deal to have to be stuck next to each other for a few more hours.<p>

The Normandy crew was fully armed to the teeth now, ready to take whatever the Covenant had in store for them down the line. Shepard insisted that everyone who could carry one take a heavy weapon. He didn't want someone to be without ordinance when the shooting started.

More or less it was a pretty quiet flight, with the occasion person speaking up here and there. Jack was the most quiet, and probably the most annoyed. Shepard had insisted she wear her less revealing outfit, the protective layer of light armour that covered her usually almost naked body. He didn't want the marines thinking they weren't taking this seriously. Jack made up for the fact she was being ordered into wearing something by taking up her favourite pastime of trying to psyche out Miranda.

It never worked of course, Miranda was cool as ice, but Jack loved a challenge.

There of course were less intense interactions, mainly among those who weren't practically mortal enemies. Jacob, who was basically everyone's friend or tried to be, was trying to spark up so good natured conversation to pass the time.

"Bet this brings back memories huh Zaeed?" he asked the grizzled Mercenary vet

"I guess," Massani responded as he chomped on a cigar "we'll have to see where this mission takes us. Although this op does kinda remind me of the time I was called in to deal with a situation on this one world. Arid place, hot as hell. I was offered ten grand for storming this big shot Red Sand dealer's little stronghold. Had to gather up my own little army to finally break in, never thought I'd get stuck using a bloody tank on a mission. Wasn't the last time of course."

"This another one of them 'I was the only survivor' stories?" Garrus joked

Zaeeed just laughed

"I wish, I ended up with only half my damn payment cause I had to split the contract with the others!" he chuckled "But I got to keep the drug king's stash of expensive imported drinks. So, win-win I guess."

Tali wasn't as big on Zaeed's stories of bravado and daring do, she'd seen enough of that kind of stuff already in her lifetime. That didn't mean she wasn't talking though. Beside her sat Kasumi, humming a little song to herself as they flew.

"One of those popular bands of yours?" she asked

"Yeah," Kasumi said "Shepard won't let me play the thing through my communication relay. So I'm just gonna hum it to myself till we get there. Very catchy tune, get's stuck in your head easy."

Tali just had to marvel at Kasumi.

"How can you are always so calm before these missions?" she asked the thief "You weren't even phased when touched down on Aite to investigate Project Overlord and now you're singing show tunes to yourself before we get stuck in frontline combat."

Kasumi just shrugged.

"I'm a thrill seeker Tali, this kind of stuff comes with the territory." She explained "Besides, it's another thing on my bucket list to cross off. Fight in major frontline battle. Not too many people can say that ya know, let alone thieves."

"Just try not to do anything stupidly heroic okay?" Tali laughed a bit "That's the commander's job."

"No sweat," Kasumi responded waving her hand "I prefer the shadows anyway. It's part of the job description after all."

Tali had a feeling Kasumi was going to get good mileage out of that cloaking device hers.

The Quarian then remembered the squad's new equipment the UNSC had supplied. She hoped it would work as well for them as it had the Marines and Spartans that had used them before. People were assigned different specific equipment according to their preference. Kasumi hadn't gotten the cloaking device of course, considering she already had one. She opted for the hologram, if only so she could slip away unnoticed in a fire fight and get back to cover. The more aggressively inclined members had taken the armour lock ability as it were. Mordin picked up the dropsheild, citing it would keep him covered while he treated any wounded.

Tali decided to rely on a satchel of EMP charges, dubbed "power drain" by the UNSC. There were other bits of equipment of course, such as an auto turret and radar jammer, but she couldn't carry all three of them. She opted for the power drain as a backup, something to use when her energy drain was still recharging or for wider areas. If it didn't work out, Shepard said there would be supply drops in the field where she could swap out guns and equipment. But they would be limited when they were deep in combat.

Shepard's Omni-Tool pinged and he activated it. They were receiving a call from Holland.

"Attack is already underway." He began "Covenant have started their offensive, but we are countering them. The real assault of course is gonna hit them from behind, you'll be a part of that offensive with Noble Team."

Shepard nodded and looked to his crew with glance before looking back at Holland.

"What are our objectives Colonel?" Shepard asked

"We have several targets we need to neutralize if this is gonna work." Holland explained "We've designated the tower you found as a major potential landing zone. They're gonna fight tooth and nail to keep it. So of course this is gonna be a massive attack, meaning there's a ton of things that can go wrong before we even get to that spire you found last night."

"But that is our final objective?" Jacob asked as he hunched over towards the Omni-Tool.

Holland only nodded.

"We have anti-air batteries and several covenant positions standing in the way however." Holland explained "You'll need to assign members of your squad to each of the assaults Shepard. I don't think I need to suggest that you should divide the responsibilities based on their abilities.

"No sir," Shepard assured "that's a given. Just let us know which targets need hitting and we'll get it done."

"Good to hear, our men on the ground will fill you in on everything." Holland explained "Good luck Shepard."

When Holland cut out the shuttle finally landed and opened its doors wide for the group to pile out. They could already hear guns firing in the distance. The attack had seemingly already begun. An officer at the far end looked over his shoulder and marched up to them. Shepard could tell by the Insignia he was a Colonel.

"Commander Shepard," he said saluting "I'm Colonel Wilkins, UNSC Marines. Welcome to the big suck."

Shepard, remembering his training saluted back.

"How we doing sir?" he asked

"Could be better." The colonel informed him "Follow me, I'll introduce you to the other men involved in the assault. We got quite a gathering here that's for sure."

Shepard and his team followed close behind, watching as Marines and Army troopers rushed by, gathering up equipment and moving warthogs into position. This small forward operating base would soon be largely deserted except for the CO's who would be coordinating the assault. For now though it was bustling with activity. Shepard and company stopped as they entered the shade of a tarp covered command post, with several high ranking officers surrounding a holographic map table.

"Let's make this quick, we got a war to win." Wilkins told them "Thank to recon from the past few weeks and last night, we've identified several key installations in the warzone the Covies are using to keep the place lockdown and their forces organized. The main problems for the moment are these anti-air batteries in the canyon path."

The holographic lit up, pointing out two anti-air batteries along a specified route.

"This is our main assault path so we'll be dealing with it as we head in-land." Wilkins continued "But off the beaten path are some serious problems for us. A forward command post, just a few kilometres away from the spire itself, it's where they're coordinating all their defences from and where their arms depot has been located. It goes they lose command and control."

"And it clears our flank for the main assault on the Spire." Garrus added

"Indeed." Wilkins acknowledged "It's located in this general area, in what used to be a small livestock farm. They got their gun platforms and command buildings nestled among the human buildings, or what's left of them."

The holographic display lit up, showing the precise location of the forward command post. Of course that wasn't the only issue Wilkins had as he quickly rushed around the table to stand beside another officer.

"This is Army Commander Darrow," he said quickly "he's coordinating an assault on the other side of the battlefield that's gonna be driving some their forces away from us."

"I have several Tank divisions moving into position as we speak." Darrow began "They have trooper support units intermingled with them and they're gonna be hitting a small canyon town the Covenant have overrun. Intel says they got a lot of fire power in the area though and we could use some support."

Shepard had the perfect thing for said support.

"The Normandy can provide you with close ranged air support." Shepard assured "As long as it's not in range of those anti-air guns."

"No the guns are a threat to the assault on the spire," Wilkins assured "your ship should be out of their range. If your pilot can make life easier for Darrow's tanks it will force the Covies to put more resources to defending that area giving us a better chance at the spire."

"I'll radio Joker and tell him." Shepard began "Anything else my own squad can handle?"

Wilkin nodded and turned to another officer at the table, wearing very specialized armour, different from regular Marines.

"Lieutenant Colonel Dempsky of the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers." He said with a cocky grin "Heard a lot about you Shepard, hope you can help my boys out in a particular problem."

"Depends on the problem, what do you got?" Shepard asked

Dempsky turned to a high ridge on the map.

"That is the location of a radio station, now being used by the Covies as communications hub." He explained "They got their own equipment up there of course but we think they're utilizing the location and possibly the antennas to boost their signal. They'll be calling reinforcements and trying to intercept our own broadcasts during the assault. We can't have it so my men are gonna be inserting onto the ridge via Pelican. Not usually our style but circumstances have forced us a bit into a corner. We don't got time for our usual drop."

"And what is your usual drop?" Miranda asked inquisitively

"Pods launched from orbit ma'am." Dempsky replied snarking "What did you think our name stood for?"

Miranda was taken aback, but nodded her head eventually. The idea of dropping troops in from orbit had a lot of merit and had been discussed before in military circles from what Jacob told her. Obviously they didn't have much time for that and Dempsky being here on the ground meant he wasn't gonna travel to space just to come back down again.

"We should be able to slip by the Anti-Air fire by flying low under their radar." Dempsky assured "But once we're there we're gonna need to shut that place down and possibly hack their battlenet to find out what they're planning concerning the spire's defences."

"Alright Shepard you heard what we're facing." Wilkins said as he took the reins of the briefing again "The Forward Command post, the anti-air batteries and this Comms Hub are all dead in our sights and we wouldn't mind you and your squad being a part of each of them."

Shepard almost immediately had an idea of who would be on what mission and doing what. This was exactly what his team had been trained for.

"I can help you with the anti-air guns personally." Shepard assured "Me and Garrus will take our squads into the fight for ya. Miranda can take a team with Jacob to help with the Command post."

"And the comms hub?" Dempsky asked

Shepard looked over to Tali. The minute she saw this, her eyes widened and her body froze.

"Tali can lead Kasumi and Thane on that one." He announced "It sounds like a tech savvy job after all, one that requires precession more brute force."

"It is." Dempsky acknowledged "We could use someone with tech skills helping us crack the place that's for sure."

Shepard looked back on Tali, who although you couldn't technically see it you could tell she was practically sweating. Wilkins broke up the officers soon after as they returned to their regular units. Tali was still nervously shaking erratically and by now was even hyperventilating. Everyone know why, no was willing to approach her directly about it except Shepard.

"I know what you're thinking," Shepard began

Tali cut him off before he went any further.

"Do you?" she asked a bit disdainfully "Are you insane! You're giving me a command! ME!"

"I don't have much of a choice Tali," Shepard explained "with these new targets all over the place we need have teams ready to go in all areas with at least one biotic each and the comms relay needs someone who knows tech."

The reason was obvious enough. Shepard didn't want to take a chance. He wanted someone with Biotics at each location to respond when Halsey's call came in. Tali didn't want to hear of it though

"Then send me but put anyone else but me in charge!" Tali shouted back "Jacob could lead the squad!"

"Thane isn't suited for frontal assaults. He'd be put to better use on your team." Shepard assured "It's gonna be a smaller attacking force, fewer defenders. You'll be in and out in no time."

"That's just enough time for things to go horribly wrong!" Tali insisted "I'm not leader material Shepard! I know my own limitations!"

Shepard and Tali knew a lot about each other. More than just likes and dislikes. They knew how each other worked. It came with working with one another so long. They were even more intimate because of their relationship. Tali didn't want to take command because she herself knew where it had gotten her before. She did her best to hide for awhile, but eventually the Quarian admitted to Shepard how little she thought of herself outside of anything concerning technical matters.

When they first met up again after two years it was during the first stages of Shepard's mission to stop the Collectors. Tali was leading a squad of Quarians to find a lost comrade, the squad got decimated when one of them, Prazza split from the group and tried to reach the lost Quarians location before Shepard. Almost all of them were killed, Prazza included among the dead.

It happened again a few weeks later during Tali's mission on Haestrom, a former Quarian colony. Except for one Kal'Reegar, a Migrant Fleet marine, the entire expedition was killed by attacking Geth. She wasn't the leader of the whole expedition, but she did run the science team and she did know the other members of the group as well. Tali had tried to compose letters of condolence to the family members afterwards, she was not at all prepared for the task. No one really is, but Tali wasn't a soldier at heart. She had no idea what she was supposed to say in a letter to the relatives of a deceased person. Especially when that person had died to protect her and she felt it was her fault.

Shepard knew he was putting her in a terrible and uncomfortable position, but he needed specific at specific sites. Tali needed to go to the radio station, but she did not want to be in command.

"Tali I know this isn't a good position I'm putting you in but-"

"I'm not gonna have more people's deaths on my conscience Shepard!" Tali shouted back in anger "I can't! I'm not built for that! I can't handle that! You should know that!"

It was evident Tali wasn't gonna fold on this. Shepard himself was suddenly reminded of his own misgivings. He didn't wish them on anyone, especially Tali. He needed a solution, something to keep the people he wanted going to places he wanted but take the pressure and responsibility off Tali.

The solution came at fortuitous time. Noble Team, walking in formation towards them all with Carter at the head of the pack, his face as stern and emotionless as it usually was. He wasn't wearing his helmet at the moment, his team mates of course were covered head to toe of course. It made him look significantly more powerful than he actually was. He and Shepard were after all the same rank.

"Commander," Carter greeted "good to hear you're joining us for the party. It's gonna be a long day though so I hope you brought plenty of those thermal clips of yours."

"We'll manage," Shepard assured "I assume you're splitting up your team to hit several targets along the line?"

Carter simply nodded and turned to his team mates.

"I'm sending Two and Six in on the main assault, Four and Five are going for the command post and me and Three are headed to a radio station." He answered "I can assume this means you've been briefed?"

That of course went without saying, Shepard focused on Carter being his saving grace for the moment.

"If you don't mind I'd like you take command of the squad I'm sending to your position as well." He said "Tali's gonna be heading it up."

Carter took one look at Tali and nodded.

"Fair enough. When she's done I'll send her back your way." He said "The ODSTs can hold the position and me and Jun have other places we need to be. Spartan business of course, classified."

'When wasn't anything classified in this army?' Shepard thought, 'Or any army for that matter.'

Tali seemed to ease up, knowing she wouldn't have command responsibilities. Shepard still felt bad for the position he placed her in. He didn't account on the fact Tali hadn't gotten over her guilt, not that he could say he was any different. A foolish insensitive mistake, a part of him had hoped Tali was stronger than him in that regard.

Splitting up the team wasn't entirely difficult once Shepard figured things out. Everyone had to have at least one Biotic on call, and he wasn't gonna send Jack with Miranda. They'd both proven recently it was best to keep them apart, at least until Shepard could sort out Jack's issues. So the convict would stick with him and Grunt. The Krogan would remain by his side because he wanted to keep an eye on him, make sure he didn't pull another stupid stunt. Garrus didn't object to Mordin and Samara joining up with him, all complemented one another skill wise, Having them as the second team on the main assault was best suited for them. Legion opted to join them as well, citing a second sniper on the team would be tactically advantageous. Zaeed opted to accompany Miranda and Jacob. The command post was his kind of mission, small team, big results. With Tali, Kasumi and Thane headed to the radio station/comms relay that pretty much covered everyone.

"Finish up your missions quickly team," Shepard told them "when you do rendezvous with us in the main assault at the nearest possible convenience. The further we head along the road the closer we get to the spire and we're gonna need everyone to break through that thing's defences."

Shepard's final pep talk was interrupted momentarily by one lone dissent voice from the outside.

"Nice little veritable miniature army you got." said Noble Four incredibly bluntly, leaning up against a set of boxes.

"Is that supposed to be a compliment?" Shepard asked

"Take it or leave it." Emile responded with a shrug "Just keep them out of my way while we raise this place to the ground. Don't need no civilian soldier wannabes turning this whole FUBAR on us."

Emile was of course just pushing their buttons, but not everyone was as willing to let the insult go.

"Hell, we've been kick these aliens' asses for awhile now!" Jack retorted "Fact of the matter, Sword Base, we were there. You forget that?"

Emile just snorted as he waltzed over to the convict.

"Look I won't deny you've done some good. But this is a major assault going on here. You ain't exactly the kind of folks we need for this job to be honest." Emile stated, before looking directly at Jack "You especially. Surprised you're still alive to be honest. Rumours say you're supposed to fight half naked. If you wanna show off your tattoos off more than protect yourself you're not gonna last in this war."

Jack grimaced, once at Emile and then back at Shepard for forcing her into this combat harness.

"That's big talk from the man with the carving on his visor." Jack replied

"This skull is still covering my actual one." Emile stated as he pointed to his helmet's makeshift insignia "Your tattoos just make you and your crew a fucking target for every xeno in range. Chances are you're gonna last exactly five minutes out there before you get your ass handed to ya. Your ink ain't gonna help you much then bitch."

What happened next frightened everyone. Even Grunt was a bit shaken. Jack lashed out with a headbutt to Emile's chin. Not biotic, just a regular old headbutt. But if you knew Jack like anyone else on the Normandy did you knew even without her powers Jack could seriously injure you with one hit. Emile didn't fall down, but his head snapped back for a moment or two before it slowly lowered in place. Jack was still staring at him, inches away from his visor, unflinching.

"Imagine if had my biotics primed for that one." She warned "Now imagine yourself splattered across the ground."

Emile said nothing, but he stared just as coldly back into the Convicts eyes. He then turned to Shepard and marched past the disgruntled woman.

"Like I said," he told the Commander as he passed "nice little army."

The sarcasm was readily apparent. Shepard looked back at Jack, who of course didn't seem at all apologetic. He shook his head at her and all she did was stomp back to the group, refusing to meet eye contact.

"Let's try to keep any further outbursts for the enemy people." Shepard told them all "Get to your stations, now, we're headed out."

From that point on they all took off to get to their required preparation areas. Miranda led her squad into the pelican loaded with UNSC Marines.

"I've analysed the landing zones the battleplan has designated." She said as they made their way in "We should be able to by-pass their heavier defences and break into their lines if we can maintain surprise."

Emile and Jorge were already on a separate pelican, marines pilling in beside them. For the marines with Miranda and her team, they were a bit anxious when they first heard the Aussie brunette was coming with them on the mission. Then they saw she was in full proper battle armour and the felt a bit disappointed. As Miranda walked past one Marine you could hear him voice his disappointment.

"Aww, I thought they said she only had catsuits." He bemoaned

Tali and her team were boarding a Falcon as Shepard bid them farewell, more accurately he was wishing Tali good luck.

"I'm sorry about before." He said "It wasn't exactly a great position. It's just, you told me to pick myself up and get back in the reigns when I fell down. I thought that I could-"

"I know what you were trying to do," Tali spoke up as he tried to explain "but that was before I lost people of my own."

Shepard nodded, but quickly added another bit of wisdom.

"Just know there's gonna come a day when you have to take command of something outside the engine room." He told her sombrely

Tali seemed to acknowledge it, but didn't seem at all comfortable by the statement. Shepard placed his forehead against hers briefly.

"You'll do good, I know you will." He told her "Be safe."

"You too." She added quickly

There was no need to state the obvious, they had said it countless times before already. Tali clambered ito the Falcon and lifted off the ground. As Shepard stood on the tarmac, Jack and Grunt stepped up behind him.

"How will we ride into war, Battlemaster?" Grunt asked "Shall we take one of the human warthogs?"

Shepard's distinctive cocky smile returned once more as he turned around to greet his team.

"I got something better in mind actually."

At that moment, the Normandy flew overhead, it's hatch below in the hanger opening and out flew a single vehicle with a sloped cockpit and circular hoverpads. The APC looked similar to the oceanic predator it shared it's name with, Hammerhead. The infantry fighting vehicle had proved indispensible in several missions before, and not Shepard had found the perfect use for it. The exact kind of mission it had been made for.

"I ride shotgun!" Jack shouted

"Big deal, I get the turret then." Grunt grumbled.

* * *

><p>The Normandy had been built with close range support in mind. It was a stealth ship after all, meant to hover over the enemy unseen and help ground forces below sort them out. However Joker had never gotten as many opportunities to use the weapons on ground targets. There had always been some excuse preventing him. Building structural integrity, risks to civilians, weapons yield too big and the enemy too close to friendlies, it was like the Galaxy was taunting him. He had all these guns and nary a chance to use them. Well that of course would change today. He had a mixture of both excitement and terror gripping at him as he sat at the controls.<p>

"Never flew cover for tanks before." Joker quibbled "ran sims in the academy but never actually did it."

"Considering your record Jeff I am sure you have retained those lessons and are more than capable of carrying them out." EDI assured him

Joker just snorted, the gesture was derisive more of himself than anyone.

"Yeah well let's just say I'm kinda glad you're giving me targeting solutions here." He informed her "Don't get me wrong, I wanna test out all the new toys the UNSC loaded us with, but I'm not exactly trained with them. I'm trained in things similar to them..."

"If it would help I could perhaps take control of the systems less familiar." EDI suggested

"Nah its okay," Joker assured, albeit nervously "but keep that option open just in case ya know."

EDI suddenly blipped.

"We have a transmission from the lead tank commander, patching you through."

"Normandy this is Scorpion lead, designated Wolverine Alpha." Said a husky Slavic sounding voice "We are approaching target vector, spotted several Covenant tanks moving into position. Are you on station?"

"Read you loud and clear Wolverine," Joker assured "ready to provide close range fire support. Call out targets if ya can, help us coordinate things and we'll have these bastards lying in twisted metal coffins in no time."

"Roger Normandy," Wolverine Alpha called back "we are moving now. Light them up when you get them in your crosshairs."

Joker turned to EDI with a smile as he accelerated the Normandy towards the battlefield.

"Time to kick the tires and light the fires I guess." He joked.

"The Normandy has not been outfitted with tires recently Jeff." EDI informed him

Joker just sighed greatly.

"Don't ruin my fun EDI." He derided her

The Normandy descended below cloud cover and approached the defensive line of Covenant Wraith tanks. They were assembled in a checkerboard line pattern, each column at least three ranks deep. Joker was aware of built in-shields some of the Wraiths were acquiring. Luckily they wouldn't hold up to sustained fire, especially not from the Thanix cannon.

"Target locked on the forward defensive line." EDI told Joker

"Thanix armed and primed," Joker said as his hand hovered over the firing button "fire!"

Joker pressed down hard and a huge beam of blue light struck out at the Covenant below. It travelled up their formation, melting through and destroying each tank in quick succession. Joker pulled the Normandy back up into the sky and flew back towards the UNSC tanks.

"Alright Wolverine Alpha I kicked the door in for ya." Joker told him "Do your thing."

Wolverine acknowledged and the Scorpions below began to move forward. Joker watched them on a zoomed in feed. While their construction was certainly different from regular tanks, Joker couldn't help but smile all the same as they moved in for the kill. Their turrets were at the back of vehicle and towered over where the driver was. They were also, as Joker had come to expect of the UNSC, incredibly huge. "Go big or go home" that seemed to be the motto of this military.

He didn't marvel at the little brownish metal monsters below him for long, he still needed to protect their bacon. It was time to use some of the new toys the UNSC had armed them with. First up, the missile launchers they had so kindly given them.

"Give us a wide berth of targets EDI," Joker told the AI "I wanna hit most of the defensive positions at once. Shake them all up a bit so to speak."

"Already done." EDI confirmed "Fire when ready Jeff."

The missiles flew out of the pods and rocketed towards their targets like firey hail on a mission. They didn't destroy all the Wraiths, but they all took some kind of damage if they weren't killed outright. By this time though the Wraiths had begun opening up on the advancing Scorpion tanks, blue arcs of plasma impacted the ground around the Scorpions, some took glancing hits, others direct ones. The Scorpions were built to take at least a few hits the Wraith could kill it, but Joker could still see some of the tank stop moving all the same.

The Scorpions soon opened fire, they were more accurate than the arcing mortar based weapons of the Covenant. Wraiths began exploding left and right as the Human's launched their salvos.

"We're in thick of it now Normandy." Wolverine Alpha called up "Rake the next line of defence with some bombs, we need to break through to the town."

"We got your back Wolverine, don't worry." Joker assured "EDI's already targeting them."

Speaking of the AI, she chimed in soon after.

"I have detected several defensive positions within the town. Possible small anti-aircraft based weaponry. Advise caution."

"We'll handle them when we get to them EDI, we can take a few hits." Joker reassured her "It's not like we're facing any of those big guns Shepard's gone off to blow up."

Joker released the next salvo, a high impact explosive torpedo. Not exactly a bomb, but it would leave a pretty big dent. With the target locked, the Normandy fired and the torpedo fell to earth and detonated with a tremendous fireball. Yet while dozens of Wraiths were surely destroyed, the survivors never let up their barrage of plasma.

"So how many bad guys do you think we've just drawn away from Shepard's position?" Joker asked EDI

"Let us hope it is a sufficient number." EDI responded "The fewer defences those guns can call on the quicker we can reroute to our true target."

* * *

><p>The roar of hundreds of warthog engines was deafening, as were the rumble of Tank treads that were letting the jeeps take point. Several squads of Falcons were flying overhead for close range support. The bigger frigates, the Grafton and Saratoga, were unable to get near them with those Anti-Air guns, but the Covenant designed them to kill starships, not smaller air-support that could get under their field of fire. So long as the Falcons remained low to the ground they'd be safe.<p>

The one vehicle out of this charging onslaught of steel that stood out was the Hammerhead, as it raced alongside Kat and Six's warthog. It certainly was an eye catcher with its white paint contrasted against the military green jeeps. It went without saying its ability to hover made it stick out even further. If the vehicle were painted purple some would've mistaken it for a newfangled Covenant assault craft.

Grunt loved the fact the Hammerhead stood out so much though.

"They're gonna be gunning for us first." He said enthusiastically "Means I'll get to shoot more of them."

Shepard would've said that Grunt was gitty with anticipation, if Krogans did gitty of course. He didn't think that was in their vocabulary. He'd let Grunt's war crazy nature go for now, as long as he was on the gun and not the field he couldn't do much damage to himself. He turned his mind to other matters for the moment. He passed Jack a detonator.

"When I say 'when' detonate it." Shepard told her "We need to take those artillery platforms out before we're in range."

"Hey I don't wanna be fried to a crisp by those things." Jack told him "Don't need to tell me twice."

Outside the hammerhead Garrus' team was getting a better view of the overall taskforce. The UNSC were certainly not kidding when they remarked how big this was gonna be. Even when he was in the army, Garrus had never been an offensive like this. In fact this whole thing was closer to a traditional Krogan style of attack. Massive numbers, massive force, choke the life out of the enemy in a slug match. Yet this attack felt a bit more tactically and strategically inclined than most Krogan. Not that Krogan were stupid of course, ones like Wrex proved that was completely false. They just tended to fall into the mindset that strength would carry the day. Turians were more precise in their tactics, relied more on technology. Not that Krogan had much of a choice given they lived in a nuclear wasteland.

The UNSC was like an amalgamation of both. Technology bulked up sufficiently to make up for a lack of strength. An army augmented to face a menace that clearly outmatched them technologically. It was none more evident now. The Marines and Troopers advancing with them were technically weaker than their enemy, but their tech boosted them up, gave them a fighting chance. Still, even now, the odds were against them on this.

Garrus was currently sitting in the back of a troop carrier warthog. It relinquished its machine gun turret in favour of bringing troops into the fight. It was the only thing that could carry all four of the team. They had another option, sitting on the treads of the scorpion tank. Garrus heard that suggestion and considered absolutely insane, another reason he compared the UNSC to the Krogan. A tank was gonna get hit by all the heavy weapons, anyone on those treads would probably get killed! Maybe if they didn't have much of a choice, if it was the only way to advance troops quickly, but not for an assault like this! At least he warthog had a bit more cover and protection.

It wasn't like they were unarmed of course. Samara had already readied her assault rifle and kept it pointed ahead of them. She'd be using it soon enough, as Legion soon informed them.

"Dot has confirmed, entering battle zone." The Geth declared "Detecting several Covenant air vehicles moving to intercept taskforce."

"Well good, saves us the trouble of finding them." Garrus noted as he readied his sniper rifle "Shepard should be hitting the detonator switch right about now."

Garrus eyed across the massive warthog armada to look at Noble Two and Six's warthog and watched through the scope as she raised her hand and pressed a detonator switch of her own. Mere seconds later, an explosion rocked the cliffs above, a purple pillar of fire ejecting up into the air, catching every eye in the valley. Not long after two more explosions rocked the canyon tops, this time blue flames bursting up from the cliffs. No more guns to worry about, at least two of them anyway.

Garrus' head swivelled to the front as a new sound filled the air, the sound of banshees flying straight at them.

"Open up people!" Garrus called to his team "See if we can take a few down before they hit too many of us."

Blue plasma flew over the heads of the warthog drivers and gunners, struck the ground near the tires and burning the sides of the jeeps as they grazed the vehicles. Already machine guns were blasting wildly at the swarming banshees overhead. The Warthogs began to break formation, trying to make themselves less of a target for the covenant. One plasma bomb fired from a single banshee could destroy three warthogs at least if they were near each other. Apart only one would potentially die.

Kowalski ducked his head down as the banshee flew low near their transport warthog. Its plasma cannons raked near the path of a mongoose ATV, the driver swerving to avoid it. The young private turned toward Staff Sergeant Taylor who was riding shotgun. He was firing off his DMR at the banshees overhead, keeping himself steady by propping his legs up against the doorframe of the warthog.

"Don't know what the Spartans did but it pissed the Covies off for sure!" Ellingham cried out as he held his helmet down.

Kowalski then looked to the new recruit they had been saddled with, Ramirez. Contrary to most squads they weren't annoyed at the fresh faced Latino who was barely out of his teens and had come all the way from Earth. In fact they were happy; they had someone to carry most of their crap now.

"So is this the part where we get some?" he asked Kowalski as a green plasma explosion erupted to the side a few feet away.

"Pretty much," Kowalski told him "helluva way to pop your cherry huh?"

Taylor didn't waste time on small talk like his men were doing.

"Kowalski!" he yelled looking over his shoulder "Get the rocket launcher under the seat! Get a lock on one of them!"

The private scrambled towards his weapon's case as the warthog bumped and buckled about. He pulled the rocket launcher out of its case, trying his best to keep his grip as Pearson swerved about to avoid the banshees.

"One of the bastards seems to have taken a liking to us sir!" Pearson warned as he looked in the rear-view mirror, a banshee bearing down in the reflection.

"Just drive Pearson!" Taylor ordered

Kowalski was lucky these launcher came with a lock-on, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to hit the nimble little covenant fighter. He waited for the beep to come, to signal him to pull the trigger. When it rang in his ear he fired the rocket and flew towards the banshee that was on their tail, blasting into it like an explosive uppercut. The banshee dropped from the sky in pieces. The burning shell slammed into the ground, almost hitting a nearby warthog that swerved to avoid the hulk smouldering steel.

"Good shot private!" Taylor congratulated "Load another!"

Not all warthogs were lucky, in the initial fly by a number had been hitting directly, their friends behind them forced to turn sharply just to avoid being crushed under the spinning mass of bodies and metal that used to be their friends. The Hammerhead remained on target, never wavering from it's goal, Shepard kept the vehicle steady as Grunt targeted the incoming banshees. The auto-lock target system made quick work any Covenant that came the hammerhead's ways. As the first volley of rockets flew off, Grunt laughed heartily.

"Gonna plop these filthy pyjack loving bastards right on their ass!" he cried out

The first volley collided directly into on Banshee, two missiles blew out the engine and the craft exploded in mid air. What was left of the Banshee rained down on the ground below. A second Banshee flew nearby and was clipped from the side by one missile and then another. The vehicle began to spin out, crashing into the ground as flames overtook it. It collided just a few meters ahead of the Hammerhead. Almost immediately the Elite pilot, who miraculously survived the crash busted out of the wreck. He didn't flee. He stood his ground, firing on the very vehicle that shot him down.

"So he wants a warrior's death then?" Grunt wondered

The Krogan obliged, almost as if he was doing the Elite a service. He fired a single shot, it was all he needed. The Elite's body slammed into the windshield of the hammerhead, Shepard kept going, not even blinking.

"Approaching Noble's rally point!" he told the others

Six and Two were doing their best to stay on course for said rally point, their gunner firing furiously at the mass of banshees blasting plasma from on high. The machine gun turret raked against one banshee as it flew back overhead for a second run. But while its tail started to smoke his wingman veered off towards a new target, a bridge up ahead, the bridge leading to the rally point. While the gunner remained focused on taking out his first target the second Banshee flew low and fired a single plasma bomb at the bridge ahead. The crossing exploded in a fireball, leaving Six and Kat to race head long towards a ramp. They'd have to jump the gap.

Noble Two gunned the accelerator, telling Six to hang on to something. They flew over the gap but their warthog pitched forward and rolled across the ground as the nose slammed into the dirt. Both of them were thrown from the wreck, any regular soldier would be in severe pain, Not a Spartan though. Six was only blacked out for a few fleeting moments, regaining his composure he scrambled back to his feet. Kat's voice rang in his ear, was she asking him if he was alright? He couldn't tell for the moment. He looked back and saw one unlucky group of marines in a warthog hit the ramp too slow. The slammed into the side of the gap's wall, and slowly began to fall back into the rift the banshee had made.

"SIX!" Kat called, forcing his attention back to her "Can you hear me! I need help here!"

She was standing only a few feet away and only now could Six hear her calling. He picked up his grenade launcher where it lay, a few inches in front of his face.

"Got your back!" he said

"We need to push up this path!" Kat told him adamantly as she rushed to the cover of their downed Warthog.

The cover didn't remain in place for long, as plasma shots from a wing of Banshees exploded near it. The vehicle was sent spinning into the air and both Spartans were forced to run for cover. They had landed smack dab on the front porch of a well dug in Covenant position. There were shade turrets, two of them fuel rod variants, on the high ground with several squads of infantry running interference, not an ideal situation for any soldier.

"Shepard!" Kat called over the radio "Could use some support here!"

With that a thunderous roar erupted from the ramp as the Hammerhead rocketed over the destroyed bridge and descended to the ground. I landed effortlessly nearby and began firing missiles into the covenant defences.

"I never get tired of doing that!" Shepard said merrily

Already a Covenant dropship was letting off reinforcements overhead as the shades fired endless at the invaders. Six was on point, Kat covering his rear with a pistol. He fired a grenade into the mass of enemies, taking out two Jackals when the explosive slammed into their shields. As their bodies went flying Kat took aim at the Shade turret nearby. Looking through her pistol's scope she zeroed in on the gunner as he was targeting Six with its fuel rod gun.

One bullet and the Grunt slumped over in his seat. One of his friends rushed to take up the cause, pushing his body out of the way and scrambling inside the Shade. By this point the Hammerhead had targeted the shade and fired a single missile. The gun exploded, flying into the sky above them like a spinning hoop. The Hammerhead turned its attention to the remaining Covenant on the field and systematically began blowing them apart.

"Keep up the fire Grunt!" Shepard called up "We're pushing them back!"

Grunt was however tuning his battlemaster out, he was too enthralled with demolishing the enemy piece by piece.

The Hammerhead was suddenly rocked by an unexpected explosion along its side. A grunt carrying as fuel rod had blasted the vehicle in the side. The Hammerhead pulled back slightly, not wanting to take another hit. The grunt fired again, missing this time but only by a hair. Kat peeked up from her cover spot and eyed the Grunt. She fired several shots into the alien's chest, killing him. The hammerhead, it's repair functions kicked in, resumed the assault.

Kat and Six pushed up along with the explosions. A lone Elite was fall back to a second shade position, firing his gun back on the Hammerhead. Six began loading his launcher as he rushed to the cover of some rocks nearby. Suddenly he heard a Falcon overhead, its distinctive motorized blades and their accompanying sound recognizable to all. Its main gun fired on the Covenant as they ran from the Hammerhead. The Elite on the ground directed the Shade to aim up at him. The gunner obeyed and pelted the Falcon with plasma fire. The Elite added his own contribution, tossing a plasma grenade thats tuck to the underbelly of the aircraft. The Falcon exploded in a blaze of fire.

As it tumbled down, Six and Kat split apart to avoid getting crushed by the falling flaming debris. Six went right, barely missing the Falcon's collapse. He took aim at the shade and fire a shot impacted and the Covenant emplacement exploded. The Elite took residual damage, causing his shields to fail. He opened fire on Six but now without shields he was a sitting duck. Six swapped his launcher for his DMR and unloaded as into the Elite's head. Purple blood and brains stained the ground and as the alien fell Six eyed Kat. She was taking cover behind one of the Hammerhead's hover pads, just staying out of the way of the exhaust. Her pistol opened up on the remaining Jackals, the fleeing Grunts getting caught in the crossfire. The final shade was trying to tear the Hammerhead apart as well as the Spartan. Kat rolled to the side, out of cover of the Hammerhead but avoiding the fuel rod shot. The Hammerhead followed her lead, Shepard pulling back to avoid the fire. The danger passed a single salvo of missiles easily dismantled the emplacement.

"Not as tough as the turrets back home." Grunt grumbled "Covenant should consider more armour. Admirable they fight lacking it."

Jack smiled cheekily at Shepard.

"See commander?" she asked "The crazy Krogan says my style is admirable."

Wade sighed, if she was gonna be on his ass all day about being forced to wear armour maybe it would've been better if she just went with Miranda.

Kat was on the horn to the rest of the taskforce and Noble One relatively quickly.

"Commander," she began "area secure. We need to drop a bridge on the gap though. Otherwise we're not getting anyone else through this section."

"Understood sending a Pelican with one now." Noble One called back "I gotta keep heading to the Radio Station, meet up with the ODSTs and Shepard's people. The rest of the taskforce will keep pushing along their assigned areas for the assault. Noble One out."

It wasn't long before two pelicans hovered over them. One dropped a makeshift bridge over the gap. Several Moongoose ATVs rushed across it, accompanied by Garrus' squad in their Warthog.

"Last stop!" the driver called "Everyone out!

Garrus' team piled and joined up with Six and Kat.

"The AA gun is up this road," Kat informed them "we're gonna head there, clear the place out and blow it. You good to go on foot?"

"We can hoof it just fine." Garrus told her "What about you?"

The second pelican finally came into play about now, dropping its payload, a warthog with a missile launcher mounted on its back.

"We'll be good." Kat said "See ya at the gun!"

The Spartans took off, leaving the rest of Garrus' team to make the run to the Anti-Air gun. Shepard and his team stayed in their hammerhead, following the Spartans. Six jumped in back, taking up the missile launcher while Kat and one of the Marines clambered into the front seats.

"Hope you're up for a little jog guys." Garrus told his squadmates "Come on."

"Could use the cardio." Mordin acknowledged "Little exercise opportunities in lab. Good to idea to stay in shape."

So far, despite the hiccups, this was going better than expected. Garrus could only hope Miranda and Tali were having as much luck on their respective ends. Of course, even as they were headed to destroy an anti-air gun Garrus didn't forget why they were really here. He kept his comm. at the ready. Halsey's people would be contacting them and they needed to be ready. He just wondered how any of them were gonna break off to take out the Zealot when the time came.

* * *

><p>It was nice to have things go your way for once. Everyone was so busy with Shepard, the main assault and the tank attack near the canyon town the Covenant didn't bother to worry about their forward positions. They must've thought they were safe behind their lines, that even though there was a small canyon path behind them the humans would never think to attack from there.<p>

Miranda only wished all their enemies were this overconfident to the point of stupidity. She was already eyeing the "backdoor" so to speak with her optical zoom feature on her visor. They had defences at the back but they were light. Any attack was expected to come from the front. They had a singular hovering platform with two plasma turrets on the ground. Not shades, just ordinary plasma turrets. It wasn't exactly going to stop much of anything. They only had one warthog though. It was all their Pelican could spare to bring. Their force was small as well, so even though the odds were good that didn't mean this would be a cakewalk.

"Alright Miranda what's the plan?" Jacob asked as he huddled behind her, staring down at the command post from their position on a ledge overlooking the place "Think we could take the Warthog, just blast through them?"

"I want to try and not potentially waste resources Jacob." She told him cooly "I want our first punch to hurt them. Keep them off balance a bit."

"So what are you thinking?" Jacob asked once more

Miranda looked to the armoury the Covenant had set up, the crates piled up next to a burned down coop for some kind of foul. By the size of it, possibly Moa for all she knew. What passed for a barracks resided in the fields and nearby barn, as she could see the regular covenant soldiers milling about. She could barely see much of farmhouse but the guard told her it was the HQ. The silo was a sniper's nest, with at least two Skirmishers hiding out along it's catwalk up top. Halsey had said the Covenant weren't big on using human technology, but they apparently weren't averse to using their buildings as strategic positions. If nothing else their military leadership recognized that they needed some kind of defensible position, even if it was human made. They had shown that before at Sword Base after all.

"We should take the armoury first." She told Jacob "Keep their big guns away from them, take a few for ourselves. We'll work our way through the area after that. But before we'll deal with the guys blocking our entrance, one good biotic push should do it."

Jacob grinned at Miranda.

"Oh I get the plan." He said nodding in admiration "Heh, gonna hit them hard that's for sure. Let's get back down and tell the men then."

Jacob rushed back down the slope of the ridge, Miranda following close behind. There were at least 15 marines waiting for them at the bottom, along with Zaeed and the two Noble team Spartans. The Warthog was idling just a few feet away. The insertion had gone off without a hitch, just as they had been promised they stayed under the radar and didn't have to worry about getting shot down. Course now the easy part was over.

"We're gonna push our way in and clear the defenders out." Miranda told them "After that we head to the armoury and grab their own guns to use against them. After that we can start tearing up the entire place at our leisure. They won't have as many of their nice little toys to play with."

"Alright, so how we go about dealing with the defenders then?" Emile asked, hefting his shotgun behind his shoulders "You want us to lob a grenade from up top or ya gonna send this old bastard with his sniper rifle to pick'em off like he did back in World War Two."

Emile laughed at his own little joke. Zaeed didn't bother to even sneer or look over his shoulder at the cocky Spartan. He was too old to pay the smug little bastard any mind. The old merc just pulled out an unlit cigar and placed it in his mouth. That's how he usually calmed himself.

"I can probably kill every damn alien in that position before they even blink." He stated to Miranda "And with a lot less wisecracks than Macho Bloke back there."

It didn't stop Emile from chuckling, but it was nice to see the merc keeping his air of professionalism about him. Miranda needed that Zaeed right now, not stark raving mad loose cannon Zaeed that Shepard had to deal with on Zorya.

"It's alright Massani I have my own plan." Miranda assured "Just hang back until me and Jacob give you the signal. Won't be long."

Miranda and Jacob left the group. They slinked forward, keeping to the rocks near the canyon wall to cover their approach. Once they used their biotics they knew every alien in that former farmstead would be gunning for them. They wouldn't have much time to move up to the armoury it got reinforced by the defenders from the front gate.

They'd make the most of what they did have.

"On my mark Jacob." Miranda told him as she readied herself.

The distinctive blue aura radiated around Miranda's arm, both of Jacob's limbs did the same. They took aim at the defences ahead of them an unleashed a biotic maelstrom. Miranda let go a throw fiel that cascaded over the Covenant, while Jacob sent a small shockwave that slashed through the ground defences. The Skirmisher up in the hovering platform was catapulted out of his hiding spot as the biotic attack swept over them. It took a lot out of both of the former Cerberus operative, but thankfully their friends would pick up the slack.

Jorge and Emile rushed the path, the marines running behind them and the warthog to the side. Zaeed was ahead all of them of course, leaping over the small barricade and running towards a Skirmisher that still ay on the ground trying to recompose himself. The mercenary forced his flamethrower into the creature's mouth. The less said about the smouldering aftermath the better, not that anyone could pay attention to the flames jutting out of the now dead alien, what with the warthog pulling up to the barricade and firing off its gauss cannon. It wasn't hitting anything particularly, the gunner just felt like announcing their presence for the time being.

The response was almost immediate. Ghosts came rushing from the barracks in the field, firing wildly at the humans who had dared to trespass. The warthog's gunner took aim and fired one round, cutting right through the light assault vehicle. But one dead ghost, flipping head first into the dirt as flames jutted from its exposed engine, didn't make its friends take pause and reconsider the attack. They pressed forward, plasma guns blazing and kept strafing so as to keep the humans pinned. The marines took cover around the small wall barriers the Covies had set up and the gauss cannon kept up the fire, trying stop the suppression.

Jacob and Miranda caught up to the others at this point, their bearings finally gathered. Jorge was in the thick of it, firing his chain gun like crazy at the ghosts and the covenant infantry now swarming towards them. Emile was keeping an eye on his Spartan brother, his shotgun at the ready. Zaeed meanwhile had travelled up to the hover platform. His Sniper at the ready he began taking shots at the advancing enemy.

"We're not gonna get to that armoury sitting here." Jacob shouted as he peered at one of the Ghosts "Noble Four think you can get out there and-"

Emile had already taken off by the time Jacob had looked back in his direction. He then saw the warmonger psycho already past Jorge, running at a breakneck speed, his shotgun out and firing.

"He is their version of Grunt." Miranda mused

Emile's charge only looked reckless, in reality he just knew he could take it. Any Spartan could. This was why they were "made" in a sense. He didn't stop his charge, not when he saw the grunt step into his plane of view. He merely blasted the little bastard's head off and kept going.

He didn't stop when those Two Jackals rushed up, plasma pistols blasting away at his shields. He kicked the shield of one, forcing him back. He was now to the unprotected side of his comrade. Then with his machete Noble Four slashed the bird-like creature's throat. It began to clutch and claw at the gash, Emile didn't bother to look and admire his handiwork. He kept pressing, stomping the head of the downed remaining Jackal under toe.

He didn't stop when the Elite showed up next, a needler rifle in his arms. Emile took two shots to the shoulder, but didn't even flinch. He fired his shotgun at center mass, cutting out the shield in one hit, gravely wounding the Elite in the stomach the next. Even as the Elite was still grabbing at the new holes formed in its gut again Emile pulled out his machete and stabbed the alien in the eye as he ran past. Impaled and slightly stuck on the blade, Emile whirled around to force the Covie off it. Then he continued his run.

The Ghost had by now trained its plasma turrets on Emile and was speeding directly at the human, the driver desiring nothing more than to see this infidel crushed upon the front of the Ghost itself. Instead Emile clambered onto the hood, gripping at it. He still had his knife out and he brought it down upon the Elite's head. The driver collapsed out of the seat as Emile took control of the still moving vehicle. Now he turned the guns of the Covenant upon them. The plasma turrets cut through the armour of a nearby Ghost with ease. The Elite driver was caught completely off guard, only realising too late that the enemy had stolen one of their Ghosts. The next second the Elite watched his vehicle break into two as a blue fireball expunged from the center. Emile kept shooting at the rest of the Covenant, and keeping them off balance.

Emile's actions allowed the marines a little leeway and with Jorge at the helm, chain gun blazing, they advanced forward. Zaeed stayed on his hover platform, shooting at high value targets. The Elites were easy to spot amongst the melee and there wasn't much cover along the open ground. With phasic rounds in his rifle he cut through their shields with ease and decimated the leader ship for the armoury's defence.

With the incisor rifle he raked three dead-on strikes to one Elite's head, pulping it before too long. He saw a group of Grunts making a dash for the armoury next. Miranda didn't want them getting to their toybox, so he'd have to deal with them. A concussive shot was what he needed here. He fired the impact round at the little pack of gas suckers. Those that weren't killed by it ended up getting shot to pieces by the Marines moving up with Jorge.

Zaeed didn't stay put for long, he soon jumped down from the platform and raced towards the armoury, flamethrower in hand. He knew some defenders must've got to the place by now. Even if it was just a rundown coop, albeit a pretty big coop given it housed moa at one time, there were probably bad guys hiding among the boxes. That meant close quarters, his domain.

He saw Miranda and Jacob pushing up with the others. Miranda was especially impressive, using a biotic wave to send one Ghost flying backwards, spinning in the air before coming down with a crash. For a woman that looked like she belonged on a catwalk beside a pole half the time, Zaeed had to admit she could pull her weight when needed.

Jacob was no slouch either, but he was more of a traditional soldier. He kept attacking with overload on the Elites, following it up with a blast to the chest from his shotgun. Or he just stuck to his shotgun, no need to waste energy tossing stuff around with biotics when a shotgun could work just as well. That and the incendiary rounds were more than adequate against Grunts. The little bastards methane tanks exploded like firecrackers as the flames ate their way in. It was a volatile situation to be sure.

Zaeed met up with two Marines near the entrance of the armoury.

"We got some skirmishers in there about two," one of them warned "that and an Elite. Looks like a Major."

"Can't use grenades to flush them out or we could all go up!" his friend added

At least three potential hostiles hiding in a bunch of potentially explosive creates and him armed with a weapon whose sole purpose was to start fires. Pretty bad odds to go in like that. Zaeed just scoffed at the odds.

"Relax, I got it." He said hefting the flamethrower up to his line of sight "Keep my ass covered."

The Marine just looked at the old merc like he was nuts.

"How is a Flamethrower among boxes full of plasma grenades a good idea?" he asked

Zaeed didn't answer. The Marine of course had a point, but he knew how to use this weapon, he wasn't an amateur. So long as he didn't put too much pressure on the trigger it wouldn't extend far enough to ignite anything.

He kept his eyes on the corner he was coming up to. His view blocked by crates he figured the enemy could be behind there. He turned, catching the Elite Major head on. Zaeed saw the vicious alien open its four pronged maw at him. Zaeed pulled the flamethrower's trigger, practically melting the alien's face clean off. The fire spread to the rest of the alien's body and Zaeed turned to the coop that used to be home to Moa and was now hiding far more dangerous birds.

Needles and plasma shots lashed out from the darkness and Zaeed ducked down low to avoid them. He stood back up, kneeling, and fired a long stream into the coop itself. The three skirmishers lit up like Christmas trees and fell to the ground in agony.

Zaeed didn't have time to relish in his victory as he was set upon from behind. Some asshole had tackled him and it turned out to be the Elite Major, burnt to crisp, practically hanging onto life by a thread, but still alive. Part of his jaw had fallen off and you could see the charred black skin and part of the creature's skull as well. It must've been in tremendous pain.

It was still strong enough to force the old merc to the ground, force him onto his back and try to choke him to death. Zaeed grabbed the bastard's wrists, or what were left of them and kicked the creature off him. Zaeed went for his sidearm to finish the job, but as the Elite charged again its back was filled with holes from an assault rifle. The two marines at the front of the gate had followed Zaeed's orders to the letter and the alien plopped down dead at the old merc's feet.

Zaeed stood up at last and watched as the younger more nubile warriors who had just saved him the bullet so to speak rush up to him.

"He just leapt right up and tackled ya!" the first one said "Didn't wanna risk shooting ya while he was still on ya."

"I had it under control." Zaeed assured taking the cigar stuck in his mouth out. "You killed the bugger when you got the shot. That's what counts."

Zaeed marched past them and over to the dead Elite, who was still partial on fire and smoking as well. He placed the edge of the cigar to ignited part of the alien's flesh and let the flames spread to it. Placing the cigar back into his mouth he turned back to the battle. While they had turned back the tide it was still waging.

"Enough gawking mates," he told the marines "we still gotta deal with the rest of these shitheads."

* * *

><p>Tali sat in her seat, trying her best to look confident and sure. Easy to do when you had a mask covering your face. She had come to terms with why Shepard wanted her to take the lead on this mission, but that didn't make her feel better. She wasn't the command type, she knew that. It cost lives because other people didn't know that. Shepard just wanted to help her. Help her face that little demon of hers, but while she appreciated the gesture she didn't want to.<p>

Garrus had lost his people too, Wade had lost people under his command, but with Tali it was different. She wasn't a soldier like them. Her father had hoped putting her in command for most of the Admiralty Board's missions would bring the leader out of her. Make her like him in a sense. That had gotten people killed. She had gotten people killed because she knew she couldn't handle it and she didn't have the stuff.

She wasn't her father.

Knowing what she knew now of him that could be seen as both a positive and a negative. When it came to being a leader it was the latter. It was nice to know Carter was in charge, she'd be following his lead, but technically she was still gonna have to make decisions for her fellow Normandy crewmates when all was said and done.

Kasumi tried her best to console the Quarian, recognizing just how down she was at the moment.

"It's not like we're invading a fortress," she assured "we'll get in, take Covie Radio off the air and head back to Shepard before ya know it."

Tali didn't respond at first, only nodding slightly and she didn't seem all that convinced.

"Hey," Kasumi said putting a comforting hand on her back "if you can lead an entire team of engineers to not only keep the most advanced ship in the galaxy running AND actually defend the thing from alien boarders at the same time without losing anyone what makes you think you'll screw up here? You're not a jynx Tali."

Kasumi had a point, she had technically been in charge of defending the engine room when the first encountered the Covenant. But they still only survived by the skin of their teeth. And that was on her own turf, this was another planet and it called for assault. Not defence, not holding out, an actual attack. Although given Kasumi and Thane were here, more than likely Shepard intended for them to try and get through all in a subtle manner. Stealth in the middle of an active warzone, Shepard was always a bit mad cap when it came to strategy. That is when he wasn't making it up as he went along.

"Two minutes till touchdown team." Carter's voice rang over the comm. "Get ready, this ridge is gonna be swarming as soon as the Falcons land."

Tali peered out of the side of the Falcon and looked towards the ridge they were approaching. She could see the towering antennas. As they crested the ridge's horizon they saw the radio station itself. Nothing too spectacular, it was after all a civilian building in the middle of nowhere. Nevertheless looked particularly wide for a one-story building, which of meant there would be a number of rooms for them to clear once inside. Clustered outside on the ridge were a number of Covenant defences, shade turrets mostly. Tali also noticed a distinctly non-human looking structure amongst the antennas. Some kind of purple object situated on the ground with a circular dish on-top. That was what the Covenant were using to jack the airwaves in their favour. If they could shut it down, but not damage it, they could potentially gain a back-door into Covenant communications in general, intercepting communications on the ground between groups.

Tali's Falcon was one of two that were flying higher than the others, the rest were headed for the outlying edge furthest away from the defences.

It was obvious what Carter's plan was.

"You're putting us on the roof?" Tali asked as their Falcon descended towards the building.

"We're gonna keep their attention out here." Carter explained "Get inside, sweep the area and shut their communications down. We'll join up with you when we can."

She had no problem with the plan, and it wasn't like they were being sent in alone. That Falcon had at least four other people on it after all. The attack out front would drive the defenders out, leaving only a few Covenant inside. But while she didn't argue, she didn't like how this made her in charge of what happened inside.

The Falcons making landfall had their crews leap out without even touching the ground. They couldn't stay long, not with the shade turret gunners clambering to their defences. The ODSTs took cover behind rocks as the defenders rushed out and the plasma began to fly. One Falcon took a few shots in the tail as it was trying to leave. It spun out wildly and fell into the canyons below.

Tali eyed Carter in the midst of it all. Had to be him, a Spartan's armour was rather distinctive and the colour stood out among the darker toned ODSTs. He was taking charge of the entire operation from the get go, as soon as his boots hit the ground he was shouting orders, pointing at cover to duck behind and firing off his gun as he raced forward. Jun was beside him, taking up a less active role of course. Snipers weren't meant to be seen after all. He took up position at the back, nestled among some rocks and bushes. Carter raced up to a burned out wreck of a car in the radio station's parking lot, a number of ODST's following.

By now the shade turrets were pummelling the landing zone with everything they had. But they weren't looking towards the real threat, the Falcons coming down on the roof. Tali and the others jumped out along with their four man ODST escort. The Falcons took off strafing the enemy at the front as they went.

Both teams met up with each other as soon as they landed. Thane looked around the area, trying to find points of entry.

"We can use those two separate stairwells on the side and back of the building." He said, pointing them out "We can go in one while the ODSTs take the other."

"Sounds good to me." The Sergeant of the ODST team nodded, looking towards Tali next "We'll break in when you give the orders then."

Tali wanted to correct him, but the men were already bolting for their assigned door at the back. Tali just sighed, there was no way out of this was there. Well, if she was in command then there was no sense continuing to mope about it. Despite her doubts she took up positions with her team mates at their side stairwell on the left-wing of the building. She pulled her shotgun out, this time a Scimitar and pointed it at the door.

"Alright, give me a second." Tali told them

The new Combat enviro-suit's hud display also had a thermal imagining function. It definitely came in handy for figuring out if you were walking into a heavily guarded room. With it she saw that there was nobody in the stairwell so her team entered silently, as did the ODST's at the other stairwell. They slowly descended the steps towards the bottom, their guns still drawn and at the ready. This time Tali saw what lay beyond the door. There were a few Grunts taking up a position in the hall to the left. There was one Elite in the central hallway that was keeping cover on the corner while peering down the right hall. In the right hallway itself were two Jackals with their shields at the ready. This was a sizeable force to be sure, but they could handle it.

"What's on your end?" she radioed the ODST's

"Got at least two Elite's guarding the back from what we can tell." They whispered over the comm. "I don't think they suspect someone dropped in on the roof cause they're all looking towards the front. Looks like they set up a plasma turret nest."

Well so far things were working in their favour, but now came the entry.

"Okay, toss a grenade in and take them." Tali told the ODSTs "On my signal."

She turned to Thane and Kasumi now. Both of them were looking to her on this one. This was her moment, she only hoped she wouldn't jynx it.

"Okay," she began "Kasumi throw a flash in and take the left. Thane, go right, clear that way. I'll go down the middle."

She of course took the far most dangerous of the three enemies. The Elite had the shields and the armour, the Grunts and Jackals were wide open for both the others. Still she could handle the Elite, she just had to use the momentary flash wisely.

Kasumi opened the door slightly, sliding it away from her only to push it back closed when she was done tossing the flashbang in. Tali told the ODSTs to head in on their end as the flash went off and she and others burst into the hall. The Grunts were holding their hands up to their eyes, clutching them in pain. Kasumi fired two shots from her heavy pistol, killing each in one hit. Thane leapt out and raked the backs of the Jackals with his submachine gun, killing them in relatively few shots. Tali eyed her target, the Elite, almost completely recovered from the brief blindness inflicted on him. With what little time she had left before the alien stopped blinking rapidly Tali drained his shields, leeching their power to her own with her omni-tool. With no protection Tali fired twice into the Elite's torso with shotgun, the kickback tossing the alien to the ground.

Once the immediate area was clear Tali contacted the ODST squad.

"All clear here, what's your status?" she asked

"We got the turret!" shouted the ODST trooper "We're gonna cover ya, make sure no one comes down this end to kill ya. Make your way to us!"

Already Tali could here plasma turret fire from deep within the building. The ODSTs would hold their position until they arrived, that made Tali ever more adamant on reaching them. She would not tolerate these men drawing too much attention to themselves and being overwhelmed.

She rushed up to another door past the dead Grunts, this one a more traditional non-automatic door. She kicked it in and Kasumi slide in first to take cover behind a desk. The Grunts and their Elite leader inside were less than thrilled to see the newcomers. Tali and Thane rushed to cover beside their thief comrade. It was then they finally got a proper look at where they were. Apparently this was the station's mail filing room, as the envelopes and pages littering the floors and desk above attested to.

"Gonna send out Chikita and give you two a chance to get a few shots, maybe flank." Them Tali told the others "When she appears you move."

"You got it boss." Kasumi said with a smile "Just make sure your little drone doesn't have all the fun okay?"

The little purple drone appeared in the room and hovered over to the mass of Covenant now positioned behind their own desk they had flipped over, well Elite was anyway. By now the covenant had seemingly been warned of some of the tricks of the Normandy team, because instead of staring a bit dumbfounded the grunts shot the drone when it started heading towards. Either that or they just naturally assumed it was a threat based on instinct. Either way the drone took a few good hits before it zapped it's first Grunt. The charge hit the little alien so hard it was thrown back into a nearby wall, nearly slamming into his Elite commander.

Thane dove out of cover next, blasting with his submachine gun at the enemy. Shredder rounds cut through the flesh of the Grunts, killing most, wounding others. To keep his living shields alive a little longer the Elite opened up a stream of plasma on Thane. The Drell rolled away from the attack, back towards the safety of cover once more. Of course While Thane had retreated for the moment he had only been a distraction. Kasumi materialized on the Elite's flank, exposed now it was a simple matter to hit the alien with an overload. The shields dropped and as the Elite turned to face the thief, Thane popped up once more. He rocketed a warp attack across the room towards the alien, striking the Elite along the side of his head. As he clutched it in pain Kasumi closed the gap and fired her heavy pistol into his chest several times. Still refusing to go down, but weakened from the attacks, the Elite fell on bended knee as Kasumi approached him. A quick kick to the skull brought the Elite down for good that time.

"So another one of the eight foot monsters bites the dust." She noted "Gotta say I'm continually impressed we keep pulling that off."

"Come on we need to hook up with the ODSTs." Tali told Kasumi, not pausing to comment on the dead alien.

They could hear the plasma turret fire even now and watched as several grunts and Jackals began to fall back in fact of the onslaught from their own weapon. Tali and the others were positioned in an open hallway, looking directly on the flank of the covenant. An Elite dropped a portable shield wall in front of him, hoping the barrier would protect his men's retreat to better cover.

He would be mistake. Tali rushed in first, firing her shotgun in quick succession after Kasumi hit the Elite with another Overload. The Quarian closed the gap, never letting the Elite breath. Kasumi kept to her side, trying to keep pace with Tali. She batted a Grunt that decided to rush them to the side with the butt of her submachine gun and kept moving. As the Elite fell back against the shotgun rounds tearing at his comrades retreated further into the building, par for the course.

The ODSTs near the exit door at the back, as they had promised they held onto the turret and left a trail of Covenant bodies in their wake, littering the hallway down to them.

"Got them running scared now." Said the squad leader "We should head for the main studio it's more than likely where they're broadcasting and receiving. Should find it where the Grunts ran to."

"We should try to hit them on two ends, just like we did the first time." Thane suggested "That worked out pretty well after all."

Tali didn't argue, she preferred coming up with the ideas anyway. As they moved forward they could hear the fighting outside. Over half the garrison of this radio station must've been out there fighting off Carter and the others, at the moment Tali didn't envy them, they had after all had gotten stuck with the skeleton crew. That didn't mean they were not at risk though. This station had many rooms and while Tali's thermal vision could help locate some of the bad guys she couldn't keep her eyes on everything at once.

She tried to pick out the most likely ambush shots. Perhaps they'd come through the bathroom stall up ahead. She kept looking at it, saw no heat sig. But perhaps the walls were too thick, may the enemy wasn't near the door at the moment.

Suddenly a door burst open, inside a Skirmisher, crowing loudly in anger with its needler rifle raised. The alien tossed an emp charge into the room and began shooting. It fired several shots at the group, one of them catching Thane in the leg. The piercing pain didn't get him but the blowing part of the glass casing did. Thane dropped to floor in pain, but the ODSTs alongside the other hallway to the left filled the Skirmisher with lead before it could do more damage. Tali helped Thane up.

"I should've seen that." She apologized, sounding incredibly angry. "I thought it would be another door and-"

"I am fine." Thane assured "let us continue."

Tali let Thane march, looking more disappointed in herself than ever. Kasumi could practically hear her screaming at herself in her head. 'What if it had been near his head?'. 'What if he had been more accurate?', Kasumi had no doubt those questions were being asked right now.

Nevertheless Tali steeled herself and carried on. The studio room was ahead and they could see through the windows that the current DJs were not one for looks. The Covenant had both entrances covered, prepared to make a final stand at this point. The window itself hadn't been overlooked, there was a plasma turret swivelling at the back of the room aimed right at it. Tali knew she was gonna have to kill the Turret first as it could both ends of the studio. She pressed up against the doorframe alongside Kasumi while Thane lumbered into one of the executive offices nearby to get a shot on the gunner. The ODSTs took the other door.

"Say when boss lady." Kasumi told her merrily as she readied her SMG "We're gonna make their last broadcast a hell of a show."

"If I'm leading this shouldn't I get the clever line?" Tali asked

"Sorry, first come first serve Tali." Kasumi smirked

With that the Quarian made the call.

"Thane, take out the gunner." She said

Thane was already in position and ready. The little Grunt on the turret didn't stand much of a chance. The shredder rounds broke through the glass with ease, by the time anyone had figured out what had happened the Grunt was flying backwards off his ass with a bullet in his head. Tali then returned the favour, rolling an power drain charge into the room as the door opened. It went off and the shields everyone, including Tali and Kasumi who were close to the blast went down. Still they had just enough element of surprise to make it count. The Elites and grunts were still shocked by their dead gunner, now Tali was rushing in with Kasumi from one of the doors, the ODSTs following. Tali fired her shotgun once, ripping through one of the Elites stationed at her door. Kasumi raked the other with Kassa Locust, making sure to unload more rounds into the bastard this time so he'd stay down. The ODSTs blew apart their Elites as well, blasting them apart as they started to turn back towards their doors. It was over in seconds, but it felt longer from the perspective of Tali.

Even with the men on the door down that still left a few Grunts in the middle, with one Elite Major looking mighty pissed off. They waded through the mess of toppled equipment and commentator desks, Tali and the others taking cover behind them as well. Thane fired a shot that grazed the Major's shields and the alien dropped to the ground, ducking for cover. At least they had something working in their favour.

The hope for a quick clean takedown was gone but that didn't mean they were licked.

"Time for some misdirection." Tali told her human thief friend

"Oh boy I get to use my own new toy as well!" Kasumi said with glee

A holographic Kasumi appeared rushing out into the field of blind fire from both Grunts and the singular Elite alike. They threw everything that had at her as the crotched for cover, not daring stick their heads for fear of the sniper. It was oddly satisfying seeing a eight foot tall and proud Elite forced to squat down among his cronies. Tali and Kasumi meanwhile snuck out of their cover on their own hands in knees making their way to the turret behind the Elite Major. They arrived just as the hologram evaporated into light particles. The Elite seemingly cursed the humans who played him for a fool, although no one could understand what it was.

Tali took up the machine gun while Kasumi whistled over to the Elite. He looked back in shock.

"Sorry bud, you've been cancelled." She quipped.

Tali pulled the trigger and let the plasma do the rest as it slammed into the alien officer, melting his armour and flesh with each successive hit. The Grunts ran in fear now, straight into the jaws of the ODSTs that finished them off. With the room clear Tali turned to the broadcast controls at the back of the room and contacted Carter.

"Noble One," she said "we've secured the station's broadcast room. We have control of their communications. I say again, Covenant Radio is off the air."

"Good to hear, we're pressing the attack now." Carter radioed back "Hold your position and await further instructions I wanna get a look at what the Covies are saying about us."

Carter cut out just as Thane was entering the room to survey the damage.

"You did pretty good for your tenor as squad lead." Kasumi told her with a hand on her shoulder. "No casualties, made good time, objective accomplished. Drinks all around."

Tali merely shrugged off the compliment. She didn't feel at all the same way. After all she hadn't made many decisions; she let others do it for her. That wasn't what a leader did. Not what Shepard did.

"Let's just make sure the place is secure." She said "We don't want surprises."

Tali didn't dismiss their achievement completely. One problem was sorted, now if only the others had as much luck on their own missions, maybe they could pull this off.

* * *

><p>The Anti-Air gun was a bit bigger than Shepard expected. It was more like a tower than a gun. No wonder the Saratoga and Grafton were holding back, this thing was a starship killer. The Covenant of course had it heavily defended, but there weren't as many vehicles. Joker's doing no doubt. That gave them the advantage. Between their Hammerhead and Noble Two's rocket launcher on the back of their Warthog they could clear this place out rather fast. He already had a plan prepared just by looking at the lay of the land. It was rocky, full of hills, the gun itself set up high on a hill overlooking the ridge before them. They could circle around, clearing the flank of the hill of enemies, while another team went the direct route, straight for the gun.<p>

"Alright Garrus we're gonna cover you while you make a break for the gun." Shepard radioed "We'll meet up at the top and see about blowing this thing."

"Roger Commander," Garrus acknowledged "I'll see ya there."

Shepard pushed his foot onto the accelerator and the hammerhead blasted forward. Two Jackals on a rock ahead of the vehicle fired back but the Hammerhead collided into them splattering purple across the windshield.

"Double the points on that one." Jack quipped

The Hammerhead hit the ground running as it dropped from the rock outcropping. It encountered a Ghost as soon as it landed, but the vehicle sped off before Grunt could get lock. It got behind another rock, keeping itself safe from the missiles. A few Grunts were not so lucky as the explosions tore through them.

"Uglies are down." Grunt called to Shepard "Keeping an eye out for the other one."

"I think our wingman has it covered." Shepard assured

The warthog raced down the other path while Six shot at anything moved. When the Ghost came racing into view it fired a few fleeting plasma shots before it raced passed the jeep. It was trying tgo get them from behind. Six shifted the turret and locked onto the Ghost sending six missiles at the vehicle. Perhaps it was overkill, but Six wanted to be sure he didn't miss. The Ghost exploded and began rolling backwards up to the top of the hill.

"Got your flank Shepard," Two said over the radio "lets clear out this ridge and rendezvous with your men, if they make it that is."

"Garrus won't admit it but he's a good leader." Shepard assured "He'll be there, just worry about keeping the guys down here off him."

The two vehicles began to drive again, firing at the Covenant soldiers scurrying for cover across the ridge. Between the Warthog and the Hammerhead the infantry didn't stand much of a chance. One Grunt however summoned up the courage to float up to the top of a hover platform that sat on the cliff edge. Armed with a fuel rod gun he took aim at the Warthog and fired. The first shot missed, Noble Two swerving to avoid it. The Grunt shifted to the Hammerhead and fired another shot. This one hit and rocked the vehicle considerably.

"Fuck Grunt takedown that pad already!" Jack shouted

"I know what I'm doing convict!" The krogan cussed back

Grunt fired a salvo of missiles at the pad, rocking it about with each hit. The Skirmisher snipers fell off the pad and down into the abyss below, the Grunt with the fuel rod held on. That was until Six's missiles hit home and blew the pad to pieces! The Grunt was killed immediately upon impact.

"We'll call that one an assist." Six radioed over to Shepard

Grunt merely grumbled under his throat, he had that kill in the bag it wasn't an assist. But he didn't have time to argue the point as another plasma blast struck near them. A Revenant had rolled around the corner and was making an effort not to meet the same fate as the pad or ghost.

"We'll double team it!" Two said "Keep it distracted we'll go around and hit it with a full salvo."

"Can do!" Shepard assured.

The Hammerhead began to strafe the Revenant with missile fire, but the front armour of the vehicle was tough. It didn't do much of anything. The Revenant in kind tried to blast the Hammerhead with plasma round after plasma round, Gut Shepard managed to avoid most of the shots. The Revenant charged at the Hammerhead, intending to ram it. Shepard merely had the Hammerhead jump into the air and land along the Revenant's side to continue the assault. By this time the Warthog had gotten into position and had rocked onto the Revenant's backside. A salvo struck home and the Revenant erupted in a reddish explosion.

"Up the hill people!" Noble Two ordered

The group now charged up to the top where the AA Gun itself and the rest of the Covenant garrison lay. Shepard eyed Garrus and the others at the far end in the rocks. Just as planned they had seemingly reached the position without incident, everyone more focused on the rampage below. As soon as Garrus saw Shepard crest the horizon the Turian leapt into action.

"Move up people!" he shouted "Take the gun!"

Samara used a throw field first, knocking most the defenders off their feet or tossing them into the air. The Elites at the back stood their ground against the biotic assault, but their Grunts not so much. The gun they protected would be the source of their fractured skulls. The Jackals now rushed up to replace the fallen Grunts, forming shield lines to protect from the gunfire coming from Garrus' fire team. But their fight was on two fronts. The Hammerhead and Warthog were now launching missile after missile on the Covenant positions. It wasn't a fight it was a slaughter. Six remained on the gun while Two got out and began firing at the Covenant defenders with her pistol.

"Keep pressing." She radioed Garrus' team and Shepard "We have them backed into a wall!"

As Jackals exploded into bits from the rain of missiles Garrus took Noble Two's advice and moved up with Mordin and Samara. Legion remained in the rocks to provide sniper cover fire. The Elites were now headed back into the gun platform, a last desperate stand. The Elite Field Marshall was barking out orders from every side, trying to get his battered forces to hold. Amazingly despite all the missile fire he had managed to survive the onslaught thus far. Garrus attacked the shield of the Elite with an overload as he ran, shorting out the Elite's protection. Angered the Elite opened fire with his concussion rifle, breaking up Garrus' squad as they ran. He ducked back into the gun platform itself, intending to hold out to the last with his men. A lone skirmisher covered the Elite officer's escape only to end up with a round in it's left eye socket, courtesy of Legion.

"It would appear the UNSC scope is sufficiently accurate." Legion declared

Garrus and his team pressed up to the door.

"Alright, let's finish them off already." He said "I'll fire a concussion round into the room, Mordin you get an incineration blast to follow up."

Mordin merely nodded. Garrus then turned the corner and fired a concussive shot. The smoky trail of the attack slammed into some of the last remaining Grunts and Jackals at the front of the defence. The Jackal's shields failed once the impact stuck and the Grunt were tossed aside like ragdolls. Mordin's incineration blast came next, torching the now disoriented aliens inside. As the grunts and Jackals screamed in pain Garrus and the others moved in. They watched the burned bodies fall to the floor, but there was no sign of the Elite Field Marshall.

"Keep your eyes peeled and get these guns offline." Garrus ordered

Mordin walked up to the gun's core energy supply which was encircled by stairs leading up to the deck above. The power core was guarded by a pulsating shield, sealing in the electrified rotors within.

"Interesting technology," Samara noted, seemingly a bit more coyly than usual she added "how do you propose we break it Professor?"

"Simplest solutions usually are the best in the field." He explained

With that, Mordin excessively fired into the shield with his heavy pistol, causing it to fail. He then tossed a nearby [plasma grenade into the opened hole and stepped back with Samara. The explosion that erupted a few seconds later tore the power core apart.

"Gun is disabled!" Garrus said with glee

Another voice popped over the comm.-link, it was Auntie Dot.

"UNSC Grafton is en route to your location along with a flight of longswords to assist UNSC advance." She said "I would advise leaving the gun immediately."

The blaring alarm within the platform told Garrus all he needed to know as to why, that and the core seemingly sparking and exploding in front of him.

"Time to vacate guys!" Garrus shouted "We need off this hill now!"

Mordin and Samara ran up one ramp to the top deck, Garrus ran up the other. Garrus didn't reach the top though, a fist slammed into the right side of his face. The Field Marshall hadn't left, he had merely been waiting.

"You fucking crazy this thing is going to explode!" Garrus shouted as he regained his composure and swung back at the eight foot alien

The Elite only responded by roaring back at the Turian. He grabbed both of Garrus' arms and began to push back down into the gun itself. Garrus managed to flip the situation around, moving his feet to force himself back onto the high ground. The Elite kept roaring, but it would do him no good. Then the Covie was sent hurtling backwards by some biotic force slipped around Garrus and hit him square in the chest. Garrus turned to see Samara on the top deck.

"Hurry!" she shouted "It's gonna go any second!"

Like he needed prompting, Garrus rushed to the top of the ramp. The Elite close behind, getting back on his feet. When they reached the edge of the deck Garrus launched himself off the gun, followed by his two compatriots. The Elite never made it that far, the purple flames and miniature explosions on top of the gun finally culminated and the entire structure exploded in a blaze of purple flames, the Elite was incinerated as the energy flowed down through the platform and engulf every living thing inside.

Garrus and his squad land at the bottom of the hill, as they turned to view their handiwork they saw an awe inspiring sight. The Grafton, it's giant size enough to blot out the sun. The longswords flew over the gun next, straight into the valley below. The Grafton's guns opened up on the valley as well, raining hellfire down on the Covenant below.

Shepard's Hammerhead and Noble team's warthog raced down to meet the team as they got up from their fall. Shepard clambered out of the Hammerhead and rushed to Garrus' side.

"You could've just used the door you came through ya know." Shepard reminded him as he helped the Turian stay standing

"Oh like you would have." Garrus argued playfully back

They both looked out onto the horizon before them, the battle happening below. Even from here they could see three Scorpion tanks rolling over a hill and opening up on the Covenant positions. Soon after they saw several huge explosion off in the distance, the longswords dropping their payloads.

"Noble One gun is totalled, Grafton's moved in for support." Shepard radioed

"Good work people," Carter radioed back "skies should be clear in that area now. We've taken the radio station and are monitoring their broadcasts. Thanks in part to your alien friend of course, hacked their communication lines easy. Sounds like they're scrambling everything they can towards the Spire, they really don't want us getting there."

"Oh I feel so unwanted." Shepard quipped "We'll head on to the next gun, clear it so the Grafton and our birds can approach it."

"Just what I was thinking," Carter agreed "I'm sending your team mates back to you on a Falcon. They're more use to you now than us and you could probably use the extra fire power too. Hold position till they arrive, they'll be there in five. Noble Lead out."

It was good to hear that Tali was okay, and that she had accomplished her objective too. A part of him hoped it helped her out a bit with her leadership anxiety, but he couldn't focus on that right now. He still needed to be ready for when Halsey called, and when it came time to capture the Zealot. But for now, they were all doing good work, keeping the men on the ground alive. He just hoped the others were having as much luck.

* * *

><p>The tanks below had closed the distance between them and the Wraiths and we beginning to circle them. While the plasma didn't have as far to travel they weren't as accurate. The tanks sped around them aiming for their guns or their backsides. The end result was the Wraiths exploded as the shells rammed into their vulnerable power cores. Meanwhile Joker was trying to continue to assist in some small way. He couldn't use the big guns with the good guys so close, but he could use thethe former main gun, the one they had before they installed the Thanix. The spinal mounted Mass accelerators wwould be more than enough to kill those tanks. He aimed for the Wraiths that were proving more difficult to kill on the ground, blowing them apart as the shells proppeled by mass effect fields rained down upon them.<p>

UNSC tanks weren't invincible though, every now and again a lucky shot from a Wraith managed to ram into the earth, another Wraith charged into the backside of one of the scorpions and let off a plasma blast at close range. The Wraith's gunner on the front was killed instantly as the Scorpion's turret flew into the air, lifted up by the resulting explosion. Still the Scorpions were holding their own and it appeared that despite the losses the Wraiths were falling back.

Of course the further into the town they went they more trouble they would encounter. Already EDI was indentifying new dangers on the rooftops and skittering around Covenant hover platforms in the streets.

"Detecting possible anti-tank crews." She told Joker "Fuel Rod launchers identified being carried by Grunts and a number of high ranking Elite officers."

"No problem we'll just take them out." Joker told her "Lay in some targeting vectors on their hideouts for me."

As Joker said that the Normandy was racked with plasma fire from below, purple blasts smacked into them along with a number of green fuel rod explosions.

"Anti-Air shade turrets as well as a number of anti-air Wraiths have moved to intercept us." EDI informed Joker "I didn't not think I needed to reminded about that, seeing how I warned you at the on-set of our approach."

"It slipped my mind during all the awesome explosions." Joker quipped frantically "Where are they?"

EDI highlighted the Anti-Air wraith and a number of shade turrets pointe dup at him, all firing wildly.

"Shields are holding," EDI assured "suggest immediate engagement before they begin to fail."

"Fire up the main gun then, we'll blast them all in one pass."

Joker manoeuvred the Normandy through the plasma streams. He remembered some of the old movies Shepard had suggested he watched as he did. Scenes of flak and prop bombers dodging anti-air seemed a rather appropriate comparison for the time being. Joker lined up his shot, EDI programming a targeting course that would see the Normandy cut through each of the anti-air assets in one fell swoop. With a final flick of a button the Thanix fired once more and the blue beam of death began to criss-cross through the township as Joker swayed two and fro. A beam of concentrated destruction sliced through buildings, blowing up Shade emplacements as it edged close to the AA Wraith. It fired a few more defiant blasts before the beam connected and the vehicle was practically melted clean through.

That problem taken care of the Normandy began to circle back arming its missiles and targeting the anti-tank nests strewn through the path of the Scorpions. The tanks had already been engaged by now. Wolverine Alpha could be heard shouting over the radio.

"Bastards are tearing at my men!" he screamed "Could really use support here Normandy!"

"Don't worry Wolverines, I hear ya." Joker assured "Duck and cover down there it's gonna get real unpleasant for our friends in two seconds."

The missiles ejected out of their pods and swarmed across the city, striking hover pads and rooftops in quick succession. They either collapsed to the ground or were destroyed utterly. Joker would do another fly over though, just to take care of any that survived or had not yet revealed themselves.

"Thank you for rain Normandy." Wolverine Alpha called back up "We're continuing our advance, troopers are following us into the streets. We're taking back this town!"

"I'll remain on station and cover your butts." Joker replied "I ain't about to leave you guys hanging just yet."

It felt good to finally put the Normandy through her paces. Sure this wasn't ship to ship combat, but she was doing what she was designed to do, what she was always meant to do. Bombard the enemy and protect lives on the ground. One couldn't complain about that, or the results.

"We're on a roll here EDI." Joker told his AI companion "I bet they're sending every man they can get to fend off this assault. That should give Shepard a lot of breathing room."

"He has already reached the first objective and is pressing onward." EDI confirmed "There are many covenant but it appears they are light on vehicles and air-cover in the area. I would advise caution Jeff, we may not be alone in the skies for long."

"Suits me just fine." Joker said proudly "I've barely shown the tip of the iceberg with this baby. I'm gonna show our friends on the ground what we can really do in our kind of fight."

* * *

><p>Down in the valley, inside the Covenant landing zone itself, it was a slug fest. Scorpion tanks were firing every shell they had as soon as it was loaded, blowing up Covenant positions left and right. But for every Covie they killed another seventy seemed to show up. It had become apparent rather quickly that there were even more bad guys in this place than even command had anticipated, and they anticipated a lot.<p>

Kowalski was keeping his dead best he could near a burnt husk of a Ghost, they weren't as scary when they were on fire. The rest of the squad was nearby, abandoning their warthog as soon as the shooting started.

"Where the fuck are they all coming from anyway?" Ellingham asked as he fired blindly over the cover. "You think they have that many corvettes? How'd we missed them all?"

"Probably cloaking technology." Kowalski surmised as a plasma bolt struck a few inches above his head. Thankfully the dead ghost absorbed the blast. "Look it doesn't matter now we gotta push to the spire."

"Agreed private!" Taylor concurred "Which means we gotta press that position."

Said position was an array of shade turrets and one bulbous bunker the Covenant had no doubt dropped in when they arrived. Inside, Elites were firing every weapon they had in their arsenal, safe and secure within their hidey-hole.

"Fuck me I ain't gonna rush that shit." Pearson said "I've seen the old movies Staff Segeant. I say we laser it."

"Every squad only gets a few airstrikes to call in on every mission Pearson. You sure you wanna waste one?" Taylor asked, from his tone it was obvious that he meant the question rhetorically.

"Fuck yeah I do!" Pearson responded said, for once the sarcasm was lost on him "May not totally kill the bunker but at least we can clear out those shade turrets and move up along the flank!"

Taylor nodded and looked over to the Squad's newest recruit.

"Ramirez!" he shouted "Laser designate that position!"

Private Ramirez pulled out the designator and took aim at the bunker along with its surroundings. A voice popped up over their channel.

"Received your target, we are on station, bombs away."

Several huge explosions rocked the area ahead of them seconds later, kicking up dust and grime, blocking their vision. After a fit of coughing the dust eventually died, all that remained of the shades were scattered bits of metal. The bunker was also severely damaged with half of the metal construction caved in. Part of it was even on fire, a lingering reminder of the incendiaries that had been dropped in the fight, along with the flames surrounding the area itself.

"Move around it people, let's finish the bunker off!" Taylor ordered

The team began moving through the rocks just as the Elites inside the bunker had regrouped and began firing on the Marines once more. Kowalski had point, Ellingham right behind him as they rushed past the Covenant lines. They encountered a Hover platform with Skirmisher snipers blocking their view. Ellingham ducked for cover as needler rifle rounds started flying at him. He got behind some rocks and lifted his grenade launcher up. He perched on the rocks, took aim and fired at the hover platform. He kept firing until the thing exploded and collapsed to the ground. Grunts rushed up once it fell, firing plasma pistols as they ran. Taylor joined Ellingham's position and fired his DMR at the advancing enemy. Their heads went pop, one by one as the bullets slammed into them.

One Grunt remained as Kowalski closed the distance, suddenly he pulled out two plasma grenades and screamed at the top of his lungs. Kowalski could only say 'oh shit' before he unloaded everything he had into the ugly little midget alien. A blue explosion came seconds after the Grunt fell to the ground dead.

"Fucker went suicidal!" Pearson said shocked "I heard they do that but I thought they were just rumours. I didn't think they were that devoted to the cause."

"Keep moving people!" Taylor ordered "They wanna blow themselves up its fine by me!"

"I agree Sergeant, just an observation." Pearson defended himself.

They eventually reached the door to the bunker, the Elites to busy with the Marines in the front to bother with the ones sneaking up behind.

"Throw as many grenades in there as you got," Taylor told them "I ain't risking any of them surviving. We'll go in, kill whatever is left alive. Now!"

The marines tossed their grenades in and let them roll to the front of the bunker. The explosion was incredibly loud and even sent a heap of dust and small pieces of debris out the door.

"Move in kill the survivors!" Taylor ordered

Kowalski rushed in with Ramirez and popped the head of the only Elite still kicking, well would be kicking if he still had legs. That dealt with they exited and looked towards the terrain ahead. Riddled with similar Covenant positions, some bigger, some smaller, others with vehicles guarding them.

"Well, one out of a dozen more positions to go." Pearson said looking at it all "But you know what they say, baby steps. Gotta crawl before you can walk and all."

"I have a feeling we're gonna be doing a lot of crawling." Kowalski told him as they moved out again "Unless of course we're not fond of our heads anymore."

"Cut the chatter people," Taylor told them "day ain't over yet."

* * *

><p>No one had really moved much at all since the armoury had been taken. The snipers above saw to that. Miranda understandably didn't want to move much as long as they were alive and kept everyone within cover. For the past couple of minutes they'd been keeping eyes locked on the silo trying their best to pinpoint the Skirmisher, but this alien wasn't stupid. He kept shifting his position, along with his spotter. Both of them, armed with needler rifles were skittering up and down the stairs within the structure, only once in awhile getting up to the top where a fortified sniper's nest was positioned, protecting them for the humans below.<p>

"Have you got a fix on them already Zaeed?" Miranda asked

"Nah, bastards too fast." He grumbled "Starting to piss me off."

Miranda groaned, this was intolerable, she may have not been much of a soldier but she knew about schedules. They were important in this line of work as any other and they were way off task by now.

"We're wasting time," she said "we should just blow the thing up already and kill them all."

Zaeed breathed a sigh of relief suddenly.

"Bloody hell why didn't you just say that earlier?" he asked as he bent down "I could've solved this in a tick."

The merc brought back up a Covenant fuel rod launcher and took aim at the silo. Before anyone could say something he launched all four of the pods within at the structure's supports. The silo began to tumble to the ground in pieces, no way the skirmishers were surviving that.

"Why didn't you do that sooner?" Miranda asked irritated

"You told me to snipe them first. I figured you'd probably get pissy at me for go for the direct approach." He said "You aren't exactly the kind of person I'd expect to appreciate demolition."

Miranda didn't buy it of course.

"You just wanted to see how long it would take me to lose it didn't you?" she asked annoyed

"I have to find my fun somewhere." He replied "Lesson learned in any case, want something done, just tell me to blow it."

Miranda could hear Jacob giggling a bit.

"Whatever, let's just get up to the farmhouse and finish this already." She said grumbling

* * *

><p>Inside the farmhouse the Grunts were panicking, rushing to the back as fast they could not intending to be at the front door when the humans barged in through the barricades. The house was only two stories, made out of wood and plaster, not concrete and steel like most other buildings around here. They had just watched one of their own weapons level a far taller silo. They did not like their chances.<p>

As they clawed to get upstairs, safer ground in their eyes from the slaughter that was sure to come, one of them was knocked down the stairs. The Grunts looked up to see the post's new commander.

"You should be lucky that I even considered sheltering among the other officers." He said "Pathetic! I can see why your race is little more than slaves. Where I come from you'd all be killed on the spot for your cowardice, but for now your lives for this cause will do."

Amazingly they were still undeterred and continued to try and press their commander, hoping to appeal to some kind of sympathy.

"We all die!" one Grunt blurted out "Let us up! Better cover! PLEASE!"

A single plasma blast nearly struck the Grunt, hitting near his feet and forcing him back.

"You die for a glorious cause, be proud of that." The commander said "We shall all die here, together, killing humans. There is no better reason to lay down your life. Each of you shall kill ten humans before you die. Ten! There is no leaving this house! Ten humans! That is what your lives cost to me! Ten humans each! Now make ready the defences!"

The Grunts had no choice and scurried back to their positions. They might as well have just killed themselves for all the good it would do.

* * *

><p>Tali's Falcon arrived on time as expected, Shepard was pleased to see her, but the Quarian still seemed distant towards him. Shepard knew why, and he didn't really blame her all that much to be sure.<p>

"Carter says we can use the Falcon as close range support now that the gun is gone." She told Shepard weakly "We could use it. I saw one wraith in the pass up ahead, whole bunch of covenant infantry surrounding it too."

Shepard looked to Garrus.

"Take the Falcon with the others." He ordered "Tali and her squad can ride with me in the hammerhead. We'll take the Wraith from all sides, kill it quickly and move on."

Garrus nodded once and rushed his people over to the Falcon. Tali and her squad walked slowly into the hammerhead and strapped themselves into the back seats. Before long they were off again, mostly in silence. Eventually Shepard broke it.

"So..." he began "how'd the radio station go?"

Tali didn't answer, but Thane did.

"Well." He assured "We killed many, it was quick and efficient like any good job, Tali filled her role quite nicely too."

Tali kept her head down as things continued, not bothering to talk back. Her commander tried to eek something out of her.

"Sounds like everything went well huh Tali?" he asked

"Depends on how you define it I guess." She said dismissively "Maybe we should just focus on that zealot for the time."

Shepard sighed, no sense in continuing. He didn't want to do more damage. In any case he didn't have time to think of something else to say. Two ghosts had rushed out from under a destroyed bridge up ahead, firing wildly at them. Shepard was not at all in the mood for this.

"Roast them Grunt." Shepard ordered

The Krogan obliged with a menacing laugh and fired several missiles at the Ghosts as they approached. They didn't stand much of a chance, these ones didn't bother to bob and weave as much and the tracking system was able to keep them in the crosshairs. One of the Ghosts lost control suddenly after a missile ripped through it and the vehicle slammed into its already battered partner. The vehicles collided and began to flip sideways, twisting each other in a ball of steel and metal.

"Ha!" Grunt said as he looked at the burning wreckage "Get up from that ya stinking pyjack humpers!"

Grunt's little celebration was cut off when an explosion slammed down in front of their Hammerhead. Shepard instantly began evasive manoeuvres as more blue plasma rained down on them.

"Let me guess," he began sardonically "That's the wraith?"

"That's affirmative Commander," Garrus called over the radio "I'm looking at it right now and he's definitely got you in his sights."

"Aright start buzzing his ass Garrus, see if we can't get his attention split a bit." Shepard ordered

"Can do." Garrus assured

The Turian took up the side gun on the Falcon, a grenade launcher and began raining death down on the Wraith's position. It suddenly shifted its attention to the Falcon as it fired plumes of plasma at the ship. Luckily the pilot was more than capable of avoiding the arcs as they came at him. The grenades put a dent in the Wraith, but the tank was quickly moving to avoid the attacks, thus it's infantry escort got more of the grenade's attention.

It didn't last forever, as Garrus watched Shepard and the Noble Team warthog go under the broken bridge and up the path towards the top of the hill an uninvited phantom crested the horizon. It planted itself right over the Wraith tank, blocking Garrus' view.

"Damn it! Out of the way wideload!" he shouted

He began firing on the Phantom, but they were a bit tougher to kill than a Wraith. As the dropship let off more troops on the ground the Hammerhead and Warthog began to fire their own ordnance.

"You take the tank our missiles will finish the phantom!" Noble Two ordered

Shepard obliged and slammed the accelerator towards the Wraith. The tank was now being a bit more careful, what with its friend perched above it. It fired its plasma arcs lower to the ground, the infantry rushing out of the way to avoid getting hit. Shepard managed to stay ahead of the shots, but he wouldn't be able to kill the Wraith very quickly firing at its front armour.

Six in the meantime had already targeted the phantom was firing salvo after salvo at the beast, blowing up bits and pieces of it. He aimed for the guns first, hoping to give Shepard some breathing room as he went for the Wraith. Before long, between the combined grenade assault from Garrus on high and Six's attacks from below, the explosions were starting to wear on the Phantom.

As the covenant dropship started to catch fire Shepard boosted the Hammerhead towards the Wraith and had the vehicle jump up. He landed on the tank's side and shifted towards it's back. The tank kept trying to realign itself, to get Shepard back in its sights, but by now Grunt had a clear shot at the backside of the Wraith and he was exploiting it to the fullest. As the missiles tore at the power core at the back the Phantom seemed to veer off, the damage becoming to much for it. It didn't get far, exploding mere seconds after it departed.

The Wraith now clung to life and tried to boost itself towards the hill's edge, hoping to drop down and escape. But now all three guns took aim at the little tank and blasted it to pieces. As the fires engulfed the Wraith Noble Two drove the warthog up towards the broken bridge.\

"Gonna need another bridge drop here." She said over the radio. "Once it's laid we can move on."

A pelican soon arrived overhead and began to lower a bridge across the destroy span. As it did, Carter came on the radio once.

"Noble Two there's a mining facility ahead of you. A trooper squad has engaged a considerable garrison of Covenant. We think it's another of their command posts." He explained "gonna need you to help them out."

"We'll be there in a few minutes." Kat assured

"We can fly ahead and see what we can do to help them out." Garrus suggested

Kat let them go, air support was what those troopers would need right now. She turned to Shepard who was already charging across the dropped bridge. She followed soon after. They had army troopers to save after all.

However, the troopers soon became a secondary objective, as did the command post. For Garrus, as he approached the mining facility itself, finally received the call they'd been waiting for. As he looked down below and saw the troopers huddled for cover behind a rock as a shade turret hammered them, a strange voice, not Shepard, not Carter, not Kat, sounded off in his comm.-link.

"This is an encrypted message to all Normandy squad members." It said "The Zealot has been located, it has been located. The target is in a mining facility currently being assaulted by UNSC troopers. Repeat, the target is in a mining facility, most likely in the back of the compound. Any Normandy forces nearby should move to intercept now."

Garrus looked back at his team, just confirm that they had heard it too. They were all looking at him likewise.

"It would appear Halsey kept her word." Samara noted

Legion looked over the side of the Falcon.

"Considerable forces in Shepard Commander's path." It noted "They will not be able to reach the Zealot in time."

"We can by-pass them." Garrus replied, nodding his head as he did "We're in an aircraft after all."

"Main forces potentially more concerned with Shepard." Mordin reasoned "Won't expect second line of defence to be hit. Also, possible only chance to capture Zealot alive. Spartans will kill him."

Garrus informed Shepard over the comms.

"Commander we're going in. Attacking them from behind." He explained "See if we take some of them off your hands."

Shepard got the gist of it, after all he had gotten the message form Halsey's man too.

"We'll meet up at the back of the facility." He said "Shepard out."

Garrus brought out his rifle and cocked it once.

"Remember, we take him alive." He said "Every other Covenant is fair game. Wound him if you have to, but don't kill him. This is it people, let's do it."

The Falcon didn't leave the front of the facility completely hanging as they flew over. As Garrus ordered the pilot to land behind he made sure to rake the forward position with gun fire, just to thin out the defences. Unfortunately that meant Garrus and the team had less time before the Spartans bowled over the bad guys and mad eit to their position. Where they'd most certainly kill their target.

Shepard watched Garrus' Falcon descend into the mining facility alone, nothing he could do now but hope Garrus got the job done. He turned back to the task at hand, helping the troopers. They were bunkered down behind some rocks near the bridgehead. Across said bridge, the facility itself and a shade turret that just didn't stop shooting.

Six and Grunt would correct that problem as they bombarded the turret with enough missiles to have the salvo categorized as a fireworks display. When it was over there was nothing left of the shade turret or the Covenant bridge defenders in general.

"Have to ditch the vehicles people." Noble Two told everyone coldly "Move up across the bridge and into the facility. Clear it out! No survivors."

Shepard hoped that wouldn't be entirely true by the end of this. He piled out of the Hammerhead with the others and began rushing up the bridge behind Six and Kat. It was uneventful crossing but as soon as they were on the other side it became apparent not every covie had been killed. Two grunts from behind some concrete barriers, covering the access to the stairs that lead up to the top of the mining facility's main building, opened fire. Their plasma bursts struck Six first, taking down his shields. He was undeterred by the attack. Even as another plasma blast struck his now unshielded shoulder he lobbed a grenade at the Grunt position. The explosive arced behind the dividers and landed between the aliens. The blast peppered them with shrapnel and sent their bodies flying.

No time to stop, the group kept going. They raced up the stairs to the catwalks above. As they approached needles started raining on them from on high, a Skirmisher was on the roof firing down on them. Thane pitched around as he reached the top of the stairs. The Drell aimed his rifle and fired a single shot. The Skirmisher took the hit straight through the bottom of his jaw and up through past his head. The assassin didn't stand around to watch the body fall.

Already Shepard and Jack had taken up point using their biotics to clear a path, although there was initially very little to clear. Two Jackals rushed out around the bend in the catwalks, firing madly at their foes while staying behind their portable cover. A combined shockwave sent the small squad flying into the air and over the railing towards the chasm below. Between two biotics the Grunts and Jackals didn't stand much of a chance.

Still they kept trying to hold the advance off. Jack raced up the next set of steps to another platform, finding a number of Grunts and one Jackal there facing her. With a powerful push of her hand a biotic field swept across the platform and scattered them to the winds. The Jackal hunkered down behind his shield, able to resist the biotic attack. When he got back up to shoot, the shield was ripped away from him by a robotic arm. Kat then backhanded the alien with the same prosthetic, sending him to the ground before moving on. Jack fired a single shot into the Jackal's head before continuing to move.

Still more Grunts tried to move up and fight, trying to block their way on the next platform. But this platform did not favour the defender at all, not with the massive inflammable tank nearby, but they paid it no mind as they rushed up. Armed with a Grenade launcher Shepard had finally let him use, the Krogan Grunt rushed up to face the aliens who shared his name, even if only in slang. He aimed his launcher at he tank and fired. The resulting explosion engulfed the covenant position, while the adolescent Krogan ducked down activating Mordin's armour modifications. The blast did not wound him, but the covenant Grunts were not so lucky.

There were more of the Covenant cannon fodder race up top, on the catwalk that led to top floor of the mining facility's main building. Kasumi and Thane raced up forward, taking aim at their heads. Between Kasumi's heavy pistol and Thane's rifle, each Grunt's head popped like a melon as the others kept moving. At the top of the stairs an Elite Major at last showed itself, jumping from behind a corner with several Grunts in tow. Tali reacted swiftly as she was directly behind Jack and Shepard for the moment. She drained the Elite's shields and fired past her two comrades into the Alien officer. Even as he flinched from the shots that managed to get through, the Elite managed to roll and pivot away from a number and maintain firing. Jack launched a shockwave across the floor towards the Elite and his Grunts. He dodged quickly, rolling out of the way, letting his comrades take the hit for him. But when he popped up again, Shepard was racing for him, biotically charging into his face. The Elite couldn't dodge that and was flipped into the air, receiving an extra boost from Shepard's proceeding shotgun round.

No rest for the wearily as plasma fired raked his shields. Shepard ducked into cover and saw another Elite armed with a plasma turret firing down the corridor towards them. He too, like the grunts before him, neglected the flammable tank a few feet in front of him.

"Blow him sky high!" he ordered

Grunt obliged and joined by Six. Armed with a Grenade Launcher himself, the two fired several grenades at the Covenant position, even as the plasma assaulted their shields. The explosions were added to when the tank itself exploded.

* * *

><p>As all this was happening, Garrus and his team had dropped down into the courtyard behind the main facility. They were no poised near a smaller building, perhaps meant for storing equipment. On their way down they had spotted the Zealot on top of the building, issuing orders to his troops. Garrus could only assume one of two things, he was sacrificing them while he escaped or he was setting them up for a last stand. Given what he knew and had seen of Elites he was not sure of which option he was taking, but neither was favourable.<p>

"Up the stairs!" he ordered "Remember! Alive!"

He couldn't stress that enough, he knew it would be so much easier to kill this covie than nab him. As a former C-Sec officer he knew that was the case with any suspect. He had himself been tempted to take the easy way more than once in his career. But he knew how important this was.

Perhaps the reminder was more for his benefit.

The stairway up to the roof of the building was guarded by a number of Grunts wearing unique armour. It was coloured green and had a gas mask that covered their entire face. They sure looked more protected than their counterparts in red and yellow armour.

But they were still just Grunts, still no real match for them despite their fancier duds. The Grunts opened fire almost immediately. The Normandy squad did the same. Samara fired a reave attack, completely immobilizing one Grunt, robbing him of his strength. As the alien fell to his knees in pain the Asari fired into his head with her rifle. Mordin fared a bit easier, using his cryo burst to freeze several Grunts on the steps in one go. Legion finished them off, shooting each of the aliens and shattering them to pieces with its Geth rifle. There were more of the Green coloured Grunts bounding down the stairs as Garrus' team rushed up them,

"Sorry we gotta talk to your boss for a second!" Garrus shouted as he opened fire.

Samara saw the distraction these little creatures presented and used her biotics to lift them all into air and toss them aside. These were probably the best armoured grunts they had faced so far, but they were sitll not adequate warriors. The few shots they had managed to get on Garrus' people did little to drain their shields. One Grunt at the top of the stairs however did fire a full blast at Garrus, draining him completely. Mordin replied to the attack in kind by setting alight the Grunt's methane tank. The small explosion turned the alien to bits and left their route to the Elite Zealot at last open.

They gazed upon their prey as they finally reached the top, his armour configuration and helmet left no doubt it was a Zealot. When he walked backwards and away from them Garrus noticed the next part of his prey. The limp, the Zealot was limping, no doubt about it this Elite was the same one he had encountered.

Before the Turian could order the others to take him the Zealot had the remaining members of his squad, a number of Skirmishers and Grunts, open fire on them. Mordin didn't hesitate to use drop shield once the shooting started and the protective bubble save them from the plasma blasts. The Zealot began to back off further towards a giant hole in the roof that led inside.

"Target is on move." Mordin warned "Must go now Garrus!"

"I see him!" the Turian assured as he aimed his weapon.

He surveyed the battlefield, an explosive tank of fuel on the far end, several enemies between them and the Elite. His shields were strong, he'd need to disable them and pin the eight foot monster to the ground. He needed to stall him, get enough time to grab him.

"Mordin blow the tank!" Garrus shouted "Samara throw the bastard off the side! Legion with me! Move!"

They rushed out of their cover, Samara using a throw field to toss the defenders back, opening a path towards their commander. Mordin aimed an incineration burst at the tank, it exploded violently, but it didn't kill the Elite he was still too far away and his shields absorbed what did strike him. The blast made him pause for a moment though allowing Garrus and Legion to close the distance. The Zealot leapt down into the hole below, three grunts there to greet him. Garrus had kept the arc projector for this and armed up the blast as he fell. The lighting struck one Grunt and arced to a second, Legion collapsed on top of a Grunt's head, crushing it. The Zealot kept running. Garrus wouldn't allow him to get far, tossing out an overload that struck the Elite in the back, shorting out his shields. The Elite rushed as fast as his limping leg could carry him towards the edge of the floor they were on, down to ground level and a possible exit.

Garrus took the chance and leapt at the alien, grappling with his back. Both of them fell to the floor in a heap. Grunts rushed to aid their commander as he fell to the floor, but Legion backed up its own squad leader. It fired two shots from the Widow, each striking the gas guzzlers dead.

Garrus continued to fight with the Elite on the floor.

"Remember me?" he asked as he punched him in the jaw "Maybe this will jog your memory!"

Garrus kneed the Elite in his bad leg, but even as the Zealot howled in pain he kicked the Turian off him. He now stood back up, charged at the Turian and grabbed him by the bony ring circling his neck. He tossed him into a beam and pinned him there. The Elite then furiously began to punch the Turian in the stomach, growling and laughing as he did.

But Turians were not push-overs and Garrus was not the exception. His arms were still free even as the Elite kept one of his own hands clasped around his neck. He elbowed the Elite in the face sending him wheeling backwards. When the Elite charged again the Turian punted him in the chest with his own kick which he furiously followed up by ramming his whole body into the elite once more. The collided with the nearby wall and the Elite took over the advantage again. He kneed Garrus in the head with his good leg once more, grabbed him by the fringe and tossed him aside. As Garrus landed he lashed out another kick, again at the bad leg. The Elite howled in pain again and staggered back from Garrus.

He went to stomp on the Turian's face but, a blue aura surrounded him and pinned him into a wall. Shortly after, as he fell to the floor, he was covered in a stasis field. Garrus looked over to the stairs leading to the second floor and saw Samara her hand outstretched.

"Quickly!" she told him "Bind him!"

Garrus rushed to get the cuffs on the Elite, reinforced steel, covered even the talons so he couldn't scrath anyone. He did the same with the legs, binding them with a chain that he could walk in but not be able to fight in. As he got the last restraint on the stasis faded and the Elite began to buck around wildly trying to escape. Legion rushed down to pin the alien to the floor while Mordin rushed with omni-tool in hand.

"Injecting stimulant." He said pulling out a special injection device "Calm him. Keep him from struggling. Easier to transport."

Mordin tried to get a fix on the elite's unprotected neck, but the Zealot wouldn't stay still. His mandibles began to flap wildly, hurling insults their way. He defiantly could at least speak human, because they all understood him, his words translated for them as he spat them.

"Infidels!" he screeched "Filthy blaspheming infidels! Tools of the False Shepherd! Pawns of the Humans! Thieves and Defilers of our lords! You shall pay! The Inquisitor shall make you pay for touching me with your unclean heretic hands!"

"Oh shut up already!" Garrus screamed at him, punching the Elite in the eye.

The Turian then closed his hand around the elite's snout and pinned him to the floor, allowing Mordin to inject him with the relaxant. Sedated now, the squad lugged the Elite outside to the back of the building. They heard an explosion as they did, Shepard must've made it past the alst of the defences. They would be here shortly.

"Joker," Garrus spoke through a secure channel "we have our run away fanatic with the bad leg. Is the shuttle nearby to take him back to the Normandy?"

"Oh it's nearby," Joker acknowledged "got a security detail too. But you're gonna have to wait on him getting back in here."

* * *

><p>The Normandy bobbed and weaved away from the incoming plasma fire. The shots grazed the armour as the spacecraft pulled an Immelmann and got itself behind the two banshees. Two quick blasts from the mass accelerators destroyed the Banshees instantly, but more were on the Normandy's tail.<p>

Inside the cockpit, Joker frantically clicked at the controls to keep the Normandy flying.

"I got people on the ground to protect and I gotta get these banshees off me!" Joker told Garrus "I'll be fine but they'll shoot the shuttle down if it gets close. Just put the prisoner on the shuttle and we'll keep it out of range of the battlefield until I'm clear of these hornets!"

Another plasma burst erupted across the port bow and Joker flipped the ship around to meet the banshee that was taking pot shots at him.

"I am on the phone!" he screamed "Do they not have common courtesy on your planet!"

He fired the mass accelerators once more, obliterating the banshee.

* * *

><p>Garrus shook his head disappointed, still it wasn't like the Elite was gonna go anywhere. The sedation would last at least an hour and it wouldn't take a pilot like Joker that long to clear the skies. As the shuttle arrived Garrus tossed the Elite in to a stunned security team.<p>

"All yours boys, bring her in when Joker gives the all clear." He told them.

With that the Shuttle lifted off. Mission accomplished, at least one, they still had a spire to get to.

The shuttle was well away by the time Shepard and the others arrived.

"Some firefight you guys were in back there." Kat noted as they all approached the team "You seem to have managed yourselves pretty well though."

"New equipment works perfectly." Mordin told her "Saved our lives. Should use more often."

Kat looked over to Garrus.

"Dot mentioned there could be a zealot in the area on our way back here." She told him "See him?"

Garrus looked to Shepard, as expected the commander shook his head. They couldn't know, not yet.

"We found him, but he's ash now." Garrus replied "Mordin hit him with an incinerate attack. Nothing left."

Mordin quickly jumped to lend his words to the story.

"Yes very terrible fate." He concurred "Nothing left. Should no longer pose problem."

This seemed to satisfy Kat as she walked away. Garrus looked over to Shepard and gave him the a-okay sign. Shepard nodded gratefully, that was one issue solved.

"Great now let's get to that next AA gun." Shepard said aloud "No time to have pelicans pick-up our rides so I guess we hoof it."

"Or..."

Everyone turned to see Kasumi atop a covenant ghost, with a Revenant nearby.

"We could borrow these," she informed them "I don't think their previous owners will mind... being dead and all."

Shepard merely smiled, as did Grunt.

"Dibs on the one with the big plasma gun." He smirked sinisterly

* * *

><p>Zaeed approached the door to the farmhouse slowly. Jacob and Jorge were close behind him.<p>

"Ready for this?" Jacob asked them both

"Just open the door Taylor." Zaeed ordered "We got some aliens to fry."

Jacob busted down the door off its hinges and Zaeed let his flamethrower do the rest. The first few Covenant at the door were set alight instantly and the Grunts scurried and clawed at their skin trying to put out the flames. Jorge stepped into the door next, firing a stream of bullets into the entrance way, killing anything left alive.

"Stay behind me," he told Jacob and Zaeed "move room to room! Clear'em out!"

Jacob went first to the left, stepping over the charred bodies and towards a door that led to the study. Inside the room were two Jackals and two Grunts, using the overturned desk and their shields as cover. Jacob went back to cover as the Plasma started coming at him, flying through the doorway. He waited for the guns to overheat and popped back in. Using biotics he lifted one of the Grunts into the air and towards him. Then he punted the little alien back into the shield of a Jackal. The sudden hit sent the Jackal onto the floor and Jacob followed it up by unloading inferno rounds into the barely covered Jackal. He moved to the flank of the enemy as another Jackal stepped out of cover and used his shield to close the gap between him and the human, firing his pistol as he went. Jacob then used pull again, this time to tug at the shield itself. It was attached to the Jackal's arm, but that didn't matter to Jacob right now. Unable to properly move his shield, Jacob plug the Jackal full of inferno rounds.

One last enemy, the Grunt, and it leapt from behind cover to fire a full blast at the human. Shields were drained and Jacob could feel the sting of the plasma, even through his armour. He was still happy for those modifications he and Tali had made before all this started. They were proving to be a god send so far. Jacob turned to the Grunt and biotically tossed into the back of the study where he hit a shelf of books. The shelf collapsed on the little alien, burying him under paper and heavy wood. Jacob wasn't one to like destroying books, but he needed to make sure the alien was dead so he fired his pistol in the pile until he could see blood pooling out.

"Clear here!" Jacob shouted

Zaeed was in the room across from him, apparently a downstairs bathroom. He wasn't really in it, more accurately he was standing outside it, flamethrower in hand and torching everything within. Jacob wasn't even sure if Zaeed had seen any Covenant. He was probably just torching the room to be sure. Eventually though a Skirmisher rushed out, it's entire body engulfed in flames and the explosion of a Grunt's methane tank was heard next, the flamethrower fuel had not been wasted.

"Clear on this end!" he said

Jorge had moved to the downstairs bedroom near the stairs. Kicking open the door he fired a stream of bullets into the room, surprising a number of grunts that had been waiting there. The single man beds had been flipped over as cover, but the mattresses proved useless against penetrating chaingun rounds.

The Grunts who were quick enough fell to the floor, avoiding some of the bullets if they were lucky. They had to lie on their sides, the large tank too dangerous to have sticking up in the air. They didn't all survive, Grunts are very broad-chested aliens, but the two that did were still a threat. As they scurried back into the fray, their plasma pistols charged, they opened up on the hulking Spartan. It was easy to hit the huge super-soldier in the doorway, but the blasts didn't faze Jorge. His shields and armour were more than capable of withstanding the plasma.

Another volley of bullets and the Grunts were dead for sure this time, their bodies looking like Swiss cheese. They matched the room's decor for sure now, Jorge could even see rays of sunlight coming from outside.

"Clear here!" he called to the others "Moving to living room and kitchen!"

The final area downstairs was through an open archway, where both the living room and kitchen held the same large space. Jorge knew there would be more hostiles here, potentially more than just scared little Grunts. Still nothing he couldn't handle.

He opened fire as he stepped up, catching one Grunt off guard and filling him with lead. That was the cue for everyone else to bust out and try and take the Spartan down. Behind the kitchen counter to Jorge's left, an Elite and a squad of Grunts. Amongst the sofa and coffee table to the right, a healthy amount of jackals lead by an Elite Major. Jorge wasted no time he fired a stream at the counter just to suppress the enemy, keep their heads down. Then he turned back to the living room area and marched forward as the bullet hose he was carrying rattled.

Jackal shields could hold up to bullets for awhile, but with so many bullets hitting it one was bound to get through a weak-spot. That and Jorge was aiming for their legs, intending to cut the little assassins down like stalks of corn. He managed to get one, his knees buckling forward, before the Elite Major charged. Jorge smacked the alien back with the barrel of his gun, no matter how good your shields a blow to the head with a massive piece of metal like the chaingun was gonna hurt. The Elite stumbled back in pain, ducking behind a chair to regain its composure.

The Jackals had no such luck, closer to his prey now Jorge began strafing the Jackals, making sure to keep them all in his sights as he moved around the sofas and chairs in the room. He didn't want get boxed in and have them double team him from front and behind. Jorge's bullets either found the legs or hit the Jackals in their vulnerable gun port on the side. One Jackal ended up being shredded apart before collapsing, dancing sickly as he did. Another practically pushed back into a chair as he the bullets smacked into him.

This same chair was the one the Elite had been hiding behind of course and when it looked like all his comrades were dead he kicked the chair into Jorge. The heavy little comfy chair travelled across the room, the impressive inherent strength of the Elite more than enough to send it skidding across the floor, helped along by all the alien blood now coating it. Jorge brought his massive gun to bear and smacked the chair to the side. The Elite by now was blasting at Jorge with a plasma rifle, intending to bring down his shields and kill the Spartan for good. Jorge merely charged into the Elite and forced his chaingun into the hole beneath the alien's mandibles.

"Reach ain't yours Covie," he derided the alien "but I hope you like it cause you're gonna be staying here forever!"

Jorge pulled the trigger and the Elite's head turned to a fine paste.

The Spartan didn't skip a beat. As soon as the Elite had been dealt with he turned back to the counter and poured on the fire. The chaingun tore through the kitchen, taking out chunks of wood, putting holes in the fridge, perforating the stove. The Covenant behind it hunkered down for cover, even the Elite knew it was suicide to stick his head up.

Amazingly the first on to try something was a Grunt. Whether he was so scared out of his little mind that he freaked out or the constant stress of being cannon fodder had finally made him snap, no one would be able to tell. What was clear was a Grunt rushed out from behind the counter, a Plasma Pistol and Needler in his left and right hands respectively. Motivated by insanity or an unusual sense of bravery, the little gas guzzling alien screamed bloody murder as he fired everything he had at the massive Spartan, unflinching in his resolve to close the gap and damage the big human. The attack did little other than drain Jorge's shields considerably, the needles that did get stuck in hurt like a bitch but he'd been trained to handle them. Not enough penetrated to cause a massive explosion of pink mist anyway.

When the Grunt finally got close enough Jorge punted the alien in the jaw and sent him flying back into the kitchen's counter. Were he not so focused with killing his friends Jorge might've admired the attempt, stupid and suicidal as it was.

By now the counter was full of holes, the cover only holding up because it was very hardy construction. Fed up with wasting ammo Jorge tossed a Grenade behind the counter. As he heard the explosive clink against the floor the Elite jumped over the counter, leaving his Grunt buddies to die in the forthcoming blast. The Covenant officer now leaped towards Jorge, a plasma dagger in his hand. If he was gonna die he was gonna die in style, that much Jorge could compliment.

As the alien flew at him he unloaded his chaingun into him and watched the body spiral backwards, falling on top of the counter dead as blood seeped from his wounds.

"Clear!" Jorge shouted "Second floor! Move!"

Jorge found Jacob and Zaeed already assembled at the staircase.

"You go first bullet fountain." Zaeed said "You're like a damn boulder that moves around and shoots arseholes. Perfect cover."

Jorge didn't argue, he was gonna take point anyway. He went up first and let the two follow, but as they reached the first landing, several blue flaming orbs landed in front of them.

"Plasma nades!" he shouted "Down!"

A blue burst of hot flaming plasma exploded in their faces, destroying the banister and taking out a good chunk of the wall to boot. What it didn't kill however were the humans on the steps. Each of them had crouched down, activating their armour lock. The blasts merely trickled over them as if they were water. They got back up, the armour lock deactivated and raced to the top of the stairs.

"Glad we had those upgrades now."Jacob said relieved

"Let's find the bastards who tried to blow us sky high and return the favour." Zaeed said "Wankers gonna wish they had better aim with their sticky grenades."

The upstairs were particularly quiet, except for the hall leading to the master bedroom. More than likely where the people in charge had set up shop. The team crept up to the partially open door.

"Same as the front guys," Jacob said "catch'em by surprise and wrap this up."

Jorge kicked open the door and let Zaeed and Jacob rush into the room. They would've started firing had they not just walked into a bit of a shock. There was an Elite in the room standing in front of some kind of control panel that showed off a map of the area. He was Special Ops from the look of his armour, but he wasn't alone. Beside him stood something Jorge couldn't recognize.

"The hell are those?" he asked

Jacob and Zaeed knew instantly what they were. The large forehead, the crinkled nose, the four eyes rounded chin. Its face was inhuman but its body looked uncannily like one. Zaeed had killed plenty in his lifetime, Jacob not as much. Regardless they knew their aliens and they didn't hesitate to shout out their names.

"Batarians!" both of them shouted out.

The Batarian nearest the Elite began firing on the humans, shouting something that couldn't be translated to the humans at first. They both dove to the side as the plasma rounds began firing. The lead Batarian was using a plasma pistol, his fellow four eyed friends were using plasma repeaters.

"Kill the humans!" the lead Batarian shouted "Melt the skin right off their bones!"

Jorge had ducked down into armour lock as the plasma started hitting him, protecting him from the attacks.

"Get close to them!" Jorge squeaked out "Remember this ain't just for saving your ass!"

Jacob remembered and he dove close to the mass of aliens as Zaeed fired back on them with his assault rifle, trying to take down their shields with his phasic rounds. It wouldn't matter in the next few seconds though. Jacob activated armour lock once more and just as quickly deactivated the. There was an emp-burst them came shortly after, disrupting the shields of the Batarians and Elite. The Elite didn't pause he began to strafe to side, firing his concussion rifle as he made his was for a rack of guns. He needed cover now more than ever. Zaeed turned to face him, while Jacob let off a shotgun round in the lead Batarian's face. As the bastard burned the former alliance corsair ducked out of the way and Jorge's chaingun lit up once more. He cut down the Batarians, destroying the control panel they were in front of.

Meanwhile Zaeed whirled around the corner of the gun rack and received a smack to his face. The Elite spec ops soldier had got the jump on him, but his shield hadn't fully regenerated. Zaeed, even as he reeled back, had a clear idea of what to do. A concussion round of his own slammed into the Elite. He fell backwards, still firing his concussion rifle off in the direction of Zaeed, but the old merc was still fast enough to duck out of the way. He fired point blank into the Elite's torso as the alien landed on his back The fight was over quickly, but Zaeed still could feel the punch he'd been hit with. He reached up to his mouth, tasting iron on his tongue.

"Bastard nearly broke my jaw." He said annoyed "Gonna need a bit of medi-gel for that."

"We'll handle it later," Jacob told him "we got bigger issues."

Jacob looked down on the now dead Batarians and quickly contacted Miranda knowing she'd want to see this. No doubt she'd have questions, Jacob himself was asking a few to himself right about now. Jorge of course was itching for some answers of his own. It didn't take a genius to figure out when someone knew a species' name and you didn't they were intimately familiar with them.

"Friends of yours?" Jorge asked as he walked up behind Jacob.

"Batarians," Jacob explained, not caring if Miranda or Shepard would have an issue towards spilling the beans this go around. Jorge deserved to know. "they're a nasty race of aliens. Not fond of humans either. They were a growing power when we showed up. They think we stole their territory out from under them. So they spend most of their time funding terrorists and slavers to screw with us."

Zaeed was bent down over one of the Batarians, his eyes drawn to an armband on the alien's armour. It was a Batarian Fist held high over a picture of the home world Khar'Shan and two blades criss-crossing each other from behind the planet.

"I know these blokes." He said "Had me a few run-ins before during some pro-bono work. Killing slavers is a nice stress release. These guys were trading supplies with them, human colonists for guns. I've seen a lot of Batarian terror group, but these guys are pretty new. Only showed up two or so years ago I think. Call themselves 'Swords of Khar'Shan', pretty standard kind of name for a Batarian terror group."

"And I'm guessing their agenda is pretty standard too, kill humans." Jacob added "Covies must've recruited them back in our universe and brought them here."

"Well they share mutual interests it seems." Jorge agreed "Still, they're a long way from home. Why go through all the trouble of coming here just to shoot us up when they can do it on their side?"

"Covenant probably made a good deal, sold them a few of their ships maybe." Jacob suggested "Or maybe their leader figured they could use some stronger allies."

"Most likely, leader is some crazy victimization preaching son of a bitch." Zaeed answered as he stood up "I think his name is Balick? Ball-Itch? Something with a B. I never can remember Batarian names. They all sound so damn stupid."

No time to properly figure out who they were dealing with. Jacob knew if this was a terror group there would be more Batarians around. As he heard Miranda coming up the steps with Emile he tried to contact Shepard. He needed to warn him.

"Shepard!" he shouted into his communicator "Shepard do you read! We have situation here!"

* * *

><p>Shepard could hear Jacob yapping in his ear piece, but at the moment he didn't have much time to listen.<p>

"Jacob I am a little busy here!" he shouted back as he tried to keep his aim steady. "Can this wait?"

A plasma shot slammed right near the driver's side of Revenant, Grunt was undeterred by the blast keeping the vehicle on the road as best he could. The attack on the second AA gun had begun and already Shepard had realised they may have gotten in over their heads on this one. There were two Wraiths, each of them were lobbing plasma rounds at the team and another Revenant ducking in and out to take pot shots at them. In one hijacked Ghost, Six kept his speed up as he bobbed and weaved among the Covenant defenders. Garrus was in the second Ghost, trying his best to keep it steady and his targets in the crosshairs as explosions hit all around him.

The rest of the team was on foot, advancing up when they could. The AA gun this go around was protected on all its sides by a natural rock formation that cradled like a baby. There was only one path leading up and it was blocked by a mess of Covenant troopers and the aforementioned vehicles. Tali kept beside Kat as they moved up, hoping the vehicles could draw the fire of the wraiths for them as they approached the gun. As one Grunt charged Kat the Spartan punched out with her robotic arm and smacked him away.

"This planet is gonna be their grave." She said coldly "Keep moving!"

The team rushed up to some nearby trees and rocks for cover as Garrus' ghost raced past, drawing the attention of the Wraith once more. It followed Garrus, lobbing plasma his way. But the Ghost was still more nimble and the Turian was able to drive circles around it, despite his inexperience with the ghost itself. He kept plugging away at the power core in the back hoping to get it to explode in time.

Back in the cover of the rocks and trees Legion kept trying to pick out targets where it could. The gunners on the Wraiths were difficult as they kept spinning around while chasing after Garrus. However they couldn't avoid the Geth's deadly hand forever. One bullet to the brain pan and the gunner at the front of the Wraith had slumped over dead. The machine turned back to the ground units as the attack continued.

"Legion," Thane shouted, acting as a spotter for the synthetic "Elite Ultra in the field! Near the path up to the gun!"

Legion turned towards the target, spotting the Elite quickly. The Geth fired two rounds, one to lower the shields of the alien, the next to pop his head open. The Ultra fell back to earth, legs sticking up in the air.

"We have neutralized the target." It said cooly

"Find the robot another!" Kat ordered as she fired off her pistol at some approaching Grunts "Plenty to pick from!"

On the other side of the battlefield, Shepard was somewhat regretting his decision to give Grunt control of a vehicle. The Krogan kept charging past the Wraith, ramming it in the sides and then beacking up to fire a few rounds at it.

"You're gonna blow us up before you ever kill that thing Grunt!" Shepard told him "Try and get at it from behind!"

"I'm trying!" Grunt swore "But this stupid thing is too slow!"

Grunt managed a lucky shot on the back of the Wraith on his next pass, but the covenant tank was only slightly damaged from the assault. As little flickers of flame started to appear though Shepard could see a ray of hope for them. They just needed a few more shots on the thing. Grunt went for another pass, circling the Wraith from the front towards its back. Grunt fired again as the srafed the vehicle, this time the shots having an impact, as they killed the gunner. With no more close range capabilities the driver of the Wraith took a note out of Grunt's book. He tried to ram them.

"Get us out of the way!" Shepard ordered

Shepard had the Hammerhead jump into the air, avoiding the Wraith's attack. Grunt turned to fire another shot at the Wraith's backside as they landed. Instead he found the vehicle heading towards the cliff, only barely stopping on the edge. As it hung their precariously, trying to hover back to safety, Grunt fired two more plasma blasts. It pushed the Wraith right over the edge into the abyss below.

"Huh, kinda anti-climactic." Shepard noted.

Six was circling thje enemy Revenant at the cent of the battlefield, the ghost's guns weren't strong enough to penetrate the armour, but they could harass the driver for a good amount of time.

"Legion," Six said over the radio "think you can take out the driver of this thing from your angle?"

"We shall attempt." Legion assured

The Geth aimed at the Revenant as it sped across the battlefield chasing Six's ghost.

"I can take out the passenger." Thane told the Geth "Just say when to fire."

Legion kept its sights on the speeding little Revenant's driver, waiting for Six to get it lined up. As the driver started heading towards their position on an angle Legion gave Thane the signal and they both fired simultaneously. The driver and passenger Elite died as the rounds tore through their shields and sent their bodies spiralling out of the Revenant. The vehicle slammed into the rocks near the path leading to the Gun.

"Creator Tali'Zorah," Legion called to her "if you move up with rest of unit to path I shall cover you."

Tali's looked back at the machine, but not in acknowledgement of the plan. No she had picked up on something else.

"You did it again!" she said "That's the second time!"

"Stopping yapping!" Kat ordered "Move up to the Revenant now!"

Kat pulled Tali forward, she was unable to continue voicing her concerns about Legion as the firing of guns distracted her from it all.

As they rushed toward the path Samara turned to the final Wraith that was Garrus was keeping off their tails. The last major threat on the field, Samara sent a powerful throw attack the Tank's way. It was pushed up slightly, teetering on its edge for a few good moments before falling on its side. Garrus quickly circled around to its back an fired an endless barrage of plasma into its power core. To help, Samara tossed a regular warp attack at the Wraith, weakening the armour even more around the power core. The next few blasts from Garrus saw the Wraith explode. He backed away from the flaming wreck and jumped out of the vehicle towards the others.

By now Shepard had arrived and he and Grunt lumbered out of their Revenant gathering around the other team members. As he regrouped he spoke back into his earpiece once more.

"Alright Jacob, I can talk now." He said "What is it?"

"Commander, you won't believe this, but we got-"

Jacob's words would be cut short when a gunshot nearly hit Shepard in the head. Everyone ducked down for cover as they heard a distinctive screeching cry from on top of the hill. Shepard peered over the concrete dividers the Covenant had set up as cover. Rushing down the slope was an alien that was foul in nature as it was in appearance. Giant teeth nashed and growl as their freakish cries filled the air. Their talon like fingers pulled the triggers on their weapons as they raced up.

"Let me guess Jacob," Shepard said as he connected back to the earpiece "You found Vorcha?"

"What?" Jacob shouted back "No we found Batarians! Why'd you say Vorcha?

There was a pause.

"Oh wait, don't tell me..."

"Yeah, they're here." Shepard replied

Shepard was taken a back a bit by the Batarian revelation, but now there were Vorcha attacking him and the others. Their armour was distinctive as well, Blood Pack. Vorcha in that group never went anywhere without their hulking escorts. Sure enough gunfire began to rain down on them from up above. Shepard looked up to the AA gun and saw them, Bloodpack Krogan.

"Son of a bitch," Shepard groaned "they've recruited the bloodpack! What next, Eclipse shows up? Why not make this an 'I hate Shepard' convention!"

He looked to his team who were huddling for cover amongst the attack.

"Care to explain this Shepard?" Kat asked wearily

"Aim for the head, they regenerate so don't stop shooting till they're down!" Shepard informed her. He then turned to his Asari squadmate "Samara, take the Krogan out!"

Samara let a singularity loose near the top of gun platform. It sucked in two of the three Krogan on the Gun and spat them back out towards the ground below. The third one kept his head down. He just continued to pop up to fire a few shots before ducking down again. Obvious he wasn't stupid enough to stay up for too long when he was outnumbered. However he wasn't nimble enough to avoid Thane's steely eye. Thane simply waited for him to start shooting for a longer period of time. With three shots in quick succession Thane punctured the Krogan's armour, punctured his skull and finally broke apart his head. Krogan were hard to kill unless you knew how, Thane was no stranger to accomplishing the feet though.

The Vorcha were the primary concern for now. There were tons of them and they just kept pouring out of the AA gun's platform, blasting as they headed towards the squad. Kat and Six proved more than capable of taking them down. Kat's pistol tore through the Vorcha with ease and Six still had a few grenades left in his launcher. Problem was keeping them down, even as they shot the creature's with heavy pistols they large holes made by the bullets closed up quickly. For once, doube tapping them in the head was the only option. Not exactly something either Spartan had ever really had deal with outside the thickest skulled Covenant.

Tali sent out her combat drone to thin the heard a bit more, and it managed to force a few out of cover for the others to fill full of holes, enough to kill the Vorcha from regenerating. Mordin's incineration blasts kept them from recovering from their wounds as well, sometimes killing them outright. The Salarian commented on how flammable the species seemingly was as he did. Jack and Samara managed to send a good number of the little freakish aliens into the air with shockwaves and throws and singularities one after the other. Vorcha were being launched off the ground one by one and they still came back for more.

Maybe that Turian on Omega had been right, maybe these guys were indeed like pests. They sure fought like them. As a fresh wave of Vorcha rushed out, screaming and hollering as they rushed the position. Samara and Thane turned their full attention to them, using Warp to null their healing abilities, giving Six and Kat the chance to actually put them down with out having to waste an extra bullet. As this was being done Garrus crawled his way over to Shepard.

"They got a pretty tight formation up there!" Garrus noted over the gunfire "Vorcha ain't smart but they're holding on to their positions pretty well!"

"We can't waste more time!" Shepard shouted "I'm bringing out the big guns on this!"

Shepard pulled his own heavy weapon off his back, the M-490 Blackstorm. Enough to take out large groups of enemies no matter how well dug in they were.

"Everyone down!" he ordered as the weapon began to charge.

Shepard pointed the Blackstorm at the Vorcha and released the trigger. The giant ball of black anti-matter rocketed out towards the Vorcha positions. The miniature blackhole began to suck the Vorcha into it, pulling them right off their feet and into the massive field above them. The pull was too strong to resist and before long the Vorcha were gone, vanished with the black orb as it seemingly imploided above their heads. Kat and Six looked on stunned.

"Gotta get us one of those." Six commented

"I'll share it later," Shepard promised "right now let's get to the gun!"

Shepard raced up path, his team mates following him. As they rushed up the path two lumbering forms rushed out of the AA Gun platform, Hunters. Everyone ducked for cover as the fuel rod blasts came at them.

"Oh goody this again." Kasumi complained "How do they pack so many people in there?"

Grunt took one look at the Hunters as they continued firing their fuel rod volleys. He turned to Shepard, a look of rage in his eyes.

"I have an idea." He said "Wait here."

Grunt took off down the path, completely confusing Shepard.

"Grunt! The hell are you going?" he demanded to know "Get back here! Damn it I said no heroics!"

"Playing smarter this time honest!" Grunt assured

Shepard didn't have time to wonder what Grunt was doing he turned back to the fight at hand. Tali had sent her combat drone with Legion to keep them off balance for a bit. The Hunters did attack the little drones and Legion's self-destruct protocol in his managed to make a dent. But the Hunter recovered from the wounding attack simply by crouching down into its healing stance.

"Can't use bug bites!" Kat shouted "We need to hit him harder!"

Shepard looked up at the Hunters once more and in the corner of his eye he looked over at the crest of the rock formation surrounding the gun. Grunt was on top of it, and looking at the Hunters below. With a mighty below Grunt jumped off and landed right on the Hunter's back, gripping onto the spines the alien had growing out of it. Grunt laughed as the hulking alien tried to claw the Krogan off him. He backed up trying to slam the space dinosaur into a wall. Grunt simply leapt onto his shoulders and began pummelling the alien in the head. As the Hunter backed up from the wall Grunt began to tear at the back armour piece to get at the Hunter's orange wormy hide.

The Hunter's companion kept trying to take aim at Grunt, but was hesitant to fire. He didn't want to kill its companion along with the interloper on his back. Grunt continued to pull at the armour until it popped off. The Krogan tossed it to the side and began punching at the gooey orange hide repeatedly.

"See you regenerate from this dipstick!" he shouted

Jack laughed a bit.

"Hey! He's using my material! Tank-freak certainly knows good insults when he hears them. I'll give him that." She chuckled

Shepard was more concerned with Grunt's well-being at the time. He seemed to be in control of his actions and so far this little plan had worked, but Grunt would only be protected so long as that Hunter he was on was alive. What was gonna happen when it died, he'd still have another now pissed off Hunter to deal with.

Of course the other Hunter's back was exposed to them, so that meant...

"Fire at the orange opening!" Shepard ordered "Move up and support Grunt!"

Kasumi rushed over the barrier first, firing her Kassa Locust into the Hunter's back along with practically every other squad member on the bridge. The Hunter twitched and turned as it's back was torn up.

"Do not let him crouch!" Kat warned "Keep shooting till he's down!"

Mordin, Samara and Thane did their part, as incinerate, warp and reave would all keep the Hunter subdued and unable to properly crouch to activate its regeneration state. Its strength sapped, it's body beaten, the mighty Hunter fell to the ground dead and bleeding from the overwhelming assault.

As its partner groaned it's last the still living Hunter was getting beaten and savaged to death by Grunt, who kept pulling bits and pieces off the Hunter even biting him!

"It's like that weird ass food the little thief eats!" Grunt complained as he spat out bits of the Hunter "Absolutely vile! And wiggling!"

"Ramen is not that bad!" shouted Kasumi as they arrived at the top of the hill.

By now the Hunter was on the ground breathing it's last as the giant reptile on his back basically savaged it's backside. At last, as almost to show the suffering creature mercy, Ket plugged a few more holes into the Hunter, killing it for good.

Grunt now stood up over the body, covered in orange blood, his once clean pristine new black armour looking more like the armour he won after his rite. He bowed to Shepard, his battlemaster.

"I have killed what had shammed me." He stated humbly "My prowess has been re-established and gained back from before it was lost. I only ask that you forgive me for disobeying orders Battlemaster, I tried to do what was best for the krant this time. Not myself."

Shepard looked to Samara first, as this was more her territory. Honour, code and righting wrongs, she'd been through that, he wanted her input. She sensed this and answered thusly.

"He was reckless, but his actions may have saved our lives." She said "That, and he's learned from his mistake. He did not attack it directly."

Shepard was thinking the same thing. He turned back to Grunt.

"Urdnot Grunt rise," he ordered, his tone softening slightly as Grunt complied "I applaud your ingenuity there. You did good work, used your head and beat the enemy that kicked you around last time. But next time, just tell me what you're gonna do. I'm not big on surprises."

The Krogan smiled and pounded his hands together.

"I shall Shepard," he promised "it was after all not fair that I had all the fun. If I told you, you may have wanted to tag along. We could've shared the glory."

Shepard wasn't entirely sure that was true, but let the kid dream. He was his battlemaster, he had to expect that he was some insane badass. Otherwise he wouldn't respect him as much.

"Let's blow this gun and move on." Shepard ordered "We have a spire to take down."

* * *

><p>The AA gun burned slowly, pieces falling off one by one. Another objective accomplished and the path to the spire had been made clear now. Carter had contacted the others, he was sending some Falcons their way. Apparently the assault on the spire was starting without them and they needed to clear the way for their people on the ground. Covenant positions dotted the landscape around the spire. They needed to be taken out.<p>

While they were waiting Shepard had a long conversation over the communication channel between himself, Miranda and Kat. Mostly about one subject.

"Bloodpack? Batarian terror groups?" Kat questioned "The hell is going on here Shepard?"

"It seems some old friends of mine have shown up to the party." Shepard relented "Trust me, I'm as surprised as you are."

"You don't look it." Kat shot back

"When you've been through what I have the way you look when surprised kinda shifts a bit." He answered "I'm not surprised things have gone wrong, but I am surprised that aliens from my universe are hobbling around with your sworn enemies."

"It's obvious the Blood Pack are in this for some kind of profit." Miranda surmised "The Batarians are just here to kill humans. Zaeed says the man in charge is a Batarian with a name... sounds like Balkit or something he can't recall. Started up about two or so years ago."

Shepard suddenly had an idea of who he was dealing with. Two years ago? Familiar name? Crazy agenda? Oh yeah, this was all really familiar.

"Balak," he grumbled "son of a bitch joined up with the Covies."

"Whose Balak?" Six asked

"Jackass Batarian who tried to drop a meteor on a colony." Shepard explained "Had to let him go to save some hostages, but I saved the colony. That's what mattered. Now he's back and playing with these assholes. Perfect."

The conversation was cut short when the Falcons arrived. On one of them was Jorge, sitting pretty and ready for the scrap ahead.

"You better go Six, we'll catch up when we can." Kat ordered

Six bolted off as Kat turned to Shepard.

"Can you spare one of your men to fly with Six?" she asked

Shepard instantly looked over to Legion.

"They could use a sniper," he told the machine "head on up with them."

Legion merely nodded and rushed up alongside Six to the Falcon.

Tali seemingly approached Shepard at this time. It was weird, he thought she was still mad at him and here she was walking up to him.

"Wade, I'd like to go in the second the Falcon," Tali said "give some support. They'll need all the help they can get."

"I'm sure they can handle things-"

"Shepard," Tali interrupted adamantly "please. I need to go with them."

Shepard reluctantly nodded. He had a feeling this was something she wasn't gonna back down from. He wasn't sure why though, but he could tell. He turned to Garrus and Grunt who were behind him.

"Go with her in the second Falcon." He said.

The two obeyed and began to walk off, Shepard stopped Garrus for a moment.

"Keep her safe alright?" he asked

The Turian just nodded and headed towards the second falcon. As Tali left Shepard called back to her.

"I'll see you at the spire!" he waved goodbye.

Tali gave a salute and kept moving. The Falcon took off moments later, leaving Shepard and the others behind.

* * *

><p>The Falcons began to fly over the large canyon expanse. Below a former mining facility on the ridge, a valley to the right, both dotted with Covenant positions. There was bride directly below them and a Covenant squad was crossing it as they flew by.<p>

Six took up the Falcon's side gun, a grenade launcher and fired at the enemy below. The explosions rocked the span, decimating the Elites and Grunts as they passed by. They left the broken bodies behind as they began to fly down towards the Spire, past the mining buildings long since abandoned and reoccupied by the Covenant. There anti-air shade turrets and anti-air Wraith firing up at them from this side, Six continued to lob grenades down pretty much dismantling the defences on their way in. Legion joined in, taking out any survivors with its Widow one by one. A flying helicopter wasn't exactly the best place to take shots from, but Legion had little choice at the moment. Despite the rocking and swaying the aircraft was stable enough to keep the synthetic's aim steady and allow it to peck off a Grunt or two as well as some Elites.

The other Falcon covered the other end of the valley, Covenant defences were much the same, only not as dotted with shade turrets and no wraiths. Garrus took up the chaingun on the side while Grunt and Tali kept themselves strapped to their chairs.

"Pretty much a turkey shoot for now." Garrus told the others "with any luck the spire will be pretty much the same."

"We're never that lucky." Tali reminded him

As they approached the spire at last they saw the blue chequered dome ahead of them, protecting the massive tower itself.

"Going in guys." The pilot warned "Stay frosty."

As they entered the blue field though the falcons were rocked by a electrical surge.

"EMP shielding detected!" Dot shouted in their ears "Warning!"

Legion sputtered a bit as the surge course through its body.

"Activating emergency shutdown mode." It said "Must preserve software. Shutting down."

Legion clicked off, Six and Jorge would have to ride it out by themselves.

"Lock your armour Spartan!" Jorge shouted as the Falcon began to plummet from the sky

Garrus and Tali did not have that luxury however, they couldn't lock their armour. But they had one better. Grunt bolted out of his seat and grabbed both Tali and Garrus in his arms.

"What the hell are you doing now!" Garrus demanded to know as they continued spinning towards the ground.

"Saving your ass!" Grunt explained "Tuck and role!"

Grunt leaped from the falling Falcon towards the ground, both his comrades screaming obscenities as they plummeted. Grunt smacked into the ground with his back first. Six's Falcon nosedived.

Both of them blacked out on impact, the sound of the crash all they heard.

* * *

><p>AN: That Wraith thing actually happened to me, it boosted at me, fell right off the side of the cliff. Same area too. Really embarrassing moment for the AI.<p>

Anyway, I know this has taken awhile, but I've had some issues getting it all done. For one this chapter this large, and I haven't even completed Tip of the Spear just yet. As you can clearly tell. But don't worry, another chapter is just a click away. So no need to fear cliffhangers.

Had the 80's bug for this chapter, there are shout-outs to some 80's action flicks for those with the patience to look. And also one video game, if you want the answer check back next author's note. I blame the game "Toy Soldiers: Cold War" for this. Curse you Signal Studios and your love letter to the Regan era! Why is your keyboard guitar music so damn awesome! Now I keep thinking of Top Gun constantly, that and the Breakfast Club... and the Goonies. Also I suddenly want to go out and find a dead body with my outcast friends.

Of course we got our first twist today, the Covenant are working with some old enemies of Shepard. Definitely not good for our heroes. The idea came to me when I considered what the Covenant would want to do in a Galaxy populated by aliens, some vehemently anti-human. Well of course they'd recruit some! Why wouldn't they? More meat for the grinder as it were. So besides tech we now know they're recruiting some people for the fight back home. I was surprised to see so many people think that last person who talked in the last chapter was an Elite. Truth be told it wasn't, and I'm glad I put that in without spoiling. If you read between the lines you could've guessed it was in fact another alien talking, another set of mind. But Elites have pretty stringent personalities so it's easy to mistake their militaristic beliefs with those of others. If this was a Star Trek crossover and I wrote that down the same way some would probably confuse it for a Klingon and not an Elite for example. This is not to say the Elite are generic, but different assets of their personality can be applied to them out of context.

Anyway, next chapter has that special guest I talked about, you'll see who that voice last chapter really was and we got ONE more surprise. Remember to review if you can.


	11. All Along the Watchtower

Chapter 11: All Along the Watchtower

**August 12, 2552**

Halsey sat at her desk at Camp Hathock, far more comforting than Sword. Maybe even castle base with her other works. Sword Base was too in the thick of things. Still, she'd have to split her time between there and Castle if she wanted to get everything done. Time was short, especially with how rapidly things were escalating. She needed to prepare, calculate, amass data, and she was still concerned about the Quarian Tali and her role to play. So many contingencies to prepare for, so many potential risks, ways it could go wrong.

Her mind was split between what she was doing at Sword Base and what was expected of her here. The Spartans arrived, to prepare for their little suicide mission. Red Flag called it. Not Anderson's idea but he was committed to it succeeding as if it were. Then again who didn't want it to succeed? The prospect of ending this war was just too great. Halsey herself hoped for the best to come out of it, but a part of knew that was unlikely.

As she pondered over these thoughts, her AI Kalmiya spoke.

"A guest has arrived Doctor Halsey." She said "He urgently wishes to speak to you."

Halsey guessed who it was before he even strode in. She knew him that well. She had handpicked him after all. She let Kalmiya send him in. The doors opened wide and stepping out, armour a dull jungle green and feet heavy with the weight of a thousand battles, was her prodigy. The one she always knew would endure, the one she knew was destined for greater things.

"Doctor Halsey." He said as he approached, saluting when he stopped.

Halsey smiled a bit. She wondered how much he had aged, how many scars he had gotten since last she saw him. She was unable to find out, not with that helmet he kept on.

"John," she greeted "it's good to see you. Please sit down."

The Spartan did as asked, John, or Spartan 117 as he had been designated, was always very diligent with orders like that. Especially around her.

"How was your flight over?" she asked, the small talk gauged question seemingly incredibly cliché and dull, given their history.

"Had better," he admited "cryo-pods not as comfortable as most."

"Did you get a chance to check out the Autumn yet?" Halsey continued "Perhaps it's cryo-pods are more suitable."

"I've checked out it's profile in the briefing. It's good ship, better captain." John conferred "Can see why they picked it for the mission."

Of course he had already checked out the credentials. It was so very like him. He wouldn't trust his life to just any ship, let alone his people.

"And how have you been?" she asked, trying to sound sincere.

John cocked his head a bit at the question.

"You telling me you haven't been keeping up?" he asked

Halsey chuckled a bit at that. He knew her too well.

"Point taken." She admitted "I hear they've given you a name of sorts. Master Chief. Very authoritative, commands respect too. No doubt well earned John."

"I suppose." The Spartan agreed "I try not to think about it much. Helps the marines I end up working with at a impersonal distance. Better to be known by your rank than intimately. Eases the pain a bit."

"We both know it's a bit impossible to be impersonal now John." Halsey informed him "In fact I'd say that boat sailed long ago."

John shifted the subject away from him a bit. Typical he never liked being the center of attention all that much. Unless it was in combat and it kept people from hitting his own men.

"How's your work going?" he asked

"Not as bad as I feared to be honest." Halsey assured "I may not hold much clout with ONI but they know they need people like me. That much keeps me going."

"It's not fair I think." John told her "This Spartan III program.., they should've at least consulted you on it."

Halsey shook her head as she typed something up on her computer.

"What's done is done John." Halsey told him "We can't change it anymore than anything else we regret"

That word, regret, it triggered a thought in Halsey's mind.

"Tell me, how are the others?" she asked

"Best as they can be with our numbers dropping every month." John answered "With any luck though maybe this operation can end things. Or at least lead to it."

Halsey's head drooped a bit. He had the same sense of dread about this, she could tell. He was too old now not to know a longshot when saw it. This was one hell of a longshot.

"How about Linda?" Halsey asked "Is she well?"

"Like I said, same for most of us." John reiterated "They just wanna get it over with. Tired of standing around on the ship waiting for the call."

Halsey nodded a bit, she assumed as much. She decided now was the time to mention one of John's other brothers in arms.

"Saw Jorge a few days ago actually." She told him "Bit of a shock. Brought back a lot of memories. Mostly good."

She couldn't see it but she could tell John was smiling, remembering Jorge himself.

"Huh, big guy's back on Reach. Good for him, he never liked leaving it behind when we shipped out originally." John commented "He change much?"

"No," Halsey smiled broadly "still has his sense of pride and duty. Still huge even for Spartan standards and he still has a sense of that innocent caring demeanour about him. Changed his armour though, modifications he made over the years. Pays to accessorise I guess, he is after all still alive."

"Wish I ran into him," John said "I guess he's not on sight though."

"No," Halsey replied shaking her head "he's with his new squad."

It was an awkward bit of quiet between the two for next minute or so before John spoke up once more.

"Have you heard about Mendez." He asked

It was a weird question to ask, inquiring about his old boot camp instructor. But she supposed this trip had been seemingly nostalgic for everyone.

"Yes," she said "he's off. Involved in the Spartan III program. So I understand. Heard he's doing well, training some good soldiers over there. Hopefully we won't need them after Red Flag."

Halsey shared what she could about Mendez next, she wasn't sure how much of it mattered, but John deserved answers about some of the people he knew. So many more were gone, lost to them. They needed something to latch onto.

But despite all that change, John had remained the same. She could tell by the way he talked. He wasn't scarred by battle, not deterred by the brutal reality of war. He had weathered the storms thrown at him and emerged victorious. The soldier they needed him to be. From the moment she first saw him in that school yard she knew he was special. But she never knew how strong he'd become. In a way she perhaps underestimated him.

Didn't make the guilt go away though, it made worse actually.

"I guess I should probably get those medical exams started on you while you're here." She finally said "You have an exhausting procedure to go through. If you can step into my lab proper I can warm up the MRI machine. I just need to finish a few things here."

"Of course." John said as he stood back up "Just one last question before business. I've heard scuttlebutt, something about a ship we found. Bunch of freelancers helping us out. Know anything about it?"

He'd understand if she just said classified and leave without another word about it, but Halsey was too close to John to not give him answers. Like Mendez she divulged what she could.

"They're good people, I've met them." Halsey assured "We're better off with them than without. They even have some interesting toys. Maybe you'll be lucky enough to bump into them. Just don't be shocked by how some of them look."

"Little shocks me anymore Doctor." John assured

The Spartan got up to leave for the lab, but the mentioning of the Normandy crew stirred something in Halsey. Tali's visit, the talk with Mordin, that tattooed woman calling her out earlier this morning, guilt had been building up the past few weeks. As much as she hated recalling the past it was inescapable. She figured this may be her only chance to get an answer about it all from the person she had entrusted so much with.

"John," she called out to him as he was about to leave. He stopped dead in his tracks "do you ever wonder what your life would've been like had we never met? Had none of this happened?"

John looked down for a moment, he didn't sigh, he didn't shake, and he didn't nod. He just turned back to her.

"What you did was what you felt was best." John said "What you did gave me the ability to save lives, gave us the ability to save lives. We understood why it was important. Understood why we couldn't just walk away in the end. I sometimes think about what could've been, but... well that life is over. No sense thinking or dwelling on it too much. I and the others are the only things keeping the Covenant at bay. What you did was harsh, but we accepted the consequences of it. You didn't just make us for this Doctor, we were born for this. "

He stepped forward as Halsey looked up at her wall, eyeing her doctorate she had brought here.

"Maybe, if you hadn't found me... I'd have found you eventually." John finally said "Maybe not as a Spartan candidate, but as a soldier myself. You gave me the chance to be a better one. That's how I see it. And I don't dwell on it beyond that."

"Well..." Halsey began slowly "it's good to know how you feel John. Thank you. Let me say if I could've found another way..."

"I would've done it all over again Doctor Halsey," John assured "no regrets."

Halsey tapped her fingers a bit as she thought, bringing things back to Red Flag when next she spoke.

"You know as well as I do this could all end badly." He told her

"It's a risk worth taking." John assured her

"That occurs a lot in our lives doesn't it?" she asked rhetorically "Just don't have any assumptions about the outcome. We may not build a lasting peace, just one long enough to reconsolidate ourselves."

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." John replied solemnly as he turned back to the door. "It's been good seeing you doctor. I'll be in the lab when you need me."

Halsey went back to her work. Same old John, same old determination and drive. Much like Shepard in fact. They didn't care for the odds, just for what it could lead to. She always knew they needed people like that, but now she was more certain of it than ever. That's why she did what she did.

But even with reassuring words from John, the guilt remained. It would never go away. Ever. Not even God himself forgave her. It would always be there. She was responsible for the Spartans from the time she had them abducted, up to their last breaths. It was a heavy weight, one she alone would carry for the rest of her life.

But at least, maybe she could make up for it in some small part. That was of course only if this plan of her own went accordingly.

* * *

><p>Words flashed across the screen, old Quarian script, zeroes and ones flashing before its eye. They said "Catastrophic failure", "Rebooting"," system coming online" and so forth before a light in the darkness opened up and it, no they, could all see once more. The platform's head tilted to the side, they saw the crashed Falcon and detected movement among the wreckage. They could see one hulking form and then a smaller one race towards him,<p>

"Legion!" it called "You alright!"

The Geth finally snapped to attention as all its runtimes ran their course.

"System operational 100 percent." It assured "No damage detected to software. System restore complete. Are you undamaged Six Noble?"

"Fine ya bucket of bolts." Six joked "Armour lock kept me safe."

Six looked off to the side of them.

"Your friends crashed nearby." Six explained "we're not sure if-"

Just then something was heard climbing over the cliffs, it was Grunt, being carried by Tali and Garrus.

"See told ya it would work." He laughed

"You're going to need a lot of medi-gel before we can get you back on your feet proper." Garrus told him angrily "Thanks for saving my life though, I appreciate that."

"Don't get used to it Turian." Grunt grumbled "I saved you cause your practically Shepard's second in command. And I saved the Quarian because shes-"

Tali cut him off quickly when she saw the other Spartans.

"Oh thank the ancestors you made it too." She said gratefully "I was worried we'd find you all dead or something."

"Pilots weren't as lucky." Jorge said "We're on our own for now."

The massive Spartan looked to the spire off in the distance, so close yet so far.

"Probably a dozen covenant patrols out looking for us now." Jorge noted "That and we've alerted their defences too."

"Approximate strength of enemy outweighs our own by two to fifteen." Legion stated "Rocky terrain perfect defensive position."

"Well you're a ray of sunshine aren't you?" Garrus groaned "Anything in our favour?"

Six brought up one of the armour attachments the Falcon was carrying, it was a grey bulky looking thing with jets coming out the bottom.

"Got jetpacks, will travel." He said "We can hop over cover. Make our way to the spire."

"Why not just hold our position until one of the frigates arrives to blast that thing?" Garrus asked

"Not possible," the familiar helpful voice of Auntie Dot chimed over their earpieces "shield analysis has been completed. Shield impervious to human weapons, spire cannot be destroyed while active."

Typical, it always came down to them didn't it? Garrus honestly wondered why he even bothered asking sometimes. Still good to hear that Auntie Dot was still active, it meant their radios weren't dead, Perhaps the EMP only really affected the vehicles when they passed through the shield.

"Dot," Tali spoke up "can you relay a message to Shepard, tell him we're alive?"

"I have already done so." Dot assured "Also, Covenant forces are advancing on your position. Suggest you seek better cover."

"Strategic session over then." Jorge said as he prepared his chaingun "We push to the spire and we shut this shield off so our boys can kill it."

Jorge rushed down one end of the slope as Six and the others strapped on their own jetpacks. Grunt chased after them, the medi-gel barely even absorbed entirely, he didn't want to miss out on the fun after all. Legion looked through its scope towards the spire, eyeing the incoming Covenant defenders.

"Covenant designated as Skirmishers approaching." The machine warned, turning to Tali "I shall go right and cover you as you move up the center and right paths."

Legion took off, sliding down the slope as Tali tried to stop him. Not because it was a bad plan or anything, but because of how Legion said it.

"Third time! Third time today!" she said exasperated "Keelah I swear-"

"Tali come on," Garrus told her "Jorge and Six are already heading up."

Garrus was almost off down the path when Tali pulled him back to her.

"Didn't you notice? Has everyone suddenly become deaf?" she asked with an even greater emphasis on how annoyed she was "Were you even paying attention of Legion at all?"

"Yeah, it said they were gonna cover our flank." Garrus replied

Tali grasped her temples with both of her palms.

"No it didn't say 'WE', it did not refer to itself as a collective plural term!" Tali screeched "It said 'I', Legion never refers to itself as 'I'! And that wasn't the first time it's done so today!"

Garrus honestly couldn't recall what Legion exactly said, he was never one to pay much attention to the Geth. He listened, sure, but he didn't pick up on things like Tali did. She was after all the one who had been paranoid it was gonna sabotage the ship when they first brought Legion on board.

"Look we can sort it out later." Garrus told her "Right now, spire. Come on!"

Tali grumbled, racing after Garrus. It just didn't register with anyone it seemed. Something was wrong with Legion. Very wrong. And strangely enough it seemed like she was the only one who cared.

* * *

><p>Most of the company had found their way to the spire by this point. They had long since crossed the bridge and were now staring at a mountain pass that would lead them into the spire's defences itself. They'd bee taking their vehicles, if it wasn't for the fact they knew the things weren't gonna fit. The ones that could would just up and die when they crossed the shield. Kowalski and his squad would be going in themselves, were it not for the fact that when first platoon approached they got shot at it by a bunch of Covies sitting in the rocks near the entrance.<p>

Taylor kept everyone in the squad back after that, as did command in general. They didn't wanna risk attacking the position until they had some decent ordinance. Strangely enough though the Covenant didn't counter-attack during the lull in the fighting, they didn't leave their cover. They hung back, aiming their guns down at the humans, not trying to shoot at them.

"Not like them to just wait." Pearson noted "Think they finally grew a collective brain and realised they're safer among the rocks? We should be holding out against waves of Grunts by now while Skirmishers try and pick us off."

"Yeah I know." Ellingham agreed "At least then we'd get a few of them in the open. Thin them out or something. But they don't attack! It's just not their style."

Eventually someone showed up, part of the reinforcements promised by command. A few Warthogs were driving down towards them, carrying some much needed reinforcements, mainly friendly aliens. Shepard strode out of the warthog accompanied by Mordin and Miranda. He walked up to Staff Sergeant Taylor and his squad.

"What's the situation here Staff Sergeant?" he asked

"Covenant in the rocks," he said "they ain't budging so we can't go forward. We fell back to our vehicles, thinking there was gonna be a fight but they just stay there, hidden in the rocks near the cave."

Shepard stared at the cave and the rocks before turning his gaze to the spire, which he could see just ahead of them. It was his luck another problem just had to pop up as one was resolved. Joker had just told him they had received their prisoner, no problems. The shuttle was safe and sound inside the Normandy. Nowthey had to deal with this.

They couldn't be held up here. Dot said Tali and the others were still alive and behind enemy lines, if they didn't get there soon they could be overrun. They had time of course; between his squadmates and the Spartans they'd be able to last a good long while. But he still wanted to be there to support them.

That meant getting through that pass... and he had an idea.

* * *

><p>The Elite commander growled from behind his cover within the cave. Staring out at the enemy that refused to advance, refused to fight, their cowardice angered him. Not as much though as how he was just sitting here doing nothing!<p>

"I am not a Kig-Yar who fights from shadow!" he growled in disgust "I am a warrior! We should engage them! Tear them asunder! Instead we sit and let them live still when we could so easily demolish them!"

Covenant officer turned to the large hulking creature behind him in the bright red armour.

"I do not know why the hierarchs sent you here if all you intend to do is sit here and hide like a spineless Uggnoy while the enemy-"

The Elite's jaw was grabbed by a giant hand that wrapped around one of the mandibles and pulled. The Krogan, his skin a deep shade of desert brown, his crest a black as coal and his eyes searing yellow squeezed the mandibles in his grip.

"If your tongue were any indication of your knowledge of battle I would not be so quick to desire it ripped out." The giant beastly reptile declared "Your Prophets asked me to help you defend this spire and that is what I shall do. They have men behind our lines, cut off and vulnerable, they cannot wait for air support and they have no artillery. They will come to us eventually because humans care for their comrades, and they do not throw their soldiers away like you do!"

The Krogan threw the Elite to the ground and walked away. As he tried to get up he coughed slighty, choking up some of the dirt he swallowed.

"The Sangheili have conquered hundreds of human worlds!" He said "Do not speak ill of my people you filthy mercenary!"

"This mercenary is going to help you take this world." The towering reptile replied as he walked back to the mouth of the cave "Whether you like it or not. Be grateful for that and keep your mouth shut, lest I make you like your Uggnoy subordinates... and rip out your spine."

Just then a Skirmisher from above called down to him.

"Commander Kreave!"he shouted down "There is a new human on the battlefield! It is the False Shepherd!"

Kreave raised a brow at that.

"What?" he took his own sniper rifle and aimed down the sights. He instantly recognized the face, the facial hair, the skin colour, the armour, it was him after all! And he was approaching slowly with an armed escort. But he knew him too well. Commander Shepard would never attack a position like this... unless he had some kind of plan.

"Shall I kill him?" The Skirmisher asked

"No," Kreave ordered "I shall meet with him."

"MEET!" Shouted the Elite commander "He is the False Shepherd! An affront to our Gods! He must be killed! The Inquis-"

Kreave reached back and snatched the Elite by his neck.

"What did I just say about you needing to shut up?" Kreave asked

He tossed the Elite backwards and began to walk forward with his hands up.

* * *

><p>Shepard stopped just a few feet with his escort of UNSC Marines and Miranda and Mordin close by. They kept behind their warthogs, aiming at the rocks.<p>

"Alright we're close enough now." He said "I don't think they're gonna attack unless we actually go in-"

"Shepard look!" Miranda pointed at the cave entrance

There, striding out of it was a Krogan blood pack merc, judging by his armour he was also a high ranking merc, like Garm's back on Omega. And here he was striding out with his hands up, no weapon, straight at them like they weren't even in the middle of a war.

"The hell is that?" Kowalski asked "And why is it surrendering?"

Shepard was quick to answer.

"It's a Krogan, and it's not surrendering." Shepard explained "Krogan don't do that and he knows his position is pretty well fortified. No, he's after something."

Kowalski could honestly not tell. He had seen Grunt, this Krogan didn't look like him. There were some similarities, but the head was smaller, the plates covering him less spread apart, hell he wasn't as big as Grunt was and he had a far larger hump. On closer inspection he did notice a resemblance. Perhaps, this Krogan was older, much older. He'd have to ask one of Shepard's team mates about that when they got the chance.

"I wish to talk to Commander Shepard!" The Krogan called out

Miranda looked to her commande inquisitively.

"That's funny, a Krogan that wants to talk first." She noted suspiciously

"Most likely trying to discover our plan." Mordin surmised "Advise caution."

"I just need to keep him preoccupied long enough to get an idea of where his people are hiding." Shepard explained "Don't worry, I'll be careful."

Shepard began to walk up to the front, the Marines looked on quite astonished. They'd never seen something like this happen before. Covenant didn't negotiate. Then again this creature wasn't exactly Covenant.

"So what are more Krogan doing here?" Kowalski asked aloud

"These Krogan are a part of the bloodpack private." Miranda informed him. "They're a mercenary band. Ruthless and deadly."

"And one of them wants to talk?" Pearson said confused "Sorry, that don't make sense to me."

"I agree with you," Miranda replied "keep sharp. He tries anything, put a bullet in his head. Krogan have a nasty habit of not staying down."

Kowalski had heard as much. He just hoped Commander Shepard knew what he was doing. He continued to watch as they stopped about fifty yards from each other. Enough for both of them to hear the other clearly. For Shepard talking with the enemy was nothing new for him by this point. It was probably the most Kirk-like thing he'd repeatedly done in his career. Shepard just hoped, like every time this happened to him, he could come of it like Kirk always did. Alive and not looking like an idiot. He managed so far.

"Commander Shepard," the Krogan said, seemingly in awe "at long last!"

"Do I know you?" Shepard asked, thinking of another possibility he asked another question "Or did I kill one of your friends at some point?"

"No, my branch of Blood Pack has unfortunately never faced you in battle." The Krogan assured "I am Torak Kreave, or perhaps 'formerly' Torak Kreave is more appropriate. It is customary for many Krogan who leave Tuchanka to give up their clan name after all."

"I could really care less for a cultural lesson right now." Shepard told him bluntly "How do you know me exactly?"

"What Krogan doesn't know of the great Commander Wade Shepard?" Kreave said in a strange sort of admiration in his voice "Hero of the Skyllian Blitz! Descendant of a long line of Human warriors dating back to the twentieth century! The first Human Spectre! The man who killed the mad Saren Arcturis! And subsequently destroyed his plans to create a cure for the Genophage!"

Oh super, he had a fan, who was a bloodthirsty no doubt crazy as hell Krogan who probably wanted to kill him. Meanwhile the others at the jeep kept listening intently.

"What the Skyllian Blitz?" Ellingham asked

"Battle on human colony. Pirate attack." Mordin explained "Shepard held line. Saved civilians while waiting for help."

Ellingham seemingly nodded in approval, he of course did not ask how it turned out. Shepard was standing right there after all. The Commander himself was a bit offput by how much this Krogan seemed to know about him. Most Krogan weren't exactly well versed.

"What do you subscribe to my newsletter or something?" he asked, somewhat uncomfortable with how quick this Krogan was to list off his accomplishments.

"I keep up with the news, unlike most Krogan." Kreave replied "I do so love the last story by the way.

Kreave made grand hand gestures as he went about retelling it for the Commander.

"Saren believes he can control the Krogan with a cure, but then comes Shepard upon the horizon! He decimates the base, tears it asunder, kills the traitor Krogan who allied themselves with a Turian of all species. Then, as a final insult to the rogue spectre, he detonates a nuclear device within the Turian's own base! Not by dropping it, but by placing it within the confines of the base itself." He laughed a bit at the last part "A thrilling tale, were it the actions of a warlord Krogan it would have proper songs sung of it for generations!"

This conversation seemed somewhat familiar to Shepard all of a sudden.

"I take it you approve of it all then?" he asked

"Of course, for an alien Shepard you have the spirit of a Krogan in every shape and form." Kreave replied with a broad, sinister looking smile "It is why I respect you as a warrior, more so than these fool covenant. So caught up in their religious fanaticism they do not know how to win a war, only how to wage one. Only the Sangheili have any tactical clout, but even they are blinded by this ridiculous arrogant belief system."

"If you ain't so fond of the Covenant dogma why work for them then?" Shepard asked

Kreave merely shrugged.

"Why not work for them?" he asked in return "Their weapons are unlike anything I have seen in my many long years Shepard. Think of what the Blood Pack could be were we to attain them? Why, every other mercenary guild in the Galaxy would bend to our whims. Maybe even the clans of Tuchanka itself."

For all his posturing, shepard couldn't help but feel suddenly underwhelmed.

"So you're in this for the guns," Shepard smirked "typical Blood Pack."

"True, it is somewhat generic and unassuming." Kreave admitted "But this venture is in general more... personal to be frank. An entire galaxy at war, a species being wiped out systematically, I came here to take part in greater battles, greater wars, the chance to finally use my understanding of strategy to carve my name into the halls of Krogan history!"

"Krogan aren't exactly known for being great strategists." Shepard pointed out.

"That's only because so few have the true capability to lead." Kreave retorted "No warlord ever lasted long less he was as intelligent as he was strong. Some of our greatest only died because the enemy did not fight with honour. But you understand the importance of such things yourself, the importance of command, of honour as pertaining to a warrior. It is these things that assure me our battle shall be glorious."

Shepard internally shouted "Called it" in his mind. Of course the crazy bastard wanted to kill him. EVERYONE wanted to kill him these days.

"Why exactly do you wanna fight me so bad?" Shepard asked, his hand moving to his omni-tool

Kreave eyed Shepard's movements carefully as he answered.

"Krogan are only as strong as their enemies. And you Shepard are a legend among even my people for your deeds." He explained "Killing you would assure my place in history as the greatest of Krogan, offworlder or not."

"I'm not gonna make it easy for you," Shepard told him as he activated his omni-tool and started typing away. "I already died once, I don't feel like doing it again."

"Maybe not," Kreave admitted "but that is half the fun of battle. Were it easy it would not be something worthy of song Shepard. In any case the odds are against you here. My men have already lined up shots on all of your people. They do not attack, only because I tell them to hold. They have you outgunned, at their mercy and ready to slaughter your allies upon my commander. Had our artillery platforms not been seemingly destroyed in the initial assault, since we are getting no response to them, we'd be using them against you.

"You have artillery?" Shepard asked, trying not to sound coy

"Had." Kreave admitted, eyeing the omni-tool still "But somehow your UNSC allies destroyed them, It doesn't matter now though. I don't need artillery to kill you now. But you definitely could use some"

Shepard tried to read this Krogan's face. Kreave didn't think it mattered telling him about the guns obviously. But he had suspicions no doubt. His shift towards talk of artillery was a bit unnerving for one.

"However unless you've dropped your own guns into the area close by..." Kreave suggested

He looked at Shepard's face dead in the eye as he spoke. No doubt now, he had an idea of what the human was trying to do... but Shepard though "Maybe he's waiting for my bluff or trying to figure out if I really do have 'human' guns trained on him." As long as he didn't think it was the Covenant artillery platforms he was okay. Unless that was what Kreave was implying and the Krogan was just toying with him.

"I don't have any UNSC long range assets actually." He admitted, it was after all the truth.

"So the question is then," Kreave asked once more "why would you come this close? You're near enough for me to snap your neck. You've made this easy for me Shepard, far too easy. It's disappointing. I truly expected better from you."

Shepard looked up at the rocks, picking out Skirmishers and Grunts hiding within, all looking out at the meeting curiously or pointing their guns at Shepard. In the meantime the human Commander had been using his visor and omni-tool in sync with one another, designating targets amongst the rocks.

"Is that so?" Shepard asked as he pressed a button on his Omni-Tool

Suddenly there was a loud booming sound off in the distance as Shepard began to back-up. Kreave turned to where the sound originated slowly, trying to pinpoint exactly what it was.

"Wait..." he began to say "that sounds like..."

At this point he eyed an arcing blue plume coming towards them. He turned back to Shepard who had used his Biotic charge to speed back to his allies. Kreave looked back to the pass in time to see the plume of blue plasma energy smack into the rocks, killing scores of Skirmishers, Grunts and Elites with one blow. Another Volley followed suit, striking the second rock formation. The hits kept coming as Shepard's escort opened up on the rocks and the rest of the company began to join them. Leaving their vehicles behind, carrying what equipment they could, including Jetpacks, they rushed forward like a torrent of water freed from a dam.

Kreave ran back to the safety of the cave, nut he wasn't disappointed or mad at the results. In fact he was rather happy.

"HA!" he shouted joyously "I knew he was not that stupid! He stole our gun from us! Truly he is like the Krogan! Enduring and overcoming the odds placed against him!"

Not everyone was in as much awe as Kreave.

"Imbecile!" The Elite commander screeched "They will now have access to the Spire because of your-"

"Silence!" Kreave punched the Elite in the chest as he and his fellow Krogan began to fall back "We shall win this battle yet in time. Come! We must hurry to the secondary defensive positions!"

The Covenant retreated through the cave, Shepard and the Marines right behind them. Shepard had a rather large smile on his face as he ran forward. It had worked, for once he took a risk and it worked. It worked, he couldn't help but feel happy in this moment.

"Come on Marines!" he shouted the UNSC soldiers rushing up from behind "We got a tower to topple! Oorah!"

The Marines all responded in kind, Kowalski and Ellingham were no exceptions.

"Wow! He is fucking awesome after all!" Kowalski said with a boyish grin "I mean he practically gave that giant space crocodile the finger there!"

"Used their own weapons against them too!" Ellingham added "If I didn't know any better I'd say he were a Spartan or something!"

"Yep that's Shepard alright." Miranda told them as she ran beside them "Just when you think he can't surprise you anymore..."

The assault was back on, and with Shepard leading the charge, optimism was high once more. One final push was all that remained.

* * *

><p>Charging up the middle in the face of an overpowering enemy force that was charging at you in kind, usually this tactic was incredibly foolhardy, a tactic of last resort when all options had failed. For a Spartan like Jorge it was routine and if it kept the Covies looking at him and not Six and the others all the better.<p>

The attackers were mostly Skirmishers and Grunts, lead by a number of minor Elite officers, perhaps one or two Ultras within the ranks. The Elites held back, firing from cover while their subordinates fought and died for them in their stead. Jorge would never call the Elite cowardly though. Their fanatical commitment to killing humans proved that. The truth was they just felt the lesser members of the Covenant weren't worth a damn. That was the impression he always got at least. Another reason Jorge hated the Covenant, beyond just them being genocidal bastards. As if he needed any more motivation then the potential extinction of humanity to fight them.

Now that they had invaded Reach, it made things more personal. It was hard to think about an entire species being on your shoulders. It was far easier to think of home, personal stakes in a conflict made it simple to process why doing this job was worth every plasma burn scar. He kept that in mind as he rushed up the path, firing his chaingun all the way. The thought of every soul on Reach counting on him was somewhat less daunting then the whole of humanity. As long as he remembered why he was here, he would win.

Of course it helped to have a giant space dinosaur running alongside you providing interference.

The Krogan reminded him so much of Emile, a teenage one at that. It was scary in a sense, but he appreciated the alien's company. Grunt didn't spend much time hiding behind Jorge for cover like most people. Instead he kept rushing up a few meters as they advanced, firing his shotgun and chuckling all the way. Krogan shotguns could only fire one shot, but Grunt made the most of each. The spread was so wide the gas guzzlers and bird-aliens that poured towards them were torn asunder as the Krogan raced from cover to cover, thinning out the herd for Jorge.

Jorge didn't laugh as much as Grunt, too busy thinking about their progress. He wasn't spraying and praying here, he knew eventually the Elites were gonna get sick of fighting from a distance, preferably when all their men were dead of course. They'd attack eventually and he needed to be ready for that.

A skirmisher bounced off the rock wall near Jorge's left, he kept firing his gun as he jumped, trying to bring the Spartan's shields down. Jorge turned his chain gun towards him and fired a stream into his stomach. The volley tore the Skirmisher apart as the Alien sore over Jorge lifelessly.

As that Covie landed dead on the ground, Jorge turned his attention back to the new squad of Grunts rushing down the hill, trying not to stay a closely knit formation. Smart, made Jorge's job harder as he couldn't just point and shoot and hope they all just died in a row. His Grunt, the Krogan one of course, was picking a few off with his assault rifle.

That left Jorge with the main group however. The little methane breathers were zig-zagging, obviously trying to increase their chances of survival. They fired off overcharged plasma bolts, their lock on ability managed to snag Jorge once. Shields drained the Spartan poured on the fire, looking for the biggest cluster of the Grunts and firing a stream. Still, despite the hail of bullets, one Grunt got through. He brought the barrel of the gun down on the Grunt's head vertically and swatted the dazed half dead alien away with barrel once more.

This was at last when the Elites charged in, firing every plasma shot they could as they advanced forward. Grunt charged out as well, tackling one Elite to the ground where the two began to tussle. Jorge couldn't focus on that. Besides, the big lizard could take care of himself. He still had an Elite Ultra and minor to deal with. The minor was first up, plasma rifle firing incessantly. But Jorge weathered the storm, letting the bolts smack against his restored shields. The Elite did the same for the chaingun bullets, closing the gap between them and brushing the gun aside. The giant Spartan was not deterred for in the split second he kicked the alien in the stomach sending him down to the ground. He then plugged his chaingun's end into the alien's torso and pulled the trigger.

As Jorge finished the elite off, the Ultra fired his concussion rifle, forcing Jorge off him. He ducked down into armour lock once more. Trying to buy time, wait for him to reload. He didn't have to wait for long however as a concussive shot of a different kind slammed into the Elite's backside. Grunt had triumphed in his battle and was now using the crushed Elite as a meat shield while he fired at the Ultra's shields with his assault rifle propped up the defeated Elite's shoulder.

"Right on your ass!" Grunt shouted as he fired another concussive shot

This time, his shields weakened, the Ultra did just that. Jorge rushed over to curbstomp the Alien's head in, but the Ultra swiftly grabbed the Spartan's leg and held it best he could. They struggled for a bit before Jorge fired a chaingun round into the Elite's leg. The hold lessened, Jorge slammed his foot down hard on the Alien.

Grunt tossed the dead body of the Elite he used as a shield aside and nodded to Jorge. The two continued to rush up the slope to the spire. As they did a Skirmisher aimed his sights at Grunt, hoping a blow to the head would be enough to kill the unstoppable Krogan tank-born. Instead a round slammed into the Skirmisher's head, taking him down easily.

Legion cocked the rifle once more, expending the thermal clip from the chamber.

"Target Eliminated." Legion declared "Searching for new targets."

The Geth eyed Six and the others once more. He, Tali and Garrus had been jetpacking across the rocks, fighting scores of Jackals and Skirmishers on their way, the synthetic had made every effort possible to thin the enemy out best it could.

But soon the machine ran into its own problem.

"Detected movement near your position." Dot chimed in

Legion turned to where Dot had warned him of the approaching danger, just as he did an Elite Ranger rushed out from along the left pass in the rocks, firing a repeater as he moved forward. The Elite activated his jetpack and flew towards the Geth, who ducked for cover as the plasma rained down on him.

"Activating cloak." Legion said aloud

The Geth vanished as the Ranger landed at the position near the machine. However unlike most Elites Legion had killed with this tactic so far it wasn't fooled by the magic act. Listening intently it waited for its prey to make a move and then struck out. He backhanded the Geth with the butt of his repeater, taking it out of its cloak. Legion in kind pointed its overload at the Elite and activated an overload attack. The power drained from the Elite's shields and allowed the synthetic to deliver it's own punch to the Elite's jawline. The Ranger stumbled backwards and Legion fired a round into is head with the Widow.

Legion didn't watch the body drop, it turned back to its squadmates still in danger.

Six and the others were holding their own, but they had run into more resistance then they hoped. The Skirmishers all seemed to like this one particular rock along the rocky pass and they concentrated all their firepower jumping up to it and assaulting them. Worse Grunt's on the ground to the right were firing up at them as they rushed by.

"Screw this," Six said fed up "I can only handle so many of the little mouth-breathers before they just start to piss me off."

Six flew up high on his jet pack and tossed two grenades down into the pass, among the Grunts. The explosion decimated their little back and Six plummeted back down, landing on the head of a Jackal that had been trying to close in on Garrus.

"More where that came from!" Garrus warned as he fired shots at more Skirmishers leaping up around them "Suggest we make for higher ground!"

"Follow me!" Six shouted "I see some rocks we can hop along towards the Spire!"

Tali backed the two up as they left, firing her pistol at the advancing Jackals who were about to overrun the area.

"Not gonna leave without a parting gift." She said as she activated her beloved drone "Chikita, cover me!"

Tali let the drone preoccupy the Covies as they escaped. It took down quite a few Jackals, blasting them in the eye sockets when they exposed themselves, even a Skirmisher when a blast hit him square in mouth. As the Drone faded from taking on too much damage, Tali tossed a fragmentation grenade into the mess of Covies who had surrounded the now vanished drone. The last took out a number of them as Tali landed on the high ground with the others.

"Keep moving," Six said "see those pillars?"

He pointed ahead to some twin tall rock pillars, beyond them was an open pass and some kind of scaffolding.

"That's out ticket past their defences!" Six told them adamantly

Two Skirmishers suddenly popped up on top of the pillars and began firing their focus rifles on them. The streams of ions nearly smacked into their heads as they ducked for cover.

"Leave'em to me!" Garrus announced

He popped back up, rifle in hand and fired once at one Skirmisher. The round slashed through the scope and smacked into the bastard's eye. Garrus just as quickly turned to his partner on the other pillar and fired one round that saw the top half of the Skirmisher's skull come clean off.

"Whoops," he said "probably should've turned off the armour piercing on that one. Bit extreme."

"It worked." Six said quickly "Now move!"

They began jetpacking across the rocks once more, landing on the pillars and then the scaffolding. It seemed to have once belonged to the mining facility once located here. No doubt demolished by the spire that now stood where the span lead to.

"We could have used these jetpacks on some of our missions." Garrus said as he admired the equipment "Could've just leapt behind the enemy. Why can't we just buy one?"

"Most booster technology is meant to ease landings." Tali informed him "Even then it's expensive. You wouldn't believe how many Quarians on pilgrimage try and find a genuine jetpack when they leave."

The talk was cut off by the robotic voice of Legion.

"Six Noble. Situation has developed. Covenant advancing on left pass. High density of troops. Possibility of being overwhelmed, high. Must relocate with Five Noble at center."

"You did your part Legion," Six assured "we'll worry about them when we gotta leave. Just get to safety for now."

This still posed a problem, with the Covenant overrunning the position they previous advanced from they couldn't go back the way they came. They were gonna need help, reinforcements to keep the Covenant busy while they took the tower. Otherwise they'd be encircled, trapped between the Covenant coming up from behind and the Spire itself.

At that moment several rockets were seen bombarding the area at their back, coming out of a canyon pass from on high. Out of it poured an entire company of Marines, and even on familiar voice over the radio.

"Shepard to downed Falcon teams, what is your status over?"

"Shepard!" Tali said happily over the comm. "I'm glad to see you! We're near the spire! Going to disable the shield at the top!"

"Don't let me keep ya then." Shepard responded "I'll keep them off your asses for a bit. Carter says the Grafton is moving up to demolish the Spire. Relay your progress to him! Shepard out!"

Tali could hear gunfire in the last transmission. He was no doubt in the thick of it now.

* * *

><p>Kowalski crawled up behind Ellingham and leered over some rocks to help him fire on some Elites along the left pass. They were certainly not gonna let them take this spire down without a fight. Taylor was nearby with Pearson and Ramirez, trying to hold their flank along the center.<p>

"Pearson, get Shepard on the horn!" He shouted as the fire continued "I need a barrage on those Elites in the center! Hit them with that plasma gun!"

"Yeah cause the shield only prevents our shit from blasting this place apart!" Pearson said with a grin "Damn I love that biker moustached fellow every passing second!"

As Pearson got on the radio to Shepard, a screeching sound was heard from above. They all ducked low to the ground as a flight of Banshee's swooped over them.

"They must've put some air support inside the dome!" Ellingham noted over the green plasma blasts being dropped on their position.

"I can see that Corporal!" Taylor shouted back "Watch your sector! Ramirez! Give me fire on those banshees now!"

Ever the dutiful rookie, Ramirex picked up a rocket launcher and fired guided rocket at passing banshee. It hit home causing it to fall from the sky in a wreck. As it fell, Mordin rushed up to group, holding a plasma rifle in his hand.

"Need medical attention? Support?" he asked quickly "Happy to oblige!"

"Could use a hand with these Elites up ahead!" Kowalski told him

The Elites themselves were spec-ops, as their helmets made clear. Mordin rushed up to the position with plasma rifle ready. As he did a huge blue plume struck the center pass, decimating the Elite and Skirmishers ahead.

"Good hit Pearson!" Taylor congratulated "More are coming though, see if you can get us another round!"

Mordin looked at the Elites as they advanced forward on Kowalski and Ellingham. Kowalski was already armed with his Carnifex, primed with phasic rounds.

"Plasma shots work best on shields." Mordin noted "Hit each together. Partner can finish him off with headshot. Quick, efficient, like STG."

"The what?" Kowalski asked

"Not important! Explain later!" Mordin said vehemently "One moment please! Must recharge. Rifle notoriously underpowered when picked up."

"You can't recharge a plasma rifle." Ellingham told him as he ducked another shot from a Skirmisher's needler rifle up above. Luckily a shot from Thane a few feet away sent the body tumbling down to the ground.

Mordin merely smiled coyly at Ellingham's comment in the meantime and pressed the end of the rifle into a device strapped around his waist. Stuck in, plasma heaters first, the covenant weapon sprang to life once more.

"Developed this morning!" Mordin shouted over the gunfire "Discovered way to recharge power cell with portable energy exchange device! Small battery-pack inside! Recharges plasma energy output! Very simple to design! Surprised Covenant never thought of it themselves during combat!"

As interesting as it all was, another plasma bolt smacking into the rocks near them prompted Kowalski to interrupt Mordin's little lecture.

"Alright it's friggin cool! Just shoot damn it!"

Kowalski jumped up and fired his phasic rounds into the nearest Spec-Ops Elite, with the help of Mordin the shields were completely drained in seconds. Ellingham popped up next and fired a single round into the Elite's head with his DMR. They shifted to the next Elite and repeated the process. As they did, more blue plumes of plasma fell from on high, decimating the Covenant who tried to retake the position they had just lost once more.

Samara watched one slam into the right passage, killing a squad of Grunts and their Elite commander. What stragglers remained she, Miranda and Jack finished off with biotic throws and shockwaves.

"I count twenty five so far cheerleader!" Jack remarked "How many you bagged?"

"I am not counting! I am focused on the task at hand because I am an actual professional!" She told the convict off "Perhaps you'd kill more if you weren't so interested in stupid games!"

"Yeah fuck you too bitch." Jack grumbled as she fired a few warp rounds into a Jackal's hand and then head, shredding his DNA as they hit.

Shepard moved among the men, encouraging them to continue fighting.

"We got them on the ropes now people!" he told them "Just hold out a bit longer till the shield is down! Then we can pull out!"

"Could use a strike on that sniper's nest in the rocks sir!" said one marine

"Its already on the way!" Shepard said as he inputted the coordinates "Keep holding!"

As the plume struck the rocks, decimating the Skirmisher snipers, a voice popped up on the radio.

"Impressive strategy Shepard," it said "I must say your reputation is as true as every one claims."

Kreave, he had somehow locked onto their radio communications.

"How the hell did you get this frequency?" he demanded to know

"I have been many things in my long years of war Shepard, learned a many great tricks. Like Alliance communication protocols. I was specifically taught by a rogue technician, dishonourably discharged for using his skills as a radio man to smuggle weapons off base, disgusting little man, betraying his clan. I killed him when he no longer served a use. Fitting end really, impaled his eye on his own radio antenna. I should share the full details sometime."

Shepard frustrated with the Krogan's arrogant stature was quick to shout him down.

"If you're here to gloat forget it. I got nothing to say to you." Shepard told him "Besides, not like you got much to gloat about."

"Oh but trust me Shepard, you have said much with your actions." Kreave assured "I honestly thought the guns had all been lost. I tried retaking control but you must have a sufficiently esteemed hacker among you. That and the Covenant have such worthless electronics equipment when it comes to such things. No matter, if I cannot take the gun back from you I will simply demolish it. Seraph fighters are already on their way to destroy it upon my command. In fact..."

A huge explosion was heard in the distance behind Shepard. The Omni-Tool's artillery access program suddenly beeped, saying it had "lost signal."

"Oh, there it is. Gone." Kreave said somewhat delighted "Now you'll have to fight without it. If you truly are like the Krogan as they say you will adapt to this in time. You are Commande-"

He shut the pompous jerk up at last, cutting off communications with the Krogan.

"I swear to God I'm gonna kill that jackass." He grumbled, he then contacted someone worth talking to "Jorge, how's the assault going?"

* * *

><p>Jorge peppered the balcony with fire as the Covenant tried to regroup along the base, but between him, Legion and Grunt they were managing to keep the area clear.<p>

"We're holding them pretty well, but your boys are gonna have to move up I think."

Jorge turned around to the left as Covenant troops tried to flank them.

"They got us boxed in a bit. Think you could lend us a hand?"

* * *

><p>"We'll be there in two Noble Five!" he assured, he turned back to the Marines "Alright, change of plans! We're gonna advance! Head to the spire! Let's end this! Show'em what humans are made of people!"<p>

Shepard rushed out first, grabbing a jetpack from the supply cache as he did. The other marines advanced forward as well, firing like mad. Amazingly the Covenant began to fall back as the Marines headed forward. There were just stretched too thin right now, they couldn't defend everywhere at once. The Marines pushed forward and the defence moved up to the base of the spire.

* * *

><p>On the scaffolding above, Six took a deep breath as he looked below. Ahead of him was a covenant grav lift that would take him and the others to the top, below Jorge and now Shepard embroiled in a fight to keep the Covies from figuring out someone had snuck in from the back door.<p>

"Worried about the jump?" Garrus asked

"Nah, not scared of heights all that much." Six said guaranteed "Just taking it in is all, don't wanna screw up and miss the mark."

"We're right behind you lieutenant." Tali assured

"Alright then," Six said taking a deep breath "We head up, clear it out, exvile as soon as the shields go down. Let's do it."

Six leapt first, his jetpack fired up behind him. Tali and Garrus followed suit. All of them aimed for the grav lift. Once within they started flying up towards the top.

"Noble One," Jorge spoke over the open channel "Six is on his way up!"

"Good, we're just outside the shield Six." Carter informed them "Once you take it down we'll come to pick you and the others up. We're gonna take every Marine out of that hell hole ASAP. But it's all on you."

"No pressure sir." Six responded

The group entered the top of the spire, spoiling for a fight. As they walked the hall though, nothing was there. No was attacking. No Grunts, no Elites, nothing.

"Hard to believe they would keep this place... unguarded." Garrus said suspiciously

"I know," Six agreed "watch your corners. Control room is this way let's move."

Six took point leading up towards the control room slowly. As he did he thought he heard something nearby, just inside the control room.

"Heads up," he whispered "we got a bat in this belfry."

"That means enemy right?" Tali asked, still trying to grasp many a human sayings.

Six approached ever more slowly, expecting an Elite to rush out with a plasma sword ready to strike him down. He got an Elite, he even got a plasma sword, but not as he expected.

The figure strode in, patched with metal and wires coursing through and on his skin, or what used to be skin. It had been replaced with a metallic coating. The shield could be seen shining bright on the creature, pentagons dotting the body. The hide looked thicker, the talons sharper, the eyes more monstrous and deadly than ever before. It clearly was an Elite, it looked like an Elite, but it was changed so much, so altered, that it wasn't until two plasma swords appeared out of the creature's hands that Six fully accepted this thing had once been an Elite. He didn't know what it was now.

But Tali and Garrus did know, all to well. And they also knew what it meant. As they stared in the maw of the changed Elite, filled with tubes and metal they heard Six ask the expected question.

"The fuck is that?" he said in shock

"Six get back now!" Garrus shouted

The Turian pulled the Spartan back as the Elite slashed at Six with its left plasma sword. Like the Spartan Tali stood there in shock.

"A husk! An Elite Husk! HERE!" Tali shouted in absolute terror "Garrus, do you know what this means?"

"Think about it later! Kill it now!" Garrus ordered

Six, knocked out of his momentary stupor opened fire with his DMR, but the bullets seemed to bounce off the shield like they were made of rubber. Garrus' armour piercing rounds and Tali's shield drain did little to bring it down. They fell back slightly as the creature advanced. Then it began to twist its arms around making its swords flail wildly.

"Run!" Garrus screamed

The swords sliced at the metal bulkhead of the spire as the Elite Husk ravenously slashed at them. It dragged it's swords along the floor in an attempt to uppercut swing Six, whole rolled backwards and fired his assault rifle into the Alien. But the shield barely flinched.

"It ain't working!" he screamed as he backed away from a downward slash.

"Tali keep hitting it with energy drain!" Garrus ordered "This thing is shielded like a praetorian husk! We need to treat it like one!"

With that in mind, Garrus switched to the arc projector, firing electric blasts at the now altered Elite as they rounded the bend of the Spire. The Elite got in close and stuck his Plasma sword into the bulkhead, trying to slice of Garrus' head. But the Turian ducked down in time and delivered an uppercut punch to the lower jaw of the Elite. The Husk's neck snapped, and then snapped back in a sickening fashion. Garrus was booted away as the Elite advanced once more.

"WADE!" Garrus shouted over the comm. "WADE! WE GOT A PROBLEM UP HERE!"

* * *

><p>Shepard had jetpacked up to one of the rocks overlooking the base of the Spire, he got Garrus' message as he landed.<p>

"Garrus what's wrong?" he asked concerned, the Turian never used his first name. Not unless something bad was going down or when things were really relaxed on the Normandy.

This time wasn't because of the latter obviously.

Garrus' frantic voice returned, sounding like he was struggling with something.

"Argh! Give ya a hint! It's nasty! Semi-Undead! And rhymes with dusk!"

Shepard eyes widened and he used the visor to focus in on the Spire. The enhanced vision didn't lie, a Husk, an Elite husk with plasma swords for hands. He didn't think about the implications of it, especially when he saw it barely miss Tali with one of its blades.

He saw one of the banshees passing by him doing a strafing run on the men below. He didn't think. He blasted off with his jetpack towards the banshee at full speed. He grappled onto one of the bony landing arms that stretched out from the vehicle and lifted himself up to the top. Summoning all his stretgh with his biotics he pulled the cockpit open, revealing the pilot within.

"Cool aircraft, I'll take it."

Shepard used pull to wretch the Elite out of the cockpit of the banshee. He let the alien fall to his death and took command himself. He placed his hands forward, into the controls.

"Just like a taxi cab," he said "easy peasy."

Of course he remembered how he almost crashed the taxi he drove several times into a wall... and a truck... and a billboard. He stopped thnking about the taxi at this point and shot the vehicle towards the spire.

* * *

><p>Near the window, Tali had sent Chikita out once more to keep the Elite Husk distracted while she continued to fire every shotgun round she had into the shield. It ate away at the protective layer, but only just. And once the drone was killed again it turned its attention towards the Quarian and made a running charge at her. Six grabbed her and pushed her back as the husk closed in. Now he was in the direct path of the sword. He fired his rifle into the alien, expecting the Elite to run him through here and now.<p>

Instead blue plasma slammed into the Elite, coming from outside the window looking over the battlefield. The plasma drained the shields entirely, stopping the Elite husk at long last. The Elite turned to the window, as did the others, and saw a banshee racing at full speed, firing all the way.

The alien craft slammed into the Elite Husk and flew back out of the window. The husk clung to it instinctively with its talons. It began slashing its plasma sword against the cockpit. The door to said cockpit now opened wide and the banshee began to spin out of control in the air.

"Enjoy the ride you undead piece of Reaper shit!" he shouted

He tossed a plasma grenade into the banshee's cockpit and boost away from the falling craft. He rocketed towards the spire, not looking back as a blue ball of fire exploded behind him. The hulking wreck crashed down to the ground below, Marines scattered to avoid the wreckage and dust that had been kicked up.

Shepard reached out his hand and was grabbed by Tali and Garrus who pulled him up into the spire.

"You're insane," Six told the commander as he looked on "you know that?"

"Yeah well, mama always said stupid is as stupid does." Shepard quoted "Got admit, feeling a bit woozy from that stunt though."

He looked down below at the flaming hulk of metal that he had just destroyed.

"Still look better than him though." He noted

Six rushed away to turn off the power to the shields, leaving Tali to state what they all knew now.

"If a husk was here, then..." she began hesitantly "Reapers are involved in all of this."

Shepard shoulda known, the dark space machines had dogged him this long, why would they stop? They knew about the Normandy, they knew about the crew, they had possibly made the very wormhole that had brought them here. Instead he assumed it was Cerberus... and he had been wrong.

"We'll need to settle this all later," Shepard told them "we gotta get out of here."

* * *

><p>The shield flickered and died before them and just quickly falcons flew in with pelicans to get every soldier on the ground away from the Spire. Carter in one falcon, beside another, arrived to pick up Shepard, Six, Tali and Garrus. Each had to jump onto the Falcon and strap in as soon as they got in their seats. The aircraft sped away from the Spire as fast as they could; knowing what was to become of it in mere seconds. It was followed by dozens of UNSC aircraft of every size, carrying the precious cargo of a company's worth of marines.<p>

"We're away Grafton," Carter said over the radio "heat up the MAC rounds."

Jorge, who was on the same Falcon as Six and Carter looked astonished at his commander.

"MAC rounds?" he repeated "In atmosphere?"

"Quickest way to kill it Five." Carter told him "One way to get their attention. Hang onto your teeth people!"

Shepard was still a bit rattled from they had learned within the Spire, it's guardian revealing yet one more old enemy here to join the fray amongst the new. He and his squad remained silent, even as they saw Normandy off in the distance flying alongside the formation.

"Commander you there?" Joker spoke up "EDI spotted a Phantom leaving the Spire, should we take it out?"

"Negative, let him go Joker." Shepard told him despondently "Let's not push our luck right now."

The Grafton appeared beside the formation taking aim at the Spire from afar. The huge gun at the nose of the ship lit up and ejected a giant explosive round. It collided with the spire and broke it in half. Mission accomplished, day a success, Shepard couldn't eke out a smile right now, no one in his falcon could. But they could at least be glad at what they had accomplished. They won the day.

"New Contact. High-Tonnage." Dot sounded

As soon as she said that, snapping Shepard's attention back to the here and now a giant plasma beam hurtled into the Grafton. The ship crumbled apart, exploding in a massive fireball. The shockwave rocked the formation itself. Everyone looked shocked, strained their necks to see what had killed the frigate... and then they saw.

* * *

><p>Within his pilot seat, Joker stared in utter complete terror as what he be held. A ship, bigger than any reaper, any dreadnought, big enough to be labelled its own district even! It blotted out the sun, its guns teeming with power. It was far too big to even see all at once, you had to move up and down the massive leviathan.<p>

It put every ship Joker had ever seen to shame, and it had just killed the Grafton without even trying.

"EDI," he began "I now have bricks in my pants."

"If I could do the same I would be right along with you Jeff." EDI complied

* * *

><p>"Grafton! UNSC Grafton do you copy!"<p>

"No, no," Jorge said shaking his head in disbelief "tell me this is not happening!"

"Grafton is dust!" Carter screamed over the radio "We need to get out of here! All units! Retreat I say again! Retreat! Get the hell out of Viery now!"

And with that, victory, which had been assured, which they had fought so hard for, was taken away. It felt cheap, unfair. But as the behemoth towered over them, none voiced such a complaint. All could only stare up at the Covenant Super Carrier above them as it began to rain hellfire down into the Viery valley below. Countless good soldiers gone in an instant as the plasma burned their vehicles to ash.

All the optimism, the hope, the relief, it was gone now. But it was worse for Shepard and his crew. For everyone else, what they were seeing was horrible. To Shepard's crew, with what they had now learned about the Covenant's allies, this was just more salt in an open wound. They now dreaded what came next, for they knew it would only get worse from here on in.

* * *

><p>AN: Holy fuck that took forever! By the by, been wanting to do that jetpack scene for a long time. Told you I had plans with it. Hopefully it worked out, I'm happy with it at least. Came out pretty damn good. Oh and in case you haven't realised, yeah Ramirez is an obvious homage to Halo's apparent rival shooter game "Call of Duty." Why? Cause I like both games and I think it's silly some of you people argue about which is an apparent holy grail. Just a game guys, there's room to like everything you know? No one is gonna take your precious beloved CoD or Halo away cause some douche on the net thinks one or the other is shit. By the by, I know I said I wasn't gonna be using memes here... well I'm breaking my rule just for this one time because when I named my Staff Sergeant Taylor I just couldn't help it. Besides, it's more of a nod anyway than anything else. I'll also probably call it out eventually if it keeps going. Well rant over there, as well as my shitty justification, onto other things.<p>

Not sure how people will react to Kreave honestly, I don't wanna make him some kind of villain sue. It's why I had Shepard outsmart him at first and show he's a pompous arrogant windbag whose a bit too high on himself. He's got an ego, so that's a definite weakness they could exploit. Still, gonna need to be careful, OCs can be a delicate dangerous matter. But I need someone leading the Blood Pack here. Krogan are nothing without a battlemaster.

But now they real big thing for this chapter. Yes, the Reaper are in fact involved. If any of you honestly bought that red herring concerning Cerberus... well I did my job. Yay me! I set it up at the start, I don't think I was trying to hide it that much. This started out with Shep investigate an possible link to the Reapers remember? This of course opens up new opportunities, Covie Husks for one. I got the idea from the news of Mass Effect 3. Batarian Husks you say BioWare? Old species looking like fucked up Silent Hill monsters? Why didn't I think about that! It's weird how humans have so far been the huskified species after all.

But you probably got a billion more questions now. Why are the Reapers here? Why are they working with the covies? How the hell did they convince them to use tech that isn't Forerunner and modify their existing tech? An action that goes against their very religion?

Well actually that last one has been a question we've been asking for awhile, but I can already tell what you're thinking, that it answers all these questions simply and easily. All I can say is, it's never that simple.

I'm trying to come up with a proper name for this series in full. I have my own ideas but I'm open to suggestion. Also, this fic has its own TV Tropes page now! Freaky huh? Just search the title in the TV Tropes engine, you'll find it easy. Also thinking of expanding this story to deviant art, get more views and feedback. But first, I kinda wanna see if I can get someone to do some sweet art for each of the chapters. Again, open to suggestions, not sure if it will go anywhere. Right now though, I'm beat. These last two chapters took a lot out of me and I've wasted enough of your time with these here notes. Read, review, criticise, be honest as always too. Thank you for actually slogging through all this, now go outside and play or something. Or take a nap. Your eyes gotta be strained from all this here reading.


	12. Never Go Home Again

Chapter 12: Never Go Home Again

This was supposed to have been an easy mission. They said it would be an easy mission. How quick had it all unravelled? He should've known. Nothing ever goes according to plan. Not for Noble Team. Covenant swarming out of the wood work, Marine support dying, Kat cut off from the others and racing across open ground to the objective. Carter could only bark orders over the communication channels at the others; try to rally them to some kind of coordinated plan of action. Jorge was doing his best but there was only so much he could offer Kat now. Jun was doing a better job keeping them off her, but he had no defence against the banshees that were now doing bombing runs on everything near the Lieutenant Commander.

Did they know what she was carrying? No. How could they? They were just trying to kill humans and kill them quickly. They rarely considered or thought much of Human strategy or tactic. Covenant thought of them as ants, lowly and miserable, insects to be stepped on. They couldn't know that Kat was carrying the package. They just saw a Spartan breaking away from the pack, easy prey to them. He needed to keep his head in the realm of the plausible, not wild theories. It was the only thing that would get them out of here alive.

"Emile I need you deal with things on your end and head up to support Kat now!" he ordered over the radio

"Doing my best here sir," Emile assured "but these Covies got me pinned. I'm gonna try and by-pass them and make a break for Kat!"

"Just do it now!" Carter commanded "We're running out time!"

The plasma bolts struck against his shields as more Elites rushed in from the side. Jorge turned to let loose a hail of bullets on the charging enemies. Continued to try and spot Kat out of the melee up ahead. He tried getting a visual through the damaged buildings and smoking piles of rubble in the street. He finally spotted her, rushing through the city like a freight train, blasting her pistol as she ducked and dodged enemy fire. She was almost to target.

Then the banshee flew close over ahead. He watched a crop of dust kick up where Kat had been as a green plasma bomb struck hard.

"Noble Two copy!" he screamed into his radio "Noble Two do you read? Kat! Respond!"

It was a frantic order, one he didn't get an answer to as a group of Jackals and Grunts rushed up their flank. Carter vaulted over a low hanging wall and fired back with a grenade launcher upon the approaching column. He shouted over to Jorge.

"Cut us a path! We're moving to Kat!" he shouted "We need to get to the package! See if she's alive!"

That's when a voice came over the radio.

"Noble Lead, Thom here! I have Kat! She's pretty beat up sir! But she's breathing!"

Thank God Thom had rushed ahead, thank god Kat was okay. They could still pull this off without a scratch. Carter fired another grenade at the Grunt and Jackal column. It easily tore apart the aliens as it hit. He turned back to where he saw Kat fall.

"Where's the package Thom?" he asked, as worried for Kat as he was the mission had to take priority. "Is it secure?"

"Its fine, but it's active." Thom said frantically "We got less than a minute to get it on the battlecruiser!"

"Just stay there," Carter said trying to calm him "Noble Two can disarm the thing and give us more time. I'll head to you and-"

Thom's voice came back over the comm-link sounding even more distressed.

"Sir, Kat can't even stand let alone disarm this thing! Her arm is shot to pieces!" he shouted back

Carter bolted up from his position and motioned Jorge to follow him as they rushed forward.

"Listen to me Thom, we're coming!" he assured "We'll figure something out! We can-"

"There's no time sir! There's too many between me and you and in 50 seconds we're all gonna be fallout or that ship is gonna blow us to atoms!"

Carter clenched his fist in anger, he kept pressing forward all the same firing round after round in all directions as he and Jorge rushed towards Thom's position.

"Then leave the package and get Kat back here! We'll pull out and-"

"That's not an option sir." Thom replied stoically "We're out of time. I know what I gotta do."

Carter didn't like that tone of voice at all, not at all. He tried to contact Thom again, shouting over the radio incessantly, repeating "Noble Six! Hold your position! That's a direct order!" over and over, before finally saying "Thom we're coming! Just hold on! We'll be there!"

He only saw a little black dot rising up above the earth towards the battlecruiser, the flames coming out its backside assured him it was a jetpack. And he knew only one person on the battlefield with a jet pack.

"Thom! Don't do this! I'm almost there!" Carter screamed through his radio, but no response came.

He kept shooting through the streets trying to make it to Kat, watch out for Covenant and keep an eye on the battlecruiser as they went. Even for him, the usually adept and competent commander, it was overwhelming to process it all.

He kept trying to reach Thom, to get an answer from him, but all he got was static. In what seemed like the longest minute of his life Carter raced through the streets, only a few more yards from Kat, just barely out of reach as Covenant tried to swarm her downed form from all sides.

Then Thom came back.

"Package is delivered Noble Lead." He said quietly and humbly "It's been an honour sir, but it looks like you're on your own from here. Thom-293, out."

The battlecruiser exploded a second after, the aftershock throwing Carter off his feet along with Jorge. As he struggled to get up he could hear another voice.

"Commander! Noble One get up!" it kept shouting "Get up!"

* * *

><p>"CARTER!"<p>

A sudden jolt finally awoke the downed Spartan Commander as Kat pulled him to his feet. He looked behind him to see the burning wreckage of a Warthog and several dead marines surrounding it. Kat brought his head back to her as smoke billowed around the area

"We need to move! Come on!" she told him in a panic

Carter raced after her pausing only slightly to look back at the massive Covenant Supercarrier above them and the dozen or so Corvettes pouring out of it, Seraph fighters tossing plasma bombs down below at the UNSC soldiers fleeing for their very lives in any vehicle they could get. Another explosion destroyed three civilian trucks carrying a number of UNSC personnel. The Seraph fighter that scored the shot flew overhead and turned for another pass as guns from a number of Warthogs and other AA assets tried to shoot him down.

Out of one nightmare... and into another.

* * *

><p><strong>August 12<strong>**th****, 2552**

A battle that had started that morning on such high hopes had descended into a chaotic retreat by evening. The Viery plains were lost. There was no denying that now. Mere hours after pulling back to the nearest UNSC bases the Covenant resumed their attack, sending waves of Covenant fighters, ships and vehicles straight at them. Pretty soon everyone was just trying to get out of Viery, to someplace on Eposz that was more secure than this. Hell anywhere on Reach that was more secure than this place. The Marines and Troopers packed up what they could and began to retreat en masse. The air support had bugged out early and now was only a token of what it had been previously. The Saratoga was pulled back first. After losing the Grafton, the Navy didn't want to risk another ship. No one blamed them, after seeing what happened to the Grafton many just wished that the Saratoga had stopped to take them with her.

Officers from both the Marine and Army corps tried to keep things organized, but with the constant hit and run attacks from the Covenant that was becoming almost impossible. The Covies were just playing with them now, taking pot shots at a retreating enemy they knew were too weak and demoralised to fight back. The humans certainly looked the part, everyone from rookies to veterans were in stark contrast to how they were during the morning. They started this day thinking they were on the verge of victory, now they were ending it just hoping they'd survive to see morning.

Eventually it was decided they couldn't keep running. At least not running like they were currently, bunched up and easy targets for the Covenant to strafe at their will. They needed make some kind of stand to at least hold the enemy back, just long enough for other units to get through. The problem was there weren't many places they could stop and hold for a few hours, nothing was properly defensible from what they could see. So they halted their retreat near a canyon pass. One path led towards the mountains, the other continued on straight ahead on the main road out of Viery into some rocky terrain.

Noble Team was with the retreating Marines, trying to give the pullout some semblance of organization. It wasn't easy, and it wasn't their kind of work, but everyone seemed to be looking to anyone who was at least trying to bring order to this mess. To anyone that could get them out alive. From what Carter could see they had a shot. They had an electronic holomap with them, procured with the help of Auntie Dot from what satellite imagery they could gather. As he looked over the map with Kat they soon found what they wanted, a position they could defend.

"There's a dry river bed up ahead." Carter said eyeing the map "We keep going along this road we can get there, use it as a defensive position and then fall back to the caves along this road."

Kat just nodded as she looked it over.

"Good plan, but we still can't keep dragging all these people with us." She told Carter "We're slow, cumbersome, we can't manoeuvre."

"I know." Carter admitted "But we can't leave them behind either. Which means we need to split up."

With that in mind they turned to the third person at the table, Garrus Vakarian. The Turian was a bit surprised that they had asked him over to this little meeting. He originally thought it was because he had opted to stay behind with Samara and Mordin as the retreat continued. Shepard didn't argue, he agreed they could use the extra hand. Perhaps Carter wanted him to make himself useful, give him orders on what to do. That was the first though, but now he was turning to Garrus, looking for insight.

"What do you think Garrus?" he asked

The Turian looked over the map, going over it inch by inch with his eagle eyes.

"The path to the mountains should give us a bit of cover from their air support." He surmised "The second group can probably duck and weave between them and rendezvous with the first group at the caves. It will take them awhile though."

"No choice, we can't remain an easy target or no one is getting out of here." Carter reiterated "We gotta split their focus, try and get them off our backs."

Without much in the way of hesitation Carter looked up at Garrus from the map.

"Garrus I want you to take point on the mountain group."

Garru's looked back up from the map, seemingly stunned.

"Point? You mean lead?"

"In a manner of speaking yes, I'll put Jorge, Six and Emile with you for the mission. " Carter continued without missing a beat "Between them and your own team that should pretty much cover all the bases in terms of specialities."

Garrus was a bit surprised at this. Carter was asking him to take charge? It was a bit off-putting. After all, he had never gotten the chance to properly apologise.

"Noble One I don't understand, why me?" he asked

"Because Vakarian, despite you not always adhering to protocol, Six says you probably saved his life in that Spire." Carter explained "That and you were very adamant on not leaving those troopers to fend for themselves back in Visegrad. If this is gonna work, if any of these men are gonna get out alive I need someone who values their safety above his own."

Garrus supposed that was closest he was gonna get to Carter acknowledging that he had been forgiven. He'd accept it, not like he wanted anything else.

"Now are you gonna argue with me over this like you usually do or what?" Carter added just as quickly

"No, no," Garrus assured humbly "I'll... I'll do my best."

Carter looked back up from the map. Even with a helmet on Garrus could tell the man was more serious than usual. It was in his tone of voice the way he was just staring back at him.

"Just get them home." He said

There was something personal in those words. Garrus wasn't sure what it was, but he could recall the tone and feeling nonetheless.

Garrus kept eyeing the map, trying to properly internalize all the winding paths and roads that weaved through them. They would the shortest route to the cave, but all the most difficult for the Covenant to follow. He didn't have much time to study as a plasma blast landed just a few feet outside their perimeter.

"Damn it, they caught up already." Carter growled as he got on the Comms "Three you're with me and Kat, Four, Five, Six, follow Garrus. We're splitting up people. No questions. Pack up and move now!"

Garrus uploaded the electronic map wirelessly to his omni-tool and rushed back to his team who were already piling men into vehicles.

"Head for the mountains!" he ordered "We need to get the hell out of here!"

The teams split up, with most of the army troopers and tanks heading to join Carter and the Marines, along with a few scattered elements of the ODSTs, joining Garrus' path into the mountains. As they left the area, plasma artillery rained down all around them. Private Kowalski rushed to his team Warthog in a frantic dash as explosions tore at the staging area. Ellingham pulled him up into the troop carrier warthog as it started to move.

"When the hell is this day gonna end?" he wondered as he huffed heavily in his seat.

They'd all been going for hours now, in full gear, with little food. They had barely stopped for any rest and already they were moving once more. Kowalski's question was on everyone's mind, and no one had the answer.

Kowalski looked back, staring at the cause of their misery, the Supercarrier above them and its massive expeditionary force of invading aliens.

"I just can't believe we missed that thing." Ellingham groaned "I didn't think their cloaking tech was that advanced."

"Maybe the Spire had something to do with it." Kowalski suggested "It only showed up when we killed it."

It was a disheartening thought, to know that no matter what they had done when they started this mission they didn't have a chance of winning from the get go. Nothing could shake that thought from their minds. That this entire endeavour was in vain, that the UNSC hadn't seen this coming and that the Covenant had basically just been toying with them all along.

Suddenly a plasma blast hit one of the evacuating warthogs next to Kowalski's squad. The explosion kicked up a wall of fire and dust that blinded their eyes with light and tickled their faces with heat. There was nothing left of the warthog or the people inside it, nothing they could do to help them now.

"Floor it Pearson!" Taylor ordered "Don't break for yellow! MOVE!"

They could only save themselves from here on out.

* * *

><p>The Joint Chiefs in their bunker watched the entire retreat on their several video feeds, shaking their heads in utter disbelief. This was worse than they had ever imagined, worse than anything they could've feared. Already the Covenant were spreading out from Viery and the refuges from the territory they had evacuated were now being uprooted once more. All of Eposz was in a panic, the populous trying to run for higher ground. The media blackout for the rest of Reach managed to decrease the damage, but they couldn't hide a giant floating Covenant ship, not from Eposz at least. Seemingly the Covenant were helping them a bit as the Carrier was keeping its orbit centralized to Eposz. That much they could be grateful for, the panic was contained to one continent on Reach. But it wouldn't stay that way for long.<p>

"This is a disaster." General Abernathy declared "An absolute disaster. How the hell did we miss that thing?"

"Covenant cloaking technology appears to better than we thought." Admiral Dresher replied "That Spire not only managed to cloak the ship it cloaked its Slipspace jump. We were wondering how they managed to get so many Corvettes here without our knowing. Now we do, they were all hidden inside that monster when it made its jump."

"So an initial cloaked jump to hide their actions while they set up the Spire network and another to get that beast over here before we knew it to provide extra support." Abernathy concluded "Intelligence dropped the ball on this one people. No excuses this time."

"We all dropped it Mathias," General McCarran told him downheartedly "we all did. My flyboys and satellites completely missed this thing during recon. I'm starting to wonder how long these bastards were here for."

"If they were here for an extended period of time why didn't they attack sooner?" Dresher asked in frustration "It makes no sense! It's not their style! It's not how they work! The come, they kill, they glass, they leave, they take a break and repeat the process on another planet. What's different with Reach?"

Abernathy stroked his chin for a moment to think on that point. What was the one thing that gave pause to a zealot? What stayed a crusader's hand? Then it came to him, Holy Relics... and the danger of damaging them.

"Could this have something to do with that Forerunner artefact ONI discovered?" he asked

McCarran and Dresher looked at one another and nodded in conjunction.

"We shouldn't rule it out," Dresher acknowledged "inform Sword Base, we need to reinforce the garrison there. If they want it we can't let them have it. It's probably the only reason they aren't escalating things further."

"This isn't escalation?" McCarran shouted as he pointed his entire hand at the screens before them.

"We forced their hand upon revealing the supercarrier." Dresher explained "We pushed up their deadline and they're going forward without back-up. Meaning they don't have their fleet."

Abernathy laughed sarcastically.

"They don't need it!" he shouted "They have that accursed thing to do the job for them! We need it gone! Preferably before we actually do have to deal with their fleet when it shows up, we won't be able to hold off that thing and its backup at the same time."

"Which is one of the reasons we should just start this meeting," McCarran said "we already have a number of questions Shepard has to answer for us. These new aliens, this Elite cyborg Noble Team's Sixth member encountered in the Spire..."

"And this of course." Dresher added as he looked to the screen once more "Bring up video file seven eight zero four."

In an instant the screens all changed to an image of Shepard standing on the plains, a hulking reptilian creature staring him down. Shepard's back was to the camera, captured from the angle of Marine within the unit.

"I already died once. I don't feel like doing it again." Shepard said

Dresher kept the video on a loop as the Abernathy scoffed at it.

"I still say it's just a figure of speech." He repeated for the seventh time since seeing this "He probably got resuscitated on the battlefield or something."

"Considering what we've learned about the Commander I'm willing to take anything at face value, General." Dresher explained "Let's just ask him about it. We've played kid's gloves with Shepard for a bit too long. It's time we start pressuring him. He's on our side, no doubt about that, but that doesn't change the facts. We need to know more about him and this dimension of his."

McCarran looked at Dresher with an eyebrow raised.

"So we're just accepting his little alternate universe story then?" McCarran asked sardonically

"I'm just saying we need to keep our minds open from now on." Dresher declared "We need ideas, strategies, some kind of big gun that can kill that Supercarrier and get us out of this mess. Shepard may just have the answer we need."

"God help us if he doesn't." Abernathy added

At that moment an aid approached and whispered something in Dresher's ear. It was time to took a deep breath and looked back up at the screen.

"Contact SR-2 Normandy, secure channel 2." He said

* * *

><p>The Normandy itself had flown out of Viery. The entire territory was no under restricted airspace. The UNSC didn't want to risk any ships or aircraft getting blown to bits. Not unless they authorized it. Joker was maintaining a flight pattern over one of the nearby airbases, the closest one to Viery. With Garrus and the others still in the line of fire neither him no Shepard wanted to risk them being without some kind of support if they needed it.<p>

Shepard watched as the large screen they had hooked up in the conference room came alive. One of the more recent instalments they had gotten since the end of the Suicide Mission at the Collector's base. The Illusive Man's one way connection line was now kinda pointless seeing as how they had cut ties with Cerberus. Still Shepard wanted to make sure they could get in touch with people somehow if they needed to. It was a hackjob piece of work but the video feed worked nonetheless.

The faces of the joint chiefs soon appeared on screen, staring down Shepard intently. This was the first he had ever met any of them, strangely enough they seemed more intimidating than the council had been when he first met them. Then again, they were high ranking members of the military, not politicians. It made things a bit more disconcerting when you remembered that these people had battle fleets under their direct command. Along with them popped up Colonel Holland, he had to be here as well of course, he was after all the person responsible for Shepard. On Shepard's side in the room were assorted members of the ground team, Thane, Miranda, Kasumi and Tali. Each of them here out of support, duty or curiosity.

With the video conference set up and everyone present the Joint cvhiefs opened up the discussion.

"We're glad you had time to talk with us Shepard." Dresher began "I know with what is going on it must be a less than ideal time to take you away from whatever you're working on."

"I'm used to getting called away for things and if this has something to do with figuring out how to kill that supercarrier I'm all for sticking around."

"We'll get to that Commander," Abernathy told him "but we need to talk about what the hell happened down there."

Shepard had seen this coming. They wanted to know about what they had encountered, what they were up against, what they knew about these new aliens that had shown up all of a sudden.

"I guess full disclosure is in order." Shepard admitted

"Yes mind telling us what these aliens you're so familiar with are doing on Reach?" McCarran asked with a sneering frown.

"I'm just as surprised they're here as you are." Shepard assured "Had I known any of them were here I would've told you everything I could."

"Then make up for it now." Dresher informed him "What are these Vorcha exactly? And these Batarians and Krogan that came with them?"

Shepard supposed he'd start with the most familiar of them.

"The Krogan you should be aware of already." Shepard explained "Grunt, my crew mate is one of them. He looks different because he's younger, tank-bred. The point is besides being tougher and stronger than the average Krogan, everything about him is similar. They regenerate, they're hard to kill and they're really aggressive. The ones we encountered belong to a mercenary group called 'The Blood Pack', and they're also why the Vorcha are here."

"These Vorcha have regenerative properties as well from what I hear." Abernathy recalled "Are they related? Close cousins?"

"Not in the slightest." Shepard assured "They're not an intelligent species but they are sentient. They're vicious, highly accustom to violence and in large packs they can be a particularly devastating force. They don't go down easy but fire tends to keep their regen abilities at bay though."

"And the Batarians?" Dresher came to finally "The ones your team encountered at the forward command post."

Shepard's favourite subject of course, the one involving the race that he had squared off with on Elysium. He'd keep it brief, no sense giving the whole history lesson.

"Back where I'm from they're not the biggest fans of Humanity." Shepard answered calmly "They hate that we expanded too fast when we arrived on the scene. That we started eating up colony rights before they could get them. They've been funding pirate and slaver gangs ever since to try and pay us back for it. I think your Covenant and this group shared common enough goals to team up."

"And the Blood Pack are mercs, so they're all about money." McCarran added "Just like the Jackals, or so ONI claims"

Shepard mulled his next words over carefully and he figured they should know about Kreave. He was a pompous egomaniac of a Krogan but he was still smarter than most. A strategist Krogan was as dangerous as a berserker one, even more so.

"Their leader, Kreave, stated he was here for more than just money." Shepard warned "He wants their weapons and a chance to take part in the conquest. I'd be careful of him."

The Joint Chiefs all looked at each other for a moment before nodding.

"Yes about this Kreave, you spoke to him." Dresher began "The video footage we have of the conversation is intriguing. What exactly did you mean by, you died before?"

Shepard looked to Holland on the screen who merely shrugged lightly.

"Forgive us Shepard," Holland apologised "but after this thing with these new aliens we're all in agreement. If you're gonna work with us we need you to be more open."

Shepard supposed it wasn't worth that much to keep the secret. There were bigger ones to hold onto in any case.

"Yes I did die, but I got better." Shepard replied, slightly jokingly

"How does that work exactly?" McCarran asked, seemingly befuddled

Shepard turned to Miranda who was more than happy to oblige with the answer.

"Two years and over a billion credits." She said "That's the secret to resurrecting the dead gentlemen."

Dresher just laughed a bit under his throat.

"Fine," he accepted "we'll take your word for it then. But we could use more information about these now shared enemies we have. We want you to update this codex you sent us. With everything pertaining to the alien species in your universe, and we do mean everything."

"I'll send over all the files pertaining to the three species in question to you now." Shepard complied

"We were hoping for more than that." Abernathy clarified for the Commander "We need specs on all the alien species. Everything that you know about all of them, updated to the codexes of every UNSC soldier who has one on them."

Shepard didn't need to ask why. He neglected to tell them much of anything relating to the species of his home dimension. He didn't think it was relevant after all. Now that had changed and they wanted to be sure they didn't get caught off guard again. Of course, giving them information like that would help them prepare for contingencies against those species that were also in his own crew. Not that he didn't trust the UNSC he just didn't trust certain people in it to play ball.

But he supposed this was non-negotiable.

"Very well." He relented "Anything else or can we move on to the matter of the Supercarrier?"

"One last thing Shepard." Holland said as he clicked at something below him. As he did a picture of monstrous metallic creature with two plasma swords for hands appeared. The Elite Husk, captured from a frame in Six's video camera in his helmet.

"The Joint Chiefs and I would like to know more about these supposed Husks your people and Noble Six encountered." Holland explained "What are they?"

Shepard looked over his shoulder to Tali and Miranda, looking for a bit of guidance on what to say. They looked as unsure as him. He opted for the more calming method.

"They're a product of an offshoot of the Geth, the race of machines one of my crew members is a part of." Shepard explained "Something malfunctioned and they went rogue. Created these devices that turned organics into stuff like this, we don't know how exactly. We've never gotten the chance to properly study the equipment."

The Joint Chiefs looked at each other thinking it over.

"Rampant AI, hmm, I see." McCarran acknowledged, almost as if it was a mundane fact. Good enough it would appear to satisfy their curiosity. "Hopefully this... malfunctioning party of the Geth won't be a problem?"

"No," Shepard assured "I'm positive they won't. I dealt with them."

"Good to hear Shepard, we'd like some strategies and tactics on dealing with these 'husks', as you call them, nonetheless." Dresher told him "In case there are more."

"Miranda has put together a dossier on how we've taken down different variants before." Shepard replied "I'm sure that should be adequate."

"Well then, onto the matter at hand." Dresher followed up urgently "We must not waste time."

A picture on screen and within the briefing table's holographic display appeared, showing off the Supercarrier in all its glory and horror. Little markers identified each of the weapons that it bristled with. There were estimations of crew numbers off to the side, listing every alien that could be inside alogn with their vehicles and ships. It was all overwhelming to say the least.

"I take it sending your team in is out of the question?" McCarran asked "You did manage to kill a battlecruiser."

"We got lucky," Shepard explained as he looked over the hologram "we managed to sneak aboard thanks to EDI our AI. We disabled it with our Thanix Cannon. The crew was less than a quarter of what these estimations state. The Normandy wouldn't stand a chance, this is a heavyweight brawl."

"Best not to let Joker hear you doubting his baby." Kasumi warned jokingly

"You'd be surprised," Tali cut in "he's been clammed up since that thing became visible. Not exactly something you see often from him."

Shepard honestly couldn't blame Joker, although he was a bit concerned for the pilot's state of mind. No was not the time for any of them to lose their heads.

"He knows what we're up against, it's understandable." Shepard told them both "What we need is a way to tear through this thing. Maybe a nuke..."

"We don't have anything with the sufficient enough payload to kill it." Dresher said "Covenant ships are remarkably resilient. The ones that could destroy it got taken down when we tried to get close enough to fire them off. The only ship that has a nuke left is the Pillar of Autumn and it doesn't have what we need. We need something with at least 250 times the yield of the Hiroshima bomb, maybe more. Autumn's is only 20 times."

Miranda stepped up close to the hologram and motioned her finger along it.

"Do you have anything else that could hit it, like say in the bridge or power core?" she asked

"MAC Cannon orbital guns, but the ship is staying out of their fire radius and what orbital platforms we have in the area have now been destroyed." McCarran explained "There are ships however that do have them as their main guns."

"I sense a 'but' coming." Kasumi quipped "There's always a 'but' during these things."

Said "but" soon became evident as Dresher sighed.

"Our fleet could potentially, and this is a big if, destroy the supercarrier if they all consolidated their forces on it. But the chances of any of them surviving the assault are slim to nothing. We've had the AIs run the numbers, first wave, 75 percent casualties. Chance of overall success is 50/50 more or less."

"But it is a chance." Shepard noted "It may be this planet's only chance."

Suddenly the screen had a fifth face appear on it, one Shepard was familiar with and not at all happy to see right now.

"It appears I've cleared up my connection problems just in time to reiterate my same argument to the joint chiefs." A despondent and furious looking Ackerson announced "Diverting resources from Red Flag to this fool hearty endeavour is a waste of human lives and humanity's best chance at survival."

Shepard grimaced at Ackerson as he approached the screen.

"Ackerson," he said with a hint of venom "as I understand it you don't have final say on that as long as Winter Contingency is in effect."

"True, Commander," Ackerson responded in kind "and the Joint Chiefs would probably have agreed with you were this little supercarrier of ours was just a few dozen regiments of Covenant assault ships. This monstrosity is a planet glasser. It can pretty much conquer half of Reach on its own. It's worth at least seven hundred thousand covenant battlecruisers. It is far too great for the Red Flag fleet to waste its lives upon. Its suicide Commander, and I as well as the Joint Chiefs agree that it is not in our best interests to throw resources away trying to kill it with a full frontal assault."

"And what about Reach and all the people down there right now in this thing's crosshairs?" Shepard asked defiantly "Do we just sacrifice them? If there's even the slightest chance of success of saving Reach through this action we should-"

Ackerson slammed his fist down hard in front of him.

"You are forgetting the bigger picture Shepard! I am not averse to sacrificing the few for the many, I understand that, and that is why this assault plan is a bad idea!" he declared, emphasizing every other word "Red Flag is the best possible chance for humanity's survival period. It will cut off the head of Covenant leadership, it will give us a bargaining chip, it will give them pause! THAT is what this operation is about, there are only a few colonies left and Earth is nearly in their sights. We need to stop the Covenant now and if we throw away the fleet saving Reach like this we will lose Earth. They will find it and they will glass it and that will be the end. Red Flag will save us, but only if it goes according to the plan, no deviations, not before it's launched."

This was the first Shepard had heard of this operation. Why he was suddenly being told about this mission now was lost on him. He assumed it should be top secret. Perhaps Ackerson was willing divulge it if only to show the commander how he was wrong about this frontal attack idea. To show him up in front of the Joint Chiefs and prove he was smarter than him.

Nevertheless the Commander admitted it was a sound argument, but he didn't know enough about this operation to buy into its importance.

"So you're saying you're willing to let Reach die over this operation?" Shepard asked "This Red Flag of yours is worth more than Reach?"

"It is worth every life we are sending into the fray to accomplish it." Ackerson reiterated "Every Spartan II we could muster is going to snatch a Covenant Prophet and his little ship. We'll know where their homeworld or homeworlds are before they know where Earth is. We'll force them to the bargaining table or we'll bomb their people into the primordial goop they crawled out of. At the very least we'll have a chance to rebuild, allow us some time to heal, prepare for the next war."

Shepard supposed that was worth fighting for, he hated Ackerson but he couldn't deny that this operation could give humanity a chance. But he didn't want to see Reach sacrificed for it. He wasn't from this universe but he wasn't about to just let countless people die when there was more than likely a way to stop it.

"Is there anything we can do then?" Shepard asked "Are we calling in any support at all?"

"We're working on calling in reinforcements from neighbouring systems, but it will take time." Holland explained "Till then we just need to hold out it seems, kill this thing when we have better odds."

"With the way the Covenant are advancing though that may mean the people on the ground aren't going to last long." Tali warned "We may not have the time we need to wait."

That was a point everyone seemed to agree on from the looks of it. Their faces said it all. At the very least they all knew it was possible.

"What if we didn't use the ships?" Shepard asked "What if we used some of the Spartan IIs and ground forces to at least help in evacuating the citizens and keep the ground forces at bay?"

"No," Ackerson declared adamantly "the Spartans have their role to play. The civilians trying to evac will just need to rely on the people already down planet-side."

"From what I've seen a few Spartans could help turn the tide." Shepard argued "It wouldn't cost you that much, probably a few squads."

"A few squads is all we have left of the Spartan IIs Shepard." Ackerson informed him, his tone sounded like his throat was filling with bile at the suggestion "Do we need to go over this again? No, the ground forces stay in the Red Flag staging areas. They are needed elsewhere. Besides, Spartans are not suited to such work in any case."

Shepard raised an eyebrow in a bit of confusion.

"But they are suited for last ditch desperate risky mission to end the war?" Shepard responded

"It wasn't my initial idea to use them. I didn't come up with Red Flag." Ackerson informed him "But my position is not to question my superiors. In any case, perhaps the Spartans can finally prove themselves useful and do what they were actually made to do, namely save humanity. If those walking tanks can do that then perhaps all the time we spent on them will not have been in vain."

Shepard looked to the other officers on the screen. They all looked a bit exasperated right now, as if they had heard this all before. Shepard's interest piqued he kept pressing.

"You have a problem with the Spartans?" he asked inquisitively

"Just the II's, the Spartan III project was funding actually well spent." Ackerson declared "Expendable shock troops we can train quickly and efficiently with little cost. Not this poultry number of science experiments Halsey came up with that cost us valuable resources. Oh sure, they may have helped us win some battles, saved some lives, but they haven't won us this war yet have they? Red Flag will change that. This is the mission they were made for and they will carry it out."

"You still haven't really explained your issue with them." Shepard told him, cautiously weighing his next few words "In fact I'm starting to think you don't want to send them planet-side cause you would prefer to make sure most of them end up going forward with the operation, an operation that could very well see every single one of the Spartan IIs dead."

Ackerson stood upright in his chair.

"I don't need these accusations Shepard." He declared in a very elitist tone "I know you've spoken with Halsey, whatever she told you about them is as irrelevant as she has become. The Spartan IIs are simply tools, expendable assets which will be spent saving humanity from extinction and THAT is final. If the civilians want to flee they will need to look towards soldiers, real soldiers like the ODSTs and not Halsey's cavalcade of freaks."

"Are you quite finished Ackerson?" Holland asked, sounding rather annoyed.

"I have more important business to attend to, I will leave you and Shepard to brainstorm how to kill this monster ship." The ONI Colonel announced smugly "Given his record, I'm sure he'll come up with a most inventive solution."

With that Ackerson's video feed vanished from the screen. Dresher was quick to pick up the conversation once more.

"Apologies for the Colonel's tone Shepard." The Fleet Admiral began "He used to be ODST himself you see."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Shepard asked a bit perplexed at it all.

"The ODSTs used to be our elite operatives." Abernathy explained "Then we got the Spartans. They never got over it, well, some of our officers have, but most ODSTs in general don't regard Spartans highly."

"And Ackerson never did like Doctor Halsey all that much either." McCarran added "But back to the matter at hand we need a solution Shepard, fast. If all we can do is hold-out for now we need every gun, upgrade and ammo type you can spare. Armour too would be appreciated, especially with shields. Maybe even some of those plasma recharge devices you cooked up."

Shepard merely nodded in response.

"I'll get you anything you need just ask." Shepard promised "Just keep trying to get those reinforcements."

"Don't need to tell us twice Shepard." Holland assured "Just get our people the tools they need to hold this storm back till they arrive... or we come up with a better plan."

With that the video conference ended and the UNSC officers on screen all took their leave. This left Shepard and his crew to discuss the remaining elephant in the room, the thing they didn't tell the UNSC about.

"You think we should've told them the truth about the Reapers?" Tali asked

"I highly doubt they would believe us without sufficient proof." Miranda answered "Remember how the Council just brushes us off? What's to say they'll be any different?"

"They would have to just take our word for it." Thane spoke up "We are their only real link to our world. We could just tell them its stated fact."

"Please," Miranda said rolling her eyes "we're talking about a bunch of ancient machines that come back from dark space after spending millennia away so they can harvest organic life-forms to make more of themselves by turning them into goo. How the hell do you think they're gonna take it unless we actually have some kind of video or proof?"

"Well at least the UNSC have those sweet helmet cams," Kasumi observed "next time one of the Reapers decides to give us a doom and gloom monologue we'll be good."

Shepard now had to wonder why it had taken them this long to figure out a solution to that problem. Honestly why didn't they just video tape this stuff? Then again, maybe the Council would've just written that off too. They were surprisingly stubborn.

"The Geth they can at least comprehend," Shepard told them all "I don't think a bunch of killer ancient machines will sit well with them. I also don't want Ackerson getting more ammunition. He's gonna get more intel on our people from the codex. I don't wanna risk him learning about the Reapers unless it's on my terms. They've only now just decided to accept our story of how we got here as true, so we need to work our way up to the Reaper thing."

Tali just nodded at it all, accepting that it was what was best for now. But she still didn't like withholding this information. It reminded her too much of her father.

"What I want to know is why the hell a Reaper is working with the Covenant?" Kasumi asked "Why isn't it trying to kill everyone like it's supposed to do?"

"This place isn't exactly Reaper friendly," Tali told the thief stoically "I've looked up these MAC cannons with Garrus, they're seriously dangerous. One shot would be more than enough to sufficiently damage a Reaper and the UNSC's ships are in general far bigger than any of the ships Sovereign fought at the citadel. I think they're at a numerical disadvantage."

"Which makes sense." Shepard added "Remember, the Reapers designed the Mass Relays specifically to guide our technological progress down the paths they desired, to make us dependent on their technology so it would make us easier to conquer. These humans had to build their method of FTL and galaxy spanning travel from scratch, nothing handed to them and the UNSC and the Covenant created weapons and tech that could stand up in a fight with them. If a Reaper is here then it would need to make an alliance with organics to make any head way in whatever plans it has for this dimension."

"And with the Covenant and Reaper missions coinciding with one another slightly," Thane began "both intending to wipe out the human race in its own way, it opted to side with them. Perhaps posing as some Forerunner God... or just indoctrinating them."

"Or both," Miranda added "we don't know how indoctrination works fully. We don't even know how long they've been here. They could've started this war in the first place."

Tali shook her head at that.

"No why would they only have the Covenant start upgrading now?" she asked "It has to be some kind of recent development. The Reaper that's here almost definitely only showed up awhile ago and was only found by the Covenant recently."

"But what does it want?" Kasumi asked again "I mean its kind already knows they can pretty much curb stomp us right? Why come here at all?"

Shepard didn't like to be reminded of that fact at all, turning his head to the side to avoid showing a tinge of fear to anyone. But she had a point, why come here?

"They prefer being efficient in their harvests." Miranda suggested "We struck a pretty big blow to them after the Collectors, their ground force for their invasion, their harvesters, dead. They probably want to make up for what they've lost. New weapons, technology, allies, if they get that... well... it would make everything we've accomplished count for nothing."

"Then we need to find this Reaper." Shepard reckoned, pretty much stating the obvious "If it gets back with any of these Covenant weapons and somehow upgrades them with their technology who knows what we could be facing when the Reaper fleet shows up."

Tali stepped up next to her Commander.

"We should still tell Halsey about this at least." She informed him "I know that's weird coming from me, but we owe her that much."

Shepard sighed long and hard at that. The Doctor had pulled through for them after all, they had the Zealot. The deal was after all that they share what they found out about where the Covenant were getting their tech. He could trust her to keep it from Ackerson, but would she believe him? It wasn't like he had proof after all? His thoughts momentarily interrupted by a still rather shaken Joker over the intercom.

"Commander we got Garrus on the line." He said, trying to keep his voice levelled "You uh, want me to patch him through? He said it's urgent."

"Go ahead Joker." Shepard responded. Before the usually more animated pilot replied Shepard spoke back "And Jeff, if you need a break from the controls no one will blame you. EDI can fly for awhile."

Joker took didn't speak for about five seconds, contemplating the offer in his head.

"I'm fine Commander." He assured "I... just need to work. Keeps me focused. Not like I can go very far anyway right?"

At least he made a joke. Shepard hadn't heard one from him in hours. Garrus' voice filled the comms soon after.

"Shepard we gotta make this quick. We're headed into the mountains and we may lose reception in there." The Turian began

"Sure thing Garrus," Shepard promised "How are things down there?"

"Like you need to ask." Vakarian scoffed "Noble One split up our group, says we're too big a target. We're headed to the rendezvous, but we know the Covenant are gonna be following us. I'm thinking I'm gonna need back up here and more of our own guns, extra thermal clips. It's gonna be a long walk back."

If Garrus was asking for a little extra help Shepard wasn't about to say no. If they had some extra guns to even their odds and they saved a few human lives, it was all the better reason to get them down there fast. Besides, the Joint Chiefs had made a point about sending in more guns anyway.

"I'll see what we can scrounge up from surplus storage." Shepard promised

"Good you can send it in with a supply drop coming out of your airbase." Garrus told him "Last one we're getting I hear before they restrict air traffic coming in and out of Viery completely. We're gonna load up our wounded and then ourselves with whatever else they have on them."

"We'll do that," Shepard told him "how are Sammy and Mordin doing?"

"In their element," Garrus assured "Mordin's taken to the combat medic role good enough. Finally got his hands on that bio-foam he raves about a lot. He asked if you can send the rest of those prototype plasma rechargers in his lab by the way. Samara is practically a rock. She's keeping what little morale we got left up, helping Mordin with the worst cases of the wounded."

"Good to hear." Shepard told him "Wish I could've come down there myself, if not for the UNSC's little pow wow they wanted to start with me."

"Relax Commander," Garrus replied "no one down here is calling you chicken, as the human expression goes. You just worry about our guest on the Normandy."

"Stay frosty down there Vakarian." Shepard said as he signed off "Get those boys home."

"Yeah," Garrus said, his voice slightly muffled "I'll try."

Garrus cut out after that. Shepard looked to Miranda and Tali behind him, both looking as concerned as he did.

"I hope he's not having another crisis session about his abilities." Miranda voiced worriedly "We can't have anyone off their game."

"If anyone can get those people out of there alive it's Garrus." Tali said rather defensively "We need to have faith in him."

Miranda stood aback a bit, somewhat downtrodden at the accusation.

"I do have faith in him." Miranda swore "The question is does he?"

The Normandy's XO turned to Shepard with a hardened face.

"I should go down there Shepard," she said "they could use me to help coordinate the retreat."

He commended Miranda's desire to help. Hell he appreciated that she was even thinking of Garrus' mental state. He was doing the same. But he couldn't let her go.

"I need you here with Jacob to help me gather up the surplus for Garrus." Shepard told her "And to help me plan what we do next. Go over some simulations with EDI figure out something we can do to this giant to knock it out. Tali come with me."

The Quarian knew where they were going. They had delayed it long enough. It was time to see about getting some answers.

* * *

><p>The Normandy didn't have a proper brig. At least nowhere that was potentially hazardous to the ship should the prisoner escape. So they created one in the cargo hold with some heavy boxes and a two doored container. I would be enough to keep the zealot inside. When Tali and Shepard got down they ran into Zaeed and Jacob finishing up their assessment of the prisoner. By "assessment" they of course meant their "Bad Cop, Worse Cop" routine, which Shepard had allowed when they suggested it. The two were a bit surprised Shepard decided to let them go through with it, but he explained they needed to know a bit about the Elite before they actually questioned him in full.<p>

"How is he?" Shepard asked as he and Tali approached the two.

"Mouthy." Jacob said instantly "Still didn't get any usable Intel about how to kill that damn ship though. Just its name, Long Night of Solace."

"Poetic, sounds like the damn title to some pretentious crap I read in primary school." Zaeed quipped "Don't bother asking him for specifics like troop movements and their overall battleplan. This guy's a fanatic, he won't talk, period. He ain't afraid of death or pain so torture wouldn't work anyway, even if it actually did. Don't bother trying to become his friend either, he ain't looking for one."

As Shepard suspected, but he could still use a strategy for this.

"What can we do?" he asked

"He's a zealot," Jacob continued "get him on a pulpit or something and he'll probably let something slip. Specially about the Reapers, if you mention it and rile him up about it. I've seen these kind of assholes before, they won't crack, but they'll talk with a big enough platform to stand on."

"One more thing Commander," Zaeed said, a stern look of warning on his face "he kept demanding to see you while we roughed him up. Said you should face him yourself and some other bullshit. Watch yourself in there. He'll try and force himself under ya skin. Don't let him do that. It's what he wants."

Shepard took the warning to heart and nodded.

"Thanks," he told the old merc before mentioning other business. "Jacob, I need you to help round up some supplies for Garrus with Miranda. We're sending in some things with the last supply drop they got going into Viery."

"No problem, Commander." Jacob responded with a salute before he left

Shepard then turned to Zaeed.

"Massani, I need you with the supply drop too, Garrus needs some back up out there. He thinks it's gonna get hairy."

Zaeed looked a little confused.

"Well, the giant lizard and our Ex-Con are free, maybe you can..."

"Zaeed," Shepard said, calmly interrupting him. "please."

The old merc looked into the Commander's eyes and silently nodded.

"Yeah, whatever ya need, Shepard." The old merc responded, rather cooler and more sincere than usual.

The merc marched away leaving Tali and Shepard to walk through the container doors. They saw the Elite through the slit Zaeed and Jacob had kept open when they left. His helmet was still on although his armour had been deactivated. No shield to protect him now. He was chained to the floor, forced to sit in a chair, barely able to move.

Tali looked to Shepard, who stared at the alien captive intensely.

"You sure he knows something?" she asked

"Legion scanned him during processing, remember?" Shepard reminded her "Said he had similar cybernetic implants as his dead friends. He knows something; we need to find out what."

Shepard's hands balled into fists as he spoke to Tali.

"You okay?" she asked concerned

"Yeah it's just," Shepard paused and took a moment to gather his thoughts with a breath "I'll be better when this is over with."

Shepard opened the door, Tali right behind him. She wasn't big on interrogation, but she would be there if he needed him. Perhaps Thane would be better suited to this. In fact he had offered to help. But Shepard turned him down. He wanted to do it himself for some reason. Tali figured he wanted to stare the bosh'tet down best he could. She didn't want him to do that alone. Like Zaeed had warned, the Elite would probably try to get under his skin. It took awhile for Tali to convince him to let her come down with him, for support, to help him out should he need back-up. She was even surer this was where she needed to be now after she saw Wade's face just then.

Shepard approached the Elite as he slowly raised his head to meet his human captor.

"I hear you've wanted to see me." Shepard began, opening his arms wide slightly before dropping them. "Here I am."

The Elite just growled.

"Disappointed?" Shepard asked "Most people do think I'm taller. But you have me at a disadvantage, you seem to know who I am but I don't know who you are."

The Elite sat up erect and finally spoke.

"I am Xytas 'Keltamee, Field Master of the Covenant, voice of the Prophets and Sword of The Gods." He declared, before steeling his gaze. "And you... you are the False Shepherd. Defiler of the Forerunners' gifts, who leads those away from the light in service to the cause of the infidel race known as humans, speaker of blasphemies and lies! You and your misguided followers deserve only death!"

Jacob was right, he was mouthy. Shepard didn't bother listening to the threat.

"That's gonna have to wait I think." He told the Elite. "You're not gonna be killing humans for a good long while."

"If you wish for that to be true you should probably kill me." Xytas warned. "For when I escape there will be no similar mercy shown."

"Let's keep this discussion on you for now, okay?" Shepard asked, although the request was not up for debate. "I wanna ask you some questions."

The Elite sat back in the chair, scoffing at the idea.

"Your human lackeys already tried that, I will not tell you anything that will jeopardize my brothers."

"I know you won't," Shepard assured "I'm not here for that. I'm here for information on the wormhole."

The Elite's eyes narrowed at this.

"And," Shepard added "the Husk that was in that spire we destroyed."

Shepard put his face near Xytas' as the Elite's teeth bared.

"I know you're working with the Reapers." He informed the Alien "And you're gonna tell me everything about them, how you found them, how they got you all this stolen tech from our universe, how many are here and what they want."

The Elite growled as Shepard pulled his head back from him.

"The technology is not stolen! It is retrieved and you know it!" The Elite roared "Your kind stole the technology of our Gods to make your ships and weapons! You defiled it with your dirtied fingers and filthy footsteps! Do not try to lead me astray like you've done with others False Shepherd! My faith is my shield and it cannot be tarnished by your sacrilege."

"Retrieved?" Shepard asked curiously "Is that the story the Reapers fed to you? That this tech you took from our universe is Forerunner?"

"There is no 'story' only truth." Elite said brazenly "The Inquisitor warned us of your kind's sacrilege that they have committed in your universe. The Forerunners, our Gods, had spread their glorious empire beyond even their home dimension. They took their gifts with them in order to spread their light and word to all others who would listen and accept them. And then your kind sullied it with your touch and used it for your own ends! In direct defiance of the will of our Gods! You are not worthy of possessing this Mass Effect technology! All gifts of the Forerunners belong to us and us alone! We are their chosen! Not you!"

Shepard ignored much of the rhetoric in the rant. He only cared about two things, that the Elite thought the technology they were taking was Forerunner and that he had named the thing that had told him so.

"The Inquisitor." Shepard stated flatly. "That's its name isn't? That's the Reaper."

The Elite laughed softly in his throat.

"Reaper, ha, the Inquisitor warned us that you would call it that." Xytas responded "Trying to desecrate the name of an Oracle left behind by the Forerunners."

"It's not Forerunner," Shepard assured. "I don't know who built them but they weren't your Gods."

"The Inquisitor warned us you'd say that too." Xytas replied defiantly. "We will not let you destroy it as you destroyed its brother Oracle."

The Zealot knew about Sovereign. That was the only other full-fledged Reaper they killed. It wasn't much of a surprise. Sovereign's destruction had made him a target of the Reapers in the first place. If they were going to bring up anything to convince the Covenant he was some kind of demonic figure that would be one. He'd store that for later, right now he needed to keep the conversation away from his actions. He needed to keep it on the Covenant.

"Did the Inquisitor also tell you to stick metal crap into your bodies?" Shepard asked sternly "What about modifying your weapons and armour? Isn't that heresy in your little religion?"

The Elite tugged at his chains in anger.

"How dare you of all beings accuse us of heresy! You're not even a believer!" Xytas screeched.

"But your religion does state that modifying Forerunner technology is heretical." Tali said finally chiming in with her own comment. "How does what you're doing to yourselves and others fit into that?"

Shepard looked at Tali over his shoulder and raised his palm to say "I have it under control." The Elite answered anyway.

"The technology is Forerunner." Xytas reiterated "They improve our weapons because they were intended to do so. They give us strength as the Gods demand. Adding them to our arsenal is not heresy. It is their will. As is adding the cybernetics the Inquisitor gave us."

No doubt now that some of those cybernetics were implants, same as Saren's. Shepard hadn't considered it before, now he was with the true nature of who was helping the Covenant revealed. That brought out the obvious question that had been raised before. He'd work to that though.

"How do the Husks fit into all of that?" he asked "You take your own people and stab them through with a spike, turning them into monsters. Where in your holy scriptures does it allow for you to do that?"

The Elite settled back down and then shifted in his chair.

"Some sangheili have never truly embraced the path we walk." Xytas admitted "They resist implantation when prompted. They cling to more old ways instead of embracing the Forerunners gifts. Others, question the Prophets. It is of no concern now. Thanks to the Inquisitor, any with doubts can be convinced otherwise. The conversion pikes are for those who have lost their way and need... nudging onto the path."

"It's a tool of fear for them," Tali stated before looking square at the Elite. "you stick dissenters on those Dragon's Teeth! You turn them into monsters to make examples of them and maintain your ranks!"

"Fear is a useful tool in this war." The Zealot proclaimed "Fear keeps the humans cowering in their holes while we turn their worlds to glass with holy fire."

Shepard approached Xytas from the side and looked down on him.

"But you haven't glassed Reach, hell you only have one ship doing the job this time, no back up. Your commander just that confident he could do it by himself?" Shepard demanded to know "Or is there another reason it's the only one here."

The Elite said nothing at first, remaining silent as Shepard stared at him furiously.

"Maybe your species' reputation as warriors is just a load of hot air." Shepard derided snidely. "Maybe you're all just a bunch of weaklings too stupid and proud to admit you're a bunch of failures. After all, I've killed tons of them by now and I'm just an infidel right? Is that why you got so much high tech crap under your skin? Cause your people know what a bunch of poor excuses for soldiers they are so they're trying to cheat?"

He could see the Elite's anger practically boiling from within, getting ready to explode.

"I'm gonna make a guess here, stop me when I go off track." Shepard continued with a cocky smile enjoying this more than he probably should have "Your people ain't doing so hot with these Prophets of yours. I mean almost three decades and you still haven't won? Gotta admit, for a race of warriors that sounds like a big blotch on your résumé, probably making some folks wonder why you get all the power when you haven't produced results. So I figure you thought you could win this on your own so you could prove that warrior act ain't just talk. You figure if you need to cry for mommy to come help you out you're all gonna look like idiots. You guys are supposed to be badass and you're getting your asses kicked by infidels? Six humans and three of my men took down a whole advance force and two of your boys while you ran off like a coward. I think that speaks volumes of how superior your tactics are. When push comes to shove, you're no braver then those gas suckers you throw to the wolves."

Shepard rushed back to the side as the Zealot tried to shoot out of his chair, the chains tightening as he tried to struggle out of them and strangle Shepard. Xytas was foaming at the mouth as he screamed. Shepard had given him a pulpit.

"THE SANGHEILI ARE THE GREATEST WARRIORS THIS GALAXY HAS EVER SEEN! WE ARE THE SWORDS OF THE PROPHETS! WE ARE THEIR TRUSTED ARM! WE TREAD THE PATH TOWARDS THE GREAT JOURNEY THAT SHALL SEE US REACH SALVATION! YOU ARE A LIAR! A BLASPHEMER! I WILL REND YOUR HEAD FROM ITS BODY! MY PEOPLE WILL BURN THIS WRETCHED HUMAN COLONY FROM THE PLANET'S SURFACE!"

"Then why don't they?" Shepard demanded to know "You've had plenty of time! Your CO not taking this seriously or what? Why is there only one ship here? Talk!"

"Because the Ship Master is a fool!" Xytas shouted in anger "He believed he did not need reinforcements to handle the humans when we discovered them! He believed he could accomplish our objective and wipe you out without calling the Prophets! That is the only reason! We are not weak! Our faith is strong! Were it not for his delay our fleets would be burning your planet now! And in time they soon will, in spite of your feeble resistance and his refusal to call for support."

So the Elite on the SuperCarrier was a glory hound. He wanted to take credit for destroying the humans here for himself. By handling things himself he'd be a hero to the Covenant. Give what he was piloting he had reason enough to be confident he could pull it off. But that wasn't the interesting part of the Zealot's rant. No, Xytas had let slip two little things. That the Covenant didn't expect to find humans here and that they didn't come for them. They came for something else.

And whatever it was, the Inquisitor probably wanted it too.

"Alright, let's get down to the real issue here." Shepard began anew "Where's the Inquisitor?"

Xytas, seemingly more calmed after his outburst just chuckled warmly.

"You will never find the Inquisitor. Our God's Messenger is far from this planet. Secure within our armada's midst. Your puny ship will never be able to reach this oracle as you did to its brother." The Elite declared

"Not the answer I'm looking for Xytas." Shepard looking the Elite dead in the eye before forcing him back into the chair. He figured the alien was telling the truth, that the Reaper wasn't near, but he still needed something to go on. "For your own damn good you should start talking about your fake-oracle. It is not your friend, it's a Reaper and it has you in its thrall."

"Your lies shall not sway me." The Zealot declared coolly "My faith is strong. The Inquisitor will help us reach salvation and leave you to rot."

Shepard grabbed Xytas by the helmet and pulled him close.

"Listen to me ya wannabe preacher, that techno-crap you got in you, I've seen someone get it grafted onto him before." He said glaring at the alien "They're implants, cybernetic mesh designed to keep you under its power, force you to do what it wants. It's called indoctrination and you've been suckered into it."

"Why should I believe the words of a Human?" Xytas demanded to know "You do not follow our Gods. You abuse their gifts for your own purposes and desecrate their most holy relics merely by existing."

Shepard forced the Elite's head back into the chair. He was getting nowhere, both he and Tali could see that. He looked back to see her shake her head, telling him it was time to give up they were done with him. But Shepard wasn't ready to let it go, not yet.

"I don't give a rat's ass what you believe in." Shepard assured the Elite "All I know is that Reaper needs to die and if you weren't so damn deluded you'd realise why. It's using your little cult to get what it wants."

"What it wants is what we want." The zealot claimed defiantly "To fulfill the will of the Forerunners, and see your species broken and dead upon the annals of history."

"Spare me the damn death threat sermon and tell me what it sent you here to find." Shepard ordered "Why'd you come to Reach? What's the Inquisitor's plan?"

The Elite didn't answer, merely looking past Shepard to Tali.

"None of you will ever see home again. When we are done with the humans here, we will see to it that we eliminate the ones in your dimension." Xytas decreed "Then we will exterminate the races of those who have allied with you, starting with everyone aboard this ship."

Xytas motioned his head towards Tali.

"I will rip off her head personally once I break these chains." He said menacingly "And I shall make you watch."

The threat had broken through Shepard's last nerve. As Xytas finished his sentence, the human commander smacked his fist into the side of the Elite's head. There was a bit of purple blood began drooling out of Xytas' mouth after impact. Out of the corner of his eye he then saw the barrel of a heavy pistol placed up to his temple.

"You know what a shredder round at close range feels like?" Shepard asked in a rage "I don't personnally, but I've seen what it does. Now tell me what the Inquisitor wants on this planet! Why did it send you here? Tell me right now or I pull the trigger!"

Xytas just smiled wickedly.

"I do not fear death human." He said calmly "You will send me to paradise. You cannot win, nothing can halt the journey."

Shepard activated the shredder round setting on the pistol.

"You should kill me," Xytas told him "You will not get a better chance. For when I escape your crew shall pay."

Shepard pressed the gun harder into the Elite's head, his trigger finger twitching dangerously close to actually pulling it. He kept hesitating though, but why should he? It wasn't like he would've given him the same mercy. Besides he wanted it. That was the thought running through Shepard's head when Tali's hand landed softly on his shoulder.

"Shepard," she said softly "don't. Not like this."

Shepard bit his lip slightly, his sense returning. He could still be useful. If they found new information, if they gained some kind of leverage over him, they'd need him for more information. And he probably knew where the wormhole was, this Zealot was their compass home... for now. Those were the practical reasons of course. Shepard ultimately backed down in the end because of the only other person in this room. Shepard pulled the gun away from Xytas' head, Tali's interference pulling him back from the edge.

"We're done here." He grumbled as he marched away, as he passed Tali he shot her a more relaxed look "Thanks for that."

Shepard left, leaving Tali alone with the Elite. She too began to leave, saying only one last thing to the Zealot.

"You're lucky he's a better man than you." She declared

As she began to leave though Xytas was quick to spit out one last sermon.

"You will all burn." He preached "All of you. We shall find the relic and it will open up the path for us. It will be a beacon that shall shine in the dark, illuminating it for our feet to tread. The Great Journey is nigh and not you, your False Shepherd nor the human demons can stop it."

Tali looked back to deliver her own warning before she closed the door behind her.

"If you believe that you don't know humans at all," she replied "and you definitely don't know Shepard."

The makeshift door of the cell slammed shut, leaving Xytas in the dark once again, alone and silent.

* * *

><p>The mountain air wasn't as clean or clear as it should've been. The range was soaked with ash of burning vegetation and earth. Seraph fighters had been seen now and again bombing areas indiscriminately, probably trying to force human groups out of hiding. Groups like Garrus' column of UNSC soldiers he was trying to get out of these mountains alive.<p>

So far the only thing going in their favour was that the Covenant had failed to find them. The twisting paths and dense foliage of the mountain range was more than enough to keep them guessing. It helped that the group had no large vehicles like scorpion tanks to give them away. That and they had kept moving, never standing still for too long.

The only reason they were stopped now was because they were waiting for the supply drop at a designated point they'd been directed to. This was the last chance for supplies and to get the wounded out. There weren't off pelicans and falcons available to get them all out of here unfortunately. They had to prioritize their resources. Garrus had feared that the desperation to get out of here would lead to some humans injuring themselves bad enough to flee. He was reminded why he liked Humans though when he heard no one complain about only the wounded getting to leave.

None of them wanted to abandon their friends, not during this. He hoped he endeared himself to them a bit too, after he assured them he was staying as well. He needed their trust now. He certainly wasn't getting it from Emile after all. The Spartan kept giving him the eye whenever they crossed paths. Garrus didn't care about it though. Let Emile brood and stew in his anger, he needed to focus on getting these people home.

The supply drop came in soon after they arrived. Accompanying the pelicans and falcons was the familiar sight of a white shuttlecraft. Hopefully loaded with enough thermal clips, medi-gel and guns to last them through the long trek back to friendly territory. As the aircraft landed the Shuttle doors opened to reveal Zaeed inside, carrying a crate in his arms that he passed to one Marine nearby.

"Take it son." He said as he passed it over "You look like you could use a new rifle anyway."

As the marine bounded off Garrus approached the old merc. Of all the people Shepard would've sent, Garrus didn't expect Zaeed to be one of them. Not that he didn't want Zaeed, he needed the help after all and Zaeed's experience was welcomed. It was just, well Zaeed was a mercenary after all. A mercenary that was most definitely not getting paid for this task.

"Massani," Garrus greeted as he approached the shuttle "welcome to the crapper."

"I'm familiar with it trust me." Zaeed assured as he pointed to behind him "Lawson got your guns, best ones we could scrounge from storage. Few heavy weapons too, just to be safe. You also got me of course."

"Glad to have ya," Garrus told him "I hate asking for you guys to stick your necks out like this but I need the help. Particularly from people I trust with experience. If we run into the Covenant again we'll need that."

"Like I said I'm here," Zaeed reiterated "I'll be sure to ask Shepard for a raise in my pay grade of course. Now then, you got a plan?"

Garrus nodded and brought up a map for Zaeed to look at on his omni-tool.

"We're cutting our way through the mountain side, heading for a nearby town." Garrus explained "The Spartans tell me it has a military installation nearby. I figure we can stop there for rest, gather supplies, move on."

"Gonna burn whatever's left too?" Zaeed asked "You know scorched earth? Don't leave anything for the enemy."

Garrus just raised his brow.

"You do remember what the ultimate plan of the Covenant Invasion is right?" the Turian asked

Zaeed had forgotten about that. He had encountered bad guys during contracts that burned down whole and such, but those were bandits or slavers. Every army he had faced has mostly just stolen everything before resorting to that. He supposed he'd have to get use to the fact that this kind of war meant everything went up in smoke. After all, that was what the Reapers had planned according to Shepard anyway.

"Right," he finally acknowledged "well it's a simple enough plan I guess. Shame, it sounds like I won't be firing my gun all that much if things go smoothly, suppose I can take in the local scenery."

Said scenery was a half burnt to the ground forest in a mountain region of course, not exactly appealing. Zaeed sauntered away without adding much of a quibble to that comment. Although Garrus suspected he wanted to add "what's left of it", mainly because he did.

He was under no illusions, things went wrong, they always went wrong. A plan not going smoothly wasn't odd anymore. Ending up trapped and over their heads in trouble had become routine. So much so a nagging voice in Garus' mind always seemed to pop up to remind him that he should be afraid when things go smoothly because that means something bad is gonna happen. It had developed for a good long awhile ever since Omega.

What was odd was to hear Zaeed sound optimistic though. That sent up a red flag in the Turian's brain and he wondered if the lack of surly cynicism and light bit of tough guy talk was really there for another reason. Maybe it all wasn't to keep Zaeed's hopes up. Maybe the Merc was trying to make him feel better.

Garrus was ejected out of his thoughts when he saw the three Spartans standing in a row, looking out at the horizon. They hadn't taken off that armour for a full day now. They had to be feeling cramped and dirty by now. No doubt they were use to it. They still looked like they had during the morning, awake, ready and resolute. Jorge's helmet was off for the moment as he stared out at the horizon. The others had their helmets on. Emile never took off his obviously. Neither did Six however. He wasn't trying to keep a badass image like Emile, so Garrus honestly wondered why Six kept it on so much.

Maybe he felt safer with it on, who knew.

Garrus joined the Spartans from behind. Emile spotted him but for once the angry Spartan said nothing. He didn't block his view or make some snide remark. He just let garrus see what they were seeing.

At first glance, not much to look at. Mountains, endless acres of trees, then you saw the scar. A big enough trail of burnt woods and dirt covering a wide enough area to be seen from this far away by them all. It was several miles in the distance, almost as wide. Garrus tried to get a better look with his visor but the best he could make out was an arid wasteland containing nothing but death.

He could spot a something though, what looked like some kind of small structure's remains in the center, standing tall despite being burnt to a crisp. And then it hit him. This wasn't a torch mark of a bunch of dead trees at all.

"All gone. Blink of an eye." Jorge mused "Took them years to probably set up that place. Decades even. Then it's gone in one damn blast from a Covie ship."

"Maybe they got out before it hit them." Six suggested "It's not like they glassed it, they just torched it. If there were people in there they definitely would've done so and we'd see no buildings at all."

Jorge just nodded silently.

"Something to hope for I guess," He reckoned "with any luck the town we're headed too didn't get hit period."

Jorge walked off as the men began to pick up and go. Garrus wondered what he could say, but he really had nothing. Jorge was watching his home being systematically destroyed. There were no words. The only thing he could think about was that his own home planet faced a similar threat in the near future. But that was not very comforting either and it wasn't like he could explain why anyway.

It did make him think of home of course, and subsequently made him wonder if he'd ever see it again. It was a wormhole away and for all Garrus knew with their luck they'd arrive back just in time to watch Palaven burning to the ground.

First things first though, he needed to get these people out of here. Then he'd worry about him never getting home.

* * *

><p>How many things could one person worry about before going insane? Going off by the numbers she had seven currently with the Reapers, the fate of Reach, if she'd ever see the Flotilla again, Shepard's state of mind, the alliance with Doctor Halsey, Ackerson's attempts to kill their crew mates and most recently Legion and its strange verbal tic it had suddenly gotten. Needless to say, a lot was on Tali's plate to consider. She wasn't the only one thinking about them of course, but they were still in her mind constantly, all seven of them.<p>

Her Father had warned Tali there would be days like this. He said she'd have to get used to it when she got older and more people were looking to her. She always hated the idea, even before the Admiralty kept putting her in charge of expeditions away from the fleet. No that wasn't fair to the other Admirals, not even Val'Koris or Daro'Xen. The correct term that she meant was her father kept putting her in charge. He always spoke so highly of the Zorah clan, of their history and importance to the Quarian people. Well, he spoke of what history he could. The Quarians lost a lot of it after the Geth Uprising.

He was the one Tali suspected of putting her in charge of most of those expeditions. She supposed she should've been happy to know her father had such confidence in her. There was still a tinge of resentment though. A feeling that he just wanted to make his daughter more like himself, groom her in the hopes she'd maybe be an Admiral like him or at the very least as renowned as him. He wanted her to be strong for the fleet, like he was. Being a leader however was something Tali had always been reluctant about. She became adverse to it when she kept getting people killed. She tried to hide it, but leave it to the Shadow Broker to open old wounds.

Now she was potentially facing a similar situation, that with Shepard overwhelmed with everything that was going other people like Garrus and Miranda would have to step up to take some of the pressure of him. They all had to be leaders in their own right. Thankfully for once Tali was taking the lead on something that didn't potentially put others' lives into her hands. Legion was the only one potentially at risk, and only because it didn't know it had a problem. That verbal tic of saying 'I' when it meant 'we' was signalling something bad, she could feel it and if Tali didn't do something soon it would be too late. It was funny actually. She spent so much of her time thinking of ways to kill Geth, now she was worried about one's survival. Her father would be rolling in his grave.

But she couldn't do it alone, to find what was wrong with Legion she needed help and not just EDI's or Legion's willingness to let her open them up and look at their hardware. She needed someone who knew technology as well as she did, someone she could trust like Garrus or Shepard. Oddly enough the best person that fit the profile was a thief.

She found Kasumi in her usual spot when she wasn't spying on everyone, curled up on her couch in the observation room. She had one of her books in hand, an actual paper bound book. Tali was surprised to learn anyone still read those anymore. Then again Kasumi was always a bit eccentric since the day they met her.

"Tali," she said as she looked up slightly from her book "didn't expect to see you here. I thought you'd be down in engineering with your new toy."

"The slipspace drive can keep. I have Daniels and Connelly working on it with EDI. Before you ask we're making progress." Tali informed her "Should be ready soon, but I may need some parts. What are you reading?"

Kasumi merely shrugged. She turned a page delicately before she even attempted to answer.

"Oh nothing just some T.S. Eliot, a collection of his poems, first edition." Kasumi explained "I tried reading some Turian works before but the ones I have were a bit a too ra-ra so to speak and I'm not in the mood for that right now. I tried Poe, too depressing given the situation. Eliot takes my mind off it all a bit. Also, it has a bit of sentimental value to me this old book. I lifted it from a national library back on my home colony when I was six. First book I stole. Late fee is probably astronomical by now."

Kasumi held back a nervous laugh. Tali didn't blame her for trying to seek escape.

"You know," she said abruptly shifting gears "if I ever get out of this... I may consider just... you know, giving it back."

Tali chuckled a bit.

"Never figured you for the kind to give something back to be honest." She laughed "At least not willingly."

"Hey, I return all the bits I steal from the ship okay." Kasumi swore, mocking offense "I need to keep my skills up remember. Besides, I said I'd consider. Don't hold me to it alright?"

Tali shook her head and rolled her eyes with a chuckle. She leaned against the nearest wall and crossed her arms.

"You never return the stuff you take from Jacob." Tali added

"Well that's a different story obviously." Kasumi admitted "I'm making a scrapbook by the way."

"You ever consider he might be creeped out by that?" Tali asked playfully "No one likes a stalker."

"You stalked Shepard a bit yourself as I recall." Kasumi countered playfully "And it's not like I'm stealing hair or sweat from him. You know, just the occasional piece of underwear, gun cleaning cloth, that sort of thing."

Tali decided to let her have this one. She had a point about her keeping watch on Shepard. She never scrapbook though.

"So exactly what did you come in here for Tali?" Kasumi finally asked "Obviously not to talk gossip."

Was she that obvious? Probably, but it didn't matter right now. She checked to make sure the door was properly closed before continuing.

"It's Legion." Tali began to explain "Something is wrong with it."

Kasumi rose her head up and eyed Tali a bit.

"Not like that. I assure you." Tali corrected her before she even said anything "You know how Legion talks right?"

"Yeah, I always find it funny. It's like its royalty. 'We are the Queen of the Geth. We are not amused. We would prefer tea and crumpets please.'" She joked, mimicking a robot and moving her arms like one as she talked in a metallic voice "Priceless."

But Tali wasn't laughing.

"It's never said 'I' to us." Tali continued "ever, until today. When we started the operation it kept saying 'I' several times."

That was enough to get Kasumi to put down her book.

"But Geth aren't individuals, Legion said so itself." Kasumi explained "It said they consider themselves as all a part of the same singular consciousness."

"The Network I know." Tali nodded "They refer to themselves as we because there are over a thousand programs in there. It's only logical that it calls itself a We in reference to that."

"Could just be a glitch in the translator or something." Kasumi considered

"I checked, mine is working fine." Tali assured "And I don't think it's something wrong with Legion's voice box because it doesn't even know it's saying 'I' instead of 'we'. I think it has a serious problem."

"Developing individuality is a problem?" Kasumi asked confused

"For Geth maybe," Tali reasoned "they can't logically consider themselves as individuals it wouldn't make sense to them. It doesn't exist for them, they have no concept of it."

Kasumi scratched her head as she rose from her couch.

"You think it's dangerous to us?" she asked

"Maybe not us, but Legion most definitely." Tali explained "I saw the Heretic Geth's station, learned they were spying on their own people and Legion was actually shocked. They don't spy, they know everything about each other. I think they may have changed while they were away, disconnected from the main Geth Neural Network they went in a different direction. Like a different evolutionary branch for organics."

Kasumi suddenly got what Tali was saying.

"And Legion has been disconnected from the Neural Network for a very long time. More so now than ever." She realised "You think they're changing too?"

"Possibly, but this all seems just too sudden." Tali reasoned "I wanna do a proper scan of Legion to be sure. Find out what's wrong."

"And you need me to help cause I'm the only other tech savy one here huh?" Kasumi asked "Tali I know nothing about the Geth. You have the leg up on me in that department, several legs even."

Tali approached Kasumi with arms out stretched.

"I need an extra pair of eyes scanning their code. What we're looking for could be buried too deep for even Legion to spot and if I'm gonna root it out I need someone that can dig it out."

"Yeah that is my speciality I'll admit." Kasumi relented "Does Shepard know about this?"

Tali looked off to the side slightly.

"He's... a bit occupied I think." Tali reasoned "I don't want to put more on his plate then he already has."

Kasumi simply nodded. It wasn't her place to pry. She placed a hand on Tali's shoulder and smiled.

"I'll help," she promised "just so long as this is more about helping Legion."

"It is I promise." Tali swore "If something is wrong with it we need to find out. Before it gets worse and our resident Geth crew member starts acting... wonky I believe the human term is."

"You mean 'death to all organics' wonky or 'blue screen of death' wonky?" Kasumi asked

"I'm really hoping it's nothing that severe." Tali replied "Honestly I really do."

She didn't want to think about the consequence if either possibility turned out to be true, neither for the crew or Legion itself.

* * *

><p>Garrus' group had been lucky so far, save for a few banshees flying over now and then they hadn't seen any Covenant for awhile. They started to think the enemy aircraft themselves weren't really looking for ground units so much as they were looking for human aircraft to shoot down and perhaps even lead them to humans on the ground as well. They weren't bothering to try and peer through the forested terrain below. It kept the formation safe from discovery if nothing else. Course they knew what the Covenant didn't, there would be no more supply drops. They were just wasting power cell energy while they slipped out of here.<p>

The marines figured if they were gonna retreat they might as well focus on the fact that they were still outsmarting the damn aliens.

Eventually they came upon the town they were searching for, Kozma's Hope. The sign read "Pop. 1045" but the little hamlet looked more like a ghost town. As Garrus walked along the Main Street heading into the town he passed a half demolished gas station, its windows shattered and its door blown clear of its hinges. There was an orange truck near the pump, its hood open along with its doors. The engine was smoking and the truck itself was leaking fuel onto the pavement. The pump it was next to was adding to the growing puddle on the ground as its hose was off its hook. Whoever was trying to refuel the car had left in a hurry.

The town itself even from here didn't look any better. Smashed windows and blown out walls seemed to stretch along the sidewalk. Abandoned cars littered the streets, some crashed into each other. There were large craters in the pavement, with wrecked vehicles inside some of them. Garrus could see what looked to be a small diner, a blue car bulldozed into its side. The story this scene told was all too simple to ascertain. The town had been attacked in the middle of the citizens evacuating. The question now, was whether there was anyone else left here, Human or otherwise.

Garrus turned to Jorge who had joined him at his side with Six.

"What do you know about this place?" he asked the towering Spartan.

Jorge surveyed the surroundings with a look of dismay.

"Kozma's Hope," he sighed forlornly "one of the first townships set up back when Reach was colonized. Tourist trap community, close to the woods and there's a lake a few miles away so good for people trying to get away from the big city, maybe for a fishing or camping trip. Military set up a base here just before the start of the Insurrection. Only a few kilometres up the pass at the back of the town."

Jorge pointed to the pass itself and through Garrus' scope he could see the base's out perimeter. Not to mention a number of abandoned cars headed up the road.

"Any survivors probably ran there for assistance." Six assumed "From the state of this place, probably has been abandoned for a few days now, week at most. Then again the Covies have had free range over Viery for awhile so it could be more. Either way I think everyone is gone by now."

"What do you think hit them?" Garrus asked

"Air-raid probably, I'm guessing nothing bigger than a few flights of banshees coming at low altitude." Six elaborated "That would make the craters. Can't be sure on whether or not there were boots on the ground, not unless I see some bodies."

By now Samara, Zaeed and Mordin had joined up, with the rest of the group tagging behind and taking up positions in some of the closer abandoned buildings. The Gas Station for one and an accompanying garage across the street from it, which had its own story to tell with an overturned tow truck at its front and a blown out garage door. The marines raced up to the buildings and began to secure them.

"This place looks like it got hit hard." Zaeed noted as he surveyed the scene "Poor blighters, they didn't stand a chance."

"What is our next course of action?" Samara asked Garrus

"We've been keeping a steady pace all day now." Garrus replied "Sun is starting to set. I think we should rest for a bit then head up to the military base see what we can salvage and move on. We'll need to secure the perimeter first though."

"Me and Six can take some men down to search the east end of town." Jorge suggested

"I can take a couple up near the part of town closest to the base." Zaeed added "At least clear the way a bit for when we head up there."

Sounded good to Garrus, but it left one Spartan out of things. Said Spartan made his presence known when he chucked a bottle he had gotten from inside the gas station and fired at it with his shotgun. Emile let the glass and abandoned liquor pour down all around him as he marched off.

"I'll go with Emile," Samara said, seemingly reading Garrus' mind "look over the western part of the town."

"Sure that's a good idea?" Garrus asked "He doesn't like us remember?"

"Correction Garrus he doesn't like you." Samara reminded him "It would be best if you stayed away from him."

He wouldn't argue with that, besides he needed to set up some kind of command post.

"Alright Samara," he relented "just keep an eye on him okay. I'll be in the town square with Mordin. Everyone meet up with me there when you finish your sweeps."

With an obedient nod everyone left to gather up their teams.

Kowalski had hoped to find a candy bar or something in the gas station, anything that wasn't an MRE frankly would've been good. From the looks of it though the whole store had been wiped clean of any of his preferred brands, these people had somehow found just enough time to grab them all it seemed. He was able to find packaged cupcakes however, so it wasn't a total loss.

As he exited out again he found Ellingham the edge of the street taking a look at the devastated town before them.

"Kinda reminds you a bit of Earth huh?" he asked Kowalski

"I guess, course Earth's more crowded." Kowalski informed his friend "Where you suppose all the people went. I don't see any bodies. Ya think they all got out?"

"I'd like to think so." Ellingham replied "At least someone got the hell out of dodge if they did. Either way they're in a way better place than here."

The Spartan known as Emile passed by their view as they spoke to one another. They watched as he coolly looking over the vehicle carnage as he walked. He forced his blade into a tire that hadn't popped and kept walking.

"Does that guy just like to break things or something?" Ellingham asked

"He could've been testing to see if his knife was still sharp." Kowalski suggested in a moot defence of the Spartan.

"Well I'm just glad he ain't in charge that's all." Ellingham told him "Can't believe I'm saying this but I kinda feel safer with the alien on point."

It did feel a bit strange having an alien order them around, at least to the marines not in Kowalski's original unit. The men who from other divisions, who wound up stuck with Garrus in the shuffle, were a bit wary of the xeno that looked a bit like an Elite. The mandibles were what put them off. They didn't outright say it, but they largely kept their distance from Garrus best they could. Kowalski's unit was different. They had actually fought beside Aliens for a good while. They had been saved by Samara and Mordin dozens of times and had even heard the rumours of what Garrus had pulled at the Spire. Plus the Spartan commander Noble One put him in charge and that had to say something right?

So far the Normandy crew had done right by Kowalski's division. They had no real reason to take offence to them like the Marines who didn't know them as well.

The ODSTs were a different story. Some of them in the rush to escape Viery had ended up in their group, not by their choice of course. If they had the option they probably would've split off from the group long ago. Everyone knew how much they disliked the Spartans and with one being in charge of the retreat they had reason not to stay with. But they were smarter than that.

There were plenty who didn't mind the Normandy aliens in general, but pretty much all of them didn't like the idea of one leading them. The reasons were obvious, Garrus wasn't UNSC and he wasn't human. Only one squad among the ODSTs had had direct contact with the Normandy crew at this point from what Kowalski had heard and not one of their numbers was anywhere near this town.

One of those ODSTs marched up alongside the two marines and snorted as he watched Emile walk away, sauntering over to Garrus and Samara up ahead.

"Thinks he's some kind of damn badass that one." The ODST said with a sneer in his voice "Look at the way he walks around, Prima Donna. Still gotta report to a friggin Xeno though. Pft, some super soldier."

"Better not let him hear ya say that." Ellingham warned the ODST "He seems... grouchy. All the time."

"Unprofessional is what he is, all Spartans are. Just big dumb walking tanks." The ODST countered with his head raised high "Hell their job description is to kill xenos and they put one in charge of this SNAFU."

Kowalski didn't know Garrus all that much, but this ODST was rubbing him the wrong way. Maybe it was his training kicking in, how Jensen drilled in an odd sort of respect for officers and people in charge, maybe it was just the fact he never liked snobs, either way he spoke up.

"That Xeno was able to get inside the spire back there in the midst of being surrounded by a bunch of Covies." He informed him "Only two other people besides him, one another alien and a Spartan. Fought through a whole of bunch of Covenant and then faced off against some kind of Elite with plasma swords in his arms."

The ODST just laughed.

"You believe that propaganda bullcrap?" he asked back dismissively "So he got inside the Spire, whoop de fucking do. A bunch of ODSTs could've gotten in there themselves. Xeno was just in the right place at the right time. Nothing more, conveyance, that's it. And Elites with swords in their arms, where you getting this shit son? You marines believe all the scuttlebutt that gets thrown around?"

"Point is he's leading this retreat," Kowalski reiterated steadfastly "he's putting his ass on the line to get us out of here. Show him a bit of respect."

"I don't need to respect shit from a xeno." ODST replied "No self-respecting human should."

Kowalski would've argued further if another ODST didn't march into the fray.

"Corporal Haddock do you have a problem with our current chain of command?" the Lieutenant ranked ODST asked sternly.

"Sir no sir." Haddock answered standing at attention "I was just stating that-"

"Stow it, we got enough problems without you being potentially insubordinate." The LT. told him "Now quit yakking and get your gear. We're sending some men to check the perimeter with that Massani character and you just volunteered. Move out."

Haddock rushed off saluting leaving the lieutenant with the two Marines.

"Private, Corporal," he said nodding his head "carry on."

With that the lieutenant left them both, his business done. Ellingham couldn't help but smile a bit.

"It's certainly more fun when the officer ain't chewing you out." He noted

Ellingham didn't have much time to consider that however as Taylor arrived Pearson and Ramirez.

"Ellingham, Kowalski, gotta an assignment for ya." Taylor told them "Sammy and Noble Four need some extra hands from the unit to help set up the perimeter. I'm sending you two with Ramirez while we set up the command post"

"Heh, ain't that just our good fortune eh Kowalski?" Ellingham teased "We get to spend more time with your girlfriend."

Kowalski just groaned as he lifted his rifle off his shoulder and walked off.

"You are so lucky we're friends or I'd have clubbed you upside your head several times now."

"Hey I'm only fooling man." Ellingham said in his defence as he joined his friend

In any case, Kowalski was glad he had something to do at last. While he didn't like the prospect of poking through the remains of this ghost town it was better than hanging out at the street corner and waiting for something to happen. He didn't like standing still, not while the Covenant were on their tails. With any luck they wouldn't stick around this place too long. He wanted out of Kozma's Hope, and soon. He could only imagine everyone else shared the same sentiment.

* * *

><p>"We do not feel that this action is necessary." Legion repeated once more.<p>

"Indulge me for once Legion. This is important." Tali answered "Kasumi check the memory cache, could be a lead."

"Righto boss lady."

Legion was currently sitting in Mordin's unoccupied lab. Ideally Tali wanted to do this in the AI core, but if there was something wrong with Legion she didn't want it spreading to EDI. Not that she would know if it hadn't already, since EDI already recognized herself as a singular entity. Still, she wasn't glitching from what she knew, Legion was. Better safe than sorry.

Currently the Geth was hooked up by to a series of computer consoles and monitors removed from the Normandy's AI grid. Data concerning everything swimming around inside the Platform that housed the Geth that made up Legion was flowing through each. Legion still refused to acknowledge anything was with them, even going so far as to point out its own list of evidence in its defence.

"We conduct standard self-scanning procedures regularly to remove any potential malfunctions." Legion assured "The suggestion we overlooked a error in our programming is impossible."

"I don't doubt your ability to do that Legion but that could be because your system doesn't recognize it as an error." Tali assured sincerely as she hunched over her own console "It could've engrained itself into your data streams, whatever it is. We need to do a sweep of your systems concerning everything you did in the past few days. If you could just go over those we can probably find where it may have originated."

Legion's head titled curiously, recognizing the honest concern in the Quarian's voice. Relenting at last Legion began to go over its current data, slower than usual so Tali and Kasumi could actually see it. Geth could relive 48 hours in minutes after all.

If nothing else, logically it would resolve Tali's fears. It knew nothing was wrong.

At least it thought it did until Kasumi piped up.

"Hey Tali I got some kind of spike in data stream activity during yesterday at late at night. When Shepard was on that recon mission." She observed

"Let me see."

Tali stepped over and looked at Kasumi's screen, her eyes widening.

"Dig deeper, I think we got something." Tali told her in earnest as she turned back to Legion. "Legion, recall the mission. Did you do anything unusual happen?"

"None we can recall." Legion assured "We advanced Six Noble and Three Noble towards objective designated as dead zone. Mission was to recon enemy elements and neutralize ability to disrupt communication."

"Yes I know, run through it step by step." Tali simplified, sounding a bit exasperated "At any point did you plug into some covenant technology? Maybe the tower you came across?"

Legion thought for a moment, going over the mission data.

"Negative." Legion assured "We made no attempt to connect with enemy device."

Suddenly Legion's head plates rose up, almost as if an epiphany had hit it.

"We did however connect directly to program Auntie Dot."

"You what?" Tali asked, confused as what he meant.

"We allowed Program Dot direct access to our systems in order better facilitate mission objectives." It explained "Dot acted as primary spotter and extra sensory software in order to locate enemy units and potential strong points in defence despite lack of aerial or satellite based intelligence."

Tali backed up slightly at this, returning to her console, trying to better process it all.

"And how long did you have this connection going on for?" she asked

"Entirety of mission duration." Legion answered "We connected once more during combat occurring today in order to possibly intercept enemy communication and locate targets. This enabled us to better detect Covenant elements. Platform was saved from further damage because of it."

As Legion went over its connection with Dot, Tali looked more and more anxious. Her head kept switching between Legion and Kasumi, finally resting on the thief when she shouted out "eureka"

"I think found what we're looking for." Kasumi told Tali merrily as she waved her Quarian friend over.

Tali peered over the thief's shoulder and saw a series of code on the screen highlighted among the rest of the Geth data. Highlighted because Kasumi had noticed something odd about it, for one it looked more like human code, not Quarian, not how most Geth were programmed. And Tali confirmed it as soon as she saw it. It was just as she had begun to suspect.

"Legion, you have a mixture of human computer data mixed up inside some of your programming amongst your regular data." Tali solemnly informed him "In other words, you have something in there that isn't Geth."

"Elaborate please." Legion asked politely

"When connected directly with Auntie Dot her programming shared your hardware, the platform and all its sensors." Tali began, Legion nodding in confirmation "Which means you had to recognize it as part of your systems in order to properly let her access those extra sensory functions. Correct?"

Legion again simply nodded.

"But Legion's connected with systems before." Kasumi reminded Tali

"Yes, but not like this." Tali explained "Whenever he contacted the neural network it did so when EDI took down the firewalls on the ship's connections. EDI contacted an incoming data stream from the network but she wasn't connected herself. She just got the feedback and later cleared her data cache concerning it. Legion and Dot connected directly with each other. They were sharing the same space on two separate occasions. Legion has never done that with EDI. Ever."

Kasumi grinned a bit.

"Ooh, really? Now I'm wondering if we can make EDI jealous if we tell her about this."

"Focus." Tali told her fiercely "This is serious. EDI and Legion linking into one another would be risky in its own right. Probably give EDI 'headache' so to speak from all the voices chattering at once. This is different though, Dot is an AI based on entirely different methods of construction than ours. We don't know how she works on a precise level."

"From what I understand she's kinda like a VI program." Kasumi replied "How would that screw up Legion?"

"A VI program with a personality matrix far beyond our understanding of Artificial Intelligence," Tali reiterated "our Vis are little more than helpful pop ups on the omni-tool or terminals that give us information they're already pre-programmed to state. Dot is an intel specific military program based on an entirely different form of AI construction that we haven't fully grasped because we outlawed it and only gave rights to researching it to certain companies."

Legion began to pull out the wires connected to it and stood up.

"Does this foreign code pose a problem?" Legion asked

"I think it does," Tali said "it's leftovers from your connection with Dot. It's how your hardware made her compatible. You didn't notice it because it became engrained into the software, your data stream. It doesn't appear as an error because you made your platform compatible with Dot."

"And because Dot considers herself a singular entity when she leftover a bit of her code inside Legion it gave them a more direct personal individual matrix to settle on. In turn that caused Legion to call itself 'I' at random intervals without it knowing. God, this is all sounding so dirty."

"I still do not see a problem." Legion explained "We are fine. We have not malfunctioned in any drastic-"

"See! Did it again!" Tali shouted at Kasumi

"Did what?" Legion asked

"And they still can't recognize when they do it." Kasumi sighed at the response.

This was more serious than Tali thought.

"Legion this leftover code could corrupt your software." Tali warned it "We don't know what a concept of individuality could do to you, all of you! You could lose memory, over clock runtimes, cause other glitches, all probably even without you knowing."

"Is this for certain?" Legion asked

"Well this is new to me too," Tali admitted "All I'm saying is don't know what this could lead to. Geth aren't supposed to have a concept of individuality, you said so. You're all Geth, what happens when that perception is contradicted by something in you that isn't? It could lead to a catastrophic system error for all we know."

Legion contemplated the threat. What Quarian was stating was logically sound. This did pose a potential script error.

"Is there a way to purge it?" Legion finally asked

"We could try but this thing has taken root." Kasumi warned "We'd need to isolate it or something so we don't potentially purge your other bits of data and software along with it. We could do more damage if we try to fix it now without knowing how far this goes."

"Then the only logical solution is to simply let the problem persist until a proper situation can be found." Legion acknowledged "Perhaps this is not an undesirable situation. We could further study this anomaly within our own system, perhaps it would shed further light on this concept of individuality."

Tali shook her head.

"I'd advise against that," she warned "you could speed up the process for all we know. So would connecting with Dot or any other AI native to this universe for that matter."

"We have surmised that is entirely possible already Creator Tali'Zorah." Legion assured "It however may be worth the risk in order to better understand organics. We will need to build a consensus on this matter. We shall inform you of our decision."

Legion walked away before Tali could even protest the idea.

"At least we know what's wrong with it." Kasumi told her "Should be easy to cook up something to fix the issue now."

"In the meantime Legion may make the problem worse if it decides to study it on its own." Tali sighed despondently "Do you think you can work on something to erase that data without deleting parts of Legion too?"

Kasumi was taken aback by the suggestion.

"You're the Geth expert not me." Kasumi replied raising up her hands "Still I can probably cook up a tracing program, see how far that data leftover has spread. Then you can figure out how to sever the connection. Still why ask me?"

"Cause I'm probably not gonna have enough time in the coming days." Tali informed her "I'm still working with that slipspace drive remember? And I got the feeling Shepard has other concerns too."

Kasumi's eyebrow rose up.

"Like what?" she asked

"Something that Zealot down in the hold said, it jogged something I'd almost forgotten with all this going on. It did the same thing for Shepard too." Tali replied, seemingly worried "The Covenant didn't come here for Humans they came here for something else. And I got a general idea what it is."

* * *

><p>"And that's pretty much everything Doctor." Shepard finished "Seems your hunch was right, they were getting it from someone in my universe, something to be precise."<p>

"Evil sentient ancient machines of death?" Halsey asked taken aback by it all "That is troubling, if it's true. You sure there's nothing else in your dimension that matches the description?"

"Doubtful, husks are a Reaper invention and that Zealot pretty much confirmed it. They know me, cause I killed one of them." He clarified "It's the only reason they know who I am. Otherwise I'd be just another human instead of some Anti-Christ figure."

Halsey, who was on Shepard's large screen in his quarters currently, placed her fingers together and stiffened her lip as her eyes widened.

"Killed one? You do lead a strange life Commander." She complimented before returning to a more serious stance "Tell me though, why did you not mention them before?"

"I didn't consider them as a possible source." Shepard admitted "I doubted that the Reapers were even here or at least in contact with the Covenant. If I thought they were involved I would've put the idea on the table, assuming you would've believed me."

"You'd be surprised what I can believe Commander." Halsey answered simply. "The Covenant thinking something like your Reapers is Forerunner tech isn't that outlandish."

Shepard was surprised she was taking this so on the chin. He expected he would need to push a bit more.

"They aren't Forerunner though, they weren't made them. Their construction is entirely different, I'm assuming here of course but..."

"There may be enough small similarities in the design that they recognize from other Forerunner artefacts." Halsey explained "Or they may just assume it's an incredibly old or highly advanced different make of their God's technology. Either way what does it matter? They believe its Forerunner or their leaders have convinced them it is. That's enough for them."

A fair enough argument, no sense going on about it anyway, it wasn't solving their current problem after all. They had a Reaper and a Supercarrier to deal with and time wasn't something they had. Shepard had thrown out the idea that the Reaper was letting the Covenant destroy Reach's and other colonies defences first. Then it would come in a harvest what humans were left. But something didn't fit with that, the Covenant were far to murder happy and the idea of letting some humans live would be questionable. There had to be something else the Reaper was ultimately here for, what was its end game and how far did its reach within the Covenant go?

"I just don't understand what it's trying to achieve here if it's willing let humans get killed by the bushel." Shepard told Halsey "It wants them alive, to harvest, not dead and glassed."

"You've fought them Shepard you have to have some kind of idea." Halsey inquired.

"The Reapers aren't something you can understand that easily Doctor." Shepard told her morbidly "I'm probably one of the few that knows more about them than anyone. I've seen their handiwork up close, been inside one, seen one being born and I still feel like I only understand less than a percent of them."

"Well then perhaps the Covenant can shed some light on their goals for us then." Halsey suggested

Shepard recognized the look in the Doctor's eye as she sipped on her mug of coffee. It was the same look his crew told him he had when he had a crazy scheme up his sleeve.

"I suppose we could always try asking them nicely." Shepard joked "I mean could work. It's definitely a different approach."

"Better idea," Halsey said smirking "that supercarrier no doubt has a very large data cache pertaining to its overall mission parameters. There's a reason it came here originally if it wasn't for humans. If we could somehow connect to the Covenant battlenet directly and access its mission files..."

Shepard quickly shook his head.

"I'd need to get on that ship to do it and everyone is telling me its suicide." He explained

"Not necessarily." Halsey replied, her voice a bit cocky as she lifted her mug again "Yes getting on the carrier is impossible, but ever Covenant ship currently hovering over Reach would be connected to the battlenet and thus the Carrier itself. You'd just need to log in on one of the ship's bridges, potentially fake that you're the ship master and download the files directly. I'm more than certain every ship master would have access to those mission files through a certain terminal. You'd just need to crack it."

"That doesn't any easier Doc." Shepard told her crossing his arms "How do I get on a Covenant ship? How do I even get the Joint Chiefs to sign off on the idea?"

Halsey lowered her head a bit and sighed.

"Yes I'd doubt they'd be willing to risk men for that kind of mission." She admitted "They like everyone else just want the Carrier gone, even if the mission succeeds that information wouldn't exactly accomplish that task would it? If they go after the Supercarrier it's to kill it, not to figure out why it's here. As far as they're concerned it's getting ready to glass the planet. That's all they need to know."

"So I need find another way up then?" Shepard asked exasperated

"You're a smart man and you've raided a Covenant ship before Shepard." Halsey reminded him "I'm sure you can figure out something. It may be the key to what your Reaper is doing with my Covenant on Reach. Find out what they're here for and we can put a stop to it."

He had made a habit out of proving the impossible was just difficult. Still, Shepard had no idea what he was going to do. He supposed he could come up with a plan to take out the Supercarrier, pass it on to the Joint Chiefs and use it as a cover to hack into the Covenant Battlenet. But that actually required coming up with a plan that involved getting onto another Covenant ship in the process. He was starting to wish he was more akin to strategy then making crap up as he went.

Still, he'd give it a shot. Just like he was about take a stab at something else before Halsey left.

"I'll see what I can do," Shepard assured "just one thing Doc. The Covenant threw a lot of people at Sword Base. Do you think whatever plan our enemies have could be related to it?"

Halsey barely even flinched a muscle as she responded.

"I honestly can't think of anything that would interest them about Sword Base Commander. Aside from your people being there when they attacked. More than likely they found out and followed the Reaper's standing orders to see you killed." Halsey explained "I wouldn't think much of it."

Shepard just sighed slightly and nodded.

"Just a hunch I guess." He relented "Keep in touch Doctor Halsey."

Halsey gave a curt nod and disconnected. Shepard had to admit one thing about her. She had a better poker face than him. He hoped she'd have been straight with him. He didn't blame her of course. They all had their secrets. Still, it was rather exasperating to know he couldn't just ask nicely. He honestly didn't like the alternative to it, but he needed to know, now more than ever.

He looked back at the drawer on his desk, the one that hid his little secret. Temptation gnawed at him once more, but this time it was more along the lines of "who cares anymore with a planet under siege and thousands dying?" then anything else. He opened up to see what remained of his once beloved alcohol stash. The little bourbon bottle just sitting there, telling him to let go. For a split second more, Shepard wanted to, he even reached for it. For all he knew he probably would've drunk the whole bottle too.

That is until Shepard got a reminder of who in this universe did still care, as the door to captain's quarters opened wide. Tali strode in and Shepard quickly slammed the drawer shut as she walked in. The Quarian saw the action, but of course did not see what Shepard had suddenly hid from view. Shepard took comfort in that, even if it did look horribly suspicious.

"Shepard." Tali greeted, her silvery eyes positioned in a curious look as she eyed the desk.

"Tali," Shepard greeted as he got up "you know you could've knocked."

"I thought we were long past that." She said crossing her arms, a bit of jovial good natured tone in the statement "I didn't mean to be rude."

"Sorry," he apologised "I know. I guess I'm on edge a bit."

"We all are," Tali admitted as she let her arms fall to her side "but you look terrible."

She wasn't kidding. The stress was getting to him. Xytas and the Zealot hadn't helped.

"If it's any consolation we've put the Elite on sedation." Tali assured "Chakwas says it will keep him quiet and inactive for awhile. At least until we find out what to do with him."

"I assume the crew has given suggestions already." Shepard commented

Tali just shrugged.

"Grunt thinks we should just kill him, or at least give him the chance to die like a warrior." She explained "Thane's pretty much the same on that account, so is Miranda. Everyone else is unsure of what to do."

"Executing prisoners ain't our thing." Shepard reiterated "You reminded me of that today."

Shepard could always tell when Tali was smiling, even though others couldn't. It brought him out of the depressing funk he had gotten caught in a few minutes earlier.

"That isn't what you came up here for though is it?" he asked her stoically

Tali nodded.

"I wanted to give you a report on how the slipspace drive is going." She began "I talked it over with Daniels and EDI. We've done simulations, we're positive the ship can withstand entering slipspace now. The reinforcements to the hull should keep it from shaking apart and the added mass from the upgrades helps a bit. We won't need to worry about that now. What I'm concerned with is actually propelling the ship through the rupture faster. With our own form of light speed travel I think we can cut Normandy's travel time by a quarter. I want to reduce it more, give the UNSC that edge they need in speed. But I need parts."

Shepard instantly knew where she was going.

"You need a Covenant SlipSpace drive to modify our own." He concluded for her

"Yes and I think I know where to look, the one that got shot down near Sword Base."

Tali had a good point, the drive in that thing was probably waterlogged but it hadn't been hit. The UNSC also hadn't bothered to try and salvage the wreck. It was probably still in there.

"We could put together a salvage team and head down there." Shepard reasoned "You think you can reverse engineer your modifications for other UNSC vessels?"

"Definitely." Tali assured "With some time I can increase the speed of the UNSC to equal or greater than that of the Covenant's. I can send the information back to them and they can put it to practice in months if they wanted to."

"We'll get it done." Shepard promised

Tali was happy to know Shepard was behind her on this, but her smile would soon fade when he made his own request

"I actually wanted to talk to you about something." He began "It's about what that Zealot said. I think we both have an idea of what he was talking about."

Tali didn't need reminding, Xytas' mention of "the relic" had almost instantly stirred her memory.

"The information on that data module Halsey's colleague had." Tali continued solemnly "The one was suspected meant there was something inside Sword Base that was important. You think it's this relic?"

"I know you've already come to that conclusion." said Shepard, tired of mixing words "The Covenant weren't expecting humans here, they just wanted that relic. It's the reason they're sticking around this region. They know it's at Sword Base. It has to be."

"And it's likely the Inquisitor wants it too." Tali concluded "We need to find out more about this thing, have you talked to Halsey about it?"

Shepard shook his head as he walked over to the large fish tank along the wall.

"I made a passing reference to it, gave her the chance to come clean on her own accord and just tell me about it." He explained "For whatever reason, maybe she doesn't trust us, thinks we'll get the UNSC involved, doesn't want us to go chasing a possible false lead until she's sure, she said nothing. Said she couldn't think of any reason why the Covenant would go to Sword base except to kill our crew. Told me to leave it at that and ended it there."

"We could confront her on it directly." Tali suggested "Assure her we won't let anyone else in on it or get the UNSC involved."

Again, Shepard shook his head.

"I don't want to go in there without knowing exactly what we're looking at. What precisely the Covenant want." He explained "I'd rather know more before we pursue it."

"Which means?" Tali pressed.

"I want you to look through Sword Base's files, try and find something to go on to confront Halsey with so she'll tell us." Shepard explained "Maybe if she sees we figured out what she's doing and didn't tell anyone else she'll be more willing to let us in. Not like she hadn't done the same when she met us."

Tali's eyes widened at the suggestion and she stepped back, shocked at what Shepard was asking her to do.

"You want me to spy on her?" she said in disbelief

"I didn't think you'd have a problem with that to be honest." Shepard responded

"I may not like Halsey all that much but I'm not into the concept of spying on our allies," Tali explained, her tone fluctuating from shocked to disgruntled "whether I disagree with them or not."

"It's important Tali." Shepard insisted

"I agree, but maybe we should knock off this cloak and dagger stuff." Tali told him, her anger now readily apparent "Maybe we should go back to trying to be honest with people."

Shepard didn't disagree with Tali, he didn't like it either. The problem was he wasn't sure that honesty could work in this situation.

"Tali, if she isn't willing to share it with me willingly for some reason how am I supposed to react to that?" He asked "I need to know what's at Sword Base and if she doesn't want to let me in willingly, then I need to figure out another way to figure it out."

"Yes cause Spying on her is gonna make her trust you more." Tali countered

Shepard just sighed at that, she had a point after all even if he didn't want to admit it.

"Is this about Ackerson?" she asked "Ever since he showed his true colours you've be reluctant to trust anybody."

Shepard took a deep breath; he would need it to answer this.

"The UNSC has only just accepted we're from somewhere beyond their dimension and they still don't know what to make of us." Shepard explained sternly "They may not be as forward with it as Ackerson but they don't trust us either. We're partially made up of aliens and we're still an unknown element, they're not sure what to make of us and frankly I'm not sure what to make of them. I try to help these people and Ackerson keeps trying to kill mine for some damned reason. I don't wanna potentially give him more than he needs. Especially now that he's gonna get a codex that outlines everything about the make-up of the aliens that live on this ship. I'm thinking about us Tali, about this crew. I need to. The Joint Chiefs are probably wondering if I had some other motive for not telling them about the Blood Pack and Batartans. You saw them today. I was on the hot seat all over again because of it."

"They're scared Shepard." Tali told him.

"I know, and I don't blame them." He assured "But it doesn't exactly help us does it? We have a Reaper out there and we need to know more about its plans if we're gonna stop it. We're probably the only ones that can stop it."

Shepard approached the Quarian and placed his hands on her arms. He slid them down and lifted Tali's palms into his own.

"I promise, we find this information about the relic, we go straight to Halsey." He told her with the sincerest look he could give "No more shadow games after that."

Tali took a moment to consider it all before finally relenting.

"Alright, I trust you Shepard." She responded, even though it was apparent she was still uncomfortable with it all. "But only because I trust you. No other reason."

Shepard bent his head up and kissed the top of Tali's helmet lightly.

"I'm sorry I'm asking you to do this." He told her "It's just, you're the only one I can really trust with this."

"Just so long as this is the last little spy game." She told him as she bent her head down to his shoulder "It feels too much like Cerberus."

"Yeah," Shepard nodded in agreement "I know. I hate it too."

* * *

><p>Zaeed never did like urban work, far too many angles for the enemy to hide in. Before he became a mercenary he had started his military career in the Alliance, you had to get experience from somewhere. Urban combat was a constant in some of the hotspots on Earth. And this little hovel reminded him too much of some of the DMZs back there. There were just too many places someone could get the drop on you out here. The enemy likely had the high ground too and a scope on your head while you scrounged around below trying to find him.<p>

At least his shields would probably give him an extra few seconds to take cover. The ODSTs behind him didn't have that luxury. Zaeed bet every dollar he ever earned that after the guns Shepard was gonna start handing out armour suits with shield generators to the UNSC next. That is if he wasn't already.

"Man, what a dump." Grumbled one of the Troopers behind Zaeed

"Probably looked better before the Covies fragged it," Commented his buddy next to him "we're not exactly seeing it in its prime."

"Please this place was a backwoods tourist trap." The first Trooper countered "I doubt it was ever anything more than that. Bunch of inbred locals and their stupid kitchy souvenir crap."

Zaeed groaned as he snapped his head back over his shoulder and stared down the two Troopers.

"Shut it. You wanna paint a damn target on your heads or something?" he asked "Stay close to the walls, keep quiet and start checking the buildings already."

The ODSTs obliged, even if it looked like some of them didn't particularly like a hired gun ordering them around. They were just lucky that Zaeed considered them kids. He probably would've done worse if he thought they were older and should've known better.

He broke off and followed two ODSTs into one building, what use to be a local bar from the looks of it. Shattered bottles and several turned over chairs and tables littered the floor. The counter itself was practically dripping with what remained of the alcohol.

One ODST clambered over the wreckage of the counter and found one bottle on the shelf that was still intact.

"Hey!" he said as he held it up in jubilation "Whiskey! Guess the Covies didn't blast it all apart!"

As the young trooper went to take a sip, Zaeed grabbed it off him unceremoniously.

"Job ain't done son." He told him sternly "You don't get to relax. Check upstairs with your mate, I'll hold the fort down here."

The Trooper gave the merc the stink eye. Zaeed eyed him back with his mismatched discoloured eye. It was enough to get the trooper to back off. They both went off to check upstairs, leaving Zaeed with the bottle of whiskey. He could tell they didn't like him that much. He was a hired gun telling professional soldiers how to run things after all. Still he didn't care if these kids didn't like him. He wasn't here to be liked. That was Shepard's thing, trying to be everyone's best friend. If these troopers didn't like it tough, they'd just have to deal with it. Hell, with any luck maybe he'd drill a sense of responsibility into these kids. It would probably save their asses.

Zaeed looked at the bottle of Whiskey, unfamiliar brand. Not surprising given this was a different dimension after all. He took a whiff of it nonetheless.

"Hmm, decent aroma I guess." He reckoned as he took a sip.

He decided to stuff the bottle into an extra compartment on his suit. Save it for later when he wasn't worried about getting his ass shot off.

* * *

><p>The toy store gave Kowalski the creeps. It was the button eyes of all the damn dolls and teddy bears staring back at him. They looked like they were following him everywhere they went. Some were even missing pieces, no doubt from how many plasma rounds had strafed this building. The half burned plastic doll's head was most unsettling, as was the decapitated Teddy. There was something about abandoned and broken toys that just sent shivers down his spine. Ellingham however was a bit more nostalgic then him. He had after all found the action figures section.<p>

"Sweet man!" he said as he eyed a little T-Rex toy with an opening and closing jaw. "I had one of these when I was six. I used to have my army men ride it around and kill alien robots with it. Well, you know, before I found out aliens were real of course."

"You take trips down memory lane at such appropriate times dude." Kowalski told him sarcastically "Can you just keep an eye on your motion tracker please."

"I have nothing man, I'm telling ya this place is clear." Ellingham assured "Let's just see if they have any Sgt. Shock figures. I could send one back to my nephew on Earth. He keeps begging my brother for it but his wife says she thinks it's too violent. Can't say no to free stuff from your brother-in-law risking his life though right?"

Kowalski remembered Sgt. Shock, good cartoon series when he was a kid. It got rebooted recently though as propaganda fuel of course, showcasing fictional marines and troopers killing not so fictional adversaries, the Covenant. You could complain that it was all one big recruiting tool. You could also argue it was a nice way of assuring the kids their moms and dads were gonna stop the Covenant from killing them all. Kowalski didn't know what to think personally, he just hoped the kid's enjoyed it while they could. Who knew how long their childhood would last with this war.

The Private saw the rather angry looking Spartan, Noble 4 he recalled, the one witht he skull on his visor. He kept eyeing the plastic gun toys. At first he thought the Spartan was admiring them, instead he saw the Spartan scoff at them suddenly, say "fake as shit plastic" and wallk off. Noble Four was a stickler for realism in toy guns. Weird thing to gather, but it had been a weird day.

Kowalski looked over to their detachment's current leader, the Justicar Samara. She was squatting on the floor overlooking something in the wreckage. She reached down to pull up a singed little ragdoll, its red hair blackened by plasma fire. She stared at doll for a long time, practically losing herself in it. Fact was ever since she entered this store she had kinda been lost in her own world it seemed. She held onto the little ragdoll as she began to survey the area once more. Standing up she walked over to another display, several boxes of remote controlled warthog RC toys, toppled over in whoever had made a mad dash to escape this no longer child-like wonderland.

He walked up to the blue skinned alien slowly but surely as she looked over the store.

"Everything okay?" he asked

"I'm fine private," she responded, not even turning to look at him. She just recognized who he was by his voice "Just, remembering."

"What exactly?" he asked

Samara stared down at the little ragdoll again for half a minute before even responding, clutching it tightly in her grasp.

"It's... personal." She finally explained. Strangely she suddenly shifted the conversation back to him "Do you have any children Private Kowalski?"

He was taken aback by the question to be frank, not sure how to respond to something like that.

"Well, uh..." he said clearing his throat with a cough "no. I'm afraid not. I mean, I've... you know. It's just, well, never really turned out so well or went anywhere."

"I see." Samara said nodding her head in solemn understanding. She surveyed the shop once more, eyeing a shelf of more little ragdolls nearby. "I used to take mine to similar stores. The toys were different. They did not look human for one. But they were similar in make. Those were happier times, as they should've been."

Kowalski didn't pry further as she watched Samara walk over to the shelf and place the ragdoll she held delicately back near its sisters.

"This place is meant to be a loving cherished memory between parent and child," she commented a slight bit of rage in her voice "and the Covenant have desecrated it in the name of their Gods."

"We'll get them back then Samara." Kowalski told her firmly "For this town and every other they've destroyed."

He wasn't sure if the sentiment was necessary, or even if it was what Samara wanted to hear. He wasn't sure what exactly was stirring in the Asari's mind after all, just that it was really tough for her to speak about it. Still, he felt like he needed to say something, anything to try and cheer her up.

She turned back to him at last, a slight smile on her face.

"Indeed we will Private," she said cordially "they will know justice inevitably. With any luck I and your brothers in arms will help to administer it."

"Hey just let me know when you're ready to punch their heads in and I'll have your back." He promised.

Their discussion was cut short when they heard one of the other marines in company complaining. It was Corporal Agley, seemingly pissed off at his helmet. He kept smacking it and fiddling with the eye piece that displayed his motion tracker.

"Fucking piece of shit! There's nothing here!"

"Tell us something we don't know Agley." Ellingham shouted at him.

Kowalski and Samara approached Agley as the Corporal began to stomp around, angered by the fact nothing was moving but his tracker kept detecting stuff. Private Ramirez, who was also nearby also took notice along with the rest of the Marines in the store.

"The tracker is saying there's movement here but I got nothing!" he shouted

"It's just us probably Agley, geez." Groaned Ellingham "Ignore the yellow dots; just pay attention to the red ones."

"That's what I'm trying to tell you! It's all RED!"

Suddenly a vent above Agley burst open as something snatched the corporal around the shoulders with its claw like appendages. The Corporal screamed in terror as the creature, whatever it was, kept trying to force the poor human through the vet to whatever horrible fate awaited him.

Ramirez reacted first before the others. He fired at the vent in short controlled bursts so as not to hit his comrade. Whatever was trying to grab Agley eventually let go. As the marine fell to the ground in a heap, but alive, the other marines opened fire on the vent. They followed the noise of something skittering inside it, trying to take it down. Samara focused her biotics on one section of the vent and grabbed it her clutch. Blue pulsating energy pulled the vent away from the ceiling, causing it to collapse onto the ground. A small green creature, one that looked like a bug of some sorts fell out. Samara pushed aside the Marines and walked forward to throw it into one of the shelves of toys with her biotics. The alien bug slammed into the shelf, its exoskeleton fractured and sickly green pus like blood oozed out of its head. She pulled her submachine gun and fired a burst into the creature's body, just to make sure it was truly dead.

By now everyone got a better look at the alien, and they all knew what it was. Samara herself had read Miranda's report on them. Drones they were called, a insectoid species of Covenant that could fly, skitter on walls and get into places regular covenant could not.

"Ah damn," Ellingham noted as he looked at the body "we got a bug."

"And where there's one..." Ramirez continued for him.

Suddenly there was a low buzzing sound within the ceiling... that slowly but surely grew louder and louder.

Samara reacted before anyone else.

"Outside! NOW!" she ordered as she raised her arms above her head and let her biotics begin to pulsate once more.

A wave biotic energy tore the ceiling apart, revealing a swarm of Drones, all hiding in the crawlspace above. The infestation had been awoken and now set their eyes on the intruding humans plus one Asari that had disturbed them. Emile, who had not run when commanded, began firing into the ceiling once he saw the drones face to face. That was when they swarmed forward, taking buckshot from Emile as they rushed forward. The Spartan caught one with Kukri knife in the throat and jammed it forward forcing the bug to the ground. By now Samara pulled back on Emile's armour signalling him to go. He looked somewhat dissapointed that he could stay in the middle of this Drone attack.

The Marines piled out the toy store firing back into the building as its roof was torn apart from within. The drones burst out in their classic swarm fashion, giant bees defending their hive. Samara was able to keep the insectoids at bay. Biotic throws sent them catapulting into the walls of the store and once she was outside she caught a few of the flying ones in a singularity. As their little legs twitched and scuttled in the air, unable to leave the miniature black hole, the Marines began filling the drones with lead.

By now the Drones were firing back. Needlers and plasma pistols at the ready they showered the marines with a hail of fire, forcing them to retreat further. Samara returned her own fire with her assault rifle, occasionally using her powers to pluck a Drone from the sky and slam it into the ground. Emile himself was blasting away at any that tried to swoop down on him. One actually tried to fly past him towards the Marines behind him, but Emile managed to grab him by the back. In oen swift motion he pulled the wing of the bug clean off. He tossed the Drone to the floor and fired a shotgun round into it's head.

"Garrus!" She shouted over the comm-link urgently "We have Covernant! Drones, from Miranda's briefing it seems! They were in the toy store!"

"Say again Samara?" Garrus asked back "You've encountered the Covenant?"

It was then another roof of a nearby building burst open, Drones clawing out from within. It was directly across from the Toy Store. Before long another building's roof was torn open.

"It's an ambush!" shouted one Marine in terror

Several needles rained down on a group of Marines taking cover near a car. One too many stuck themselves in a poor private's back. The explosion took him and his two compatriots. Another Marines took a full on Plasma bolt to the back and began screaming in agony as his armour began to cook his skin inside it. One of his fellow Marines tried to pull him to safety, only to take the brunt of a plasma shot to the face and collapse to the ground, clawing at his face.

Staying here was suicide. Samara had to get these people out of the kill zone and fast.

"Marines form up on me!" She said as she created a barrier between her and the first group of Drones. "Move back to the town centre! I will protect you!"

The marines obeyed, covering each other as they pulled away from the street. As Drone bodies fell to the ground like the literal flies they were, Samara contacted Garrus again.

"We're moving back to you Garrus!" She said "We need to consolidate a defence!"

"I hear ya," Garrus acknowledged "I'll get some snipers ready. We'll see if we can pick them off from a distance!"

Samara wasn't sure picking would work. The swarm was now in full swing, enough Drones to create a cloud of green buzzing monsters. Kozma's Hope belonged to the Drones now. In a cruel irony it was the humans that were the pests in their eyes.

* * *

><p>Zaeed heard the buzzing from all the way on the other side of town. He may have been old but he wasn't deaf. Something was wrong, very wrong.<p>

"Garrus what the bloody hell is going on out there?" he asked over the Comm-link

He didn't get the answer right away. From up above on a nearby balcony one of the ODSTs broke through the railing and fell onto the counter. On top of him was snarling toothy creature that Zaeed had had enough of today alone.

"Rip your skin! Claw your eyes! Kill! Die! Kill!" The Vorcha cried out simplistically as it tried to punch it's talons through the young trooper's visor on his helmet.

The ODST finally kicked the monstrosity off him and into the liquor shelf behind the counter. He then fired his SMG into the Vorcha's head. Amazingly it still twitched and growled all the while. Amazing to the trooper of course, to Zaeed it was expected. As the holes in the Vorcha's face began to heal the merc strode over and plugged a high velocity sniper round into the Vorcha's brain pan. It fell dead.

"Simple minded rabid animals." He groaned as he helped the Trooper to his feet "If it weren't for their damn regen powers they'd be as extinct as the dodo by now."

The trooper looked shaken, but even for a kid he was tough as nails. He got his head back on straight relatively quickly.

"Two of them jumped us from out the closet." He said "Crap, Starkey, last I saw him that thing was trying to bite into his neck!"

The Trooper turned to the stairs to rush back up and save his comrade. But the sound of a human SMG alleviated the fears as Starkey showed up looking over the wrecked railing down at the others.

"Punched that son of bitch like a dozen times, shot him just for good measure." He said panting "Fucking animal. You okay Rivers?"

"Yeah I guess." The other Trooper responded "Thanks to the old jerk here."

Zaeed was a bit surprised by the fact they had amanged themselves. Maybe these kids did have the stuff after all.

"No time for medals mates," he told them, keeping a stern grimace "there's two Vorcha, there's more Vorcha. We gotta hook back up with Garrus at the town-"

Zaeed never got to finish his thought as the sound of rifle fire was heard outside. He saw the ODSTs in his charge rushing out of their assigned buildings firing like made. Vorcha lashed out at them as they tried to get to cover. Some even smashed through paned glass just to get outside quicker.

"Son of a bitch, like they were lying in wait." Zaeed said, more annoyed than angry.

"Smart bastards." Starkey noted

"Please, they're Vorcha." Zaeed countered dismissively "it certainly wasn't their idea. Covenant just told them to do it more likely. Come on! Let's get out there and organize this before they overrun us. I ain't dying on account of bloody Vorcha."

Zaeed rushed out, assault rifle barred and firing in constant bursts. A group of Vorcha began taking up positions on the roof of a small store across the street Zaeed tossed a inferno grenade up at them. The disgusting little aliens burst into flames and fell to the ground below as the fire ate away their flesh.

"Regenerate from that ya bastards!" he shouted with a satisfied smirk on his face

* * *

><p>One minute this town was deader than dead could be. Now it was alive with Covies, and these new aliens, Vorcha. Six was already beginning to hate the Vorcha more than the Drones. Drones stayed dead for one. Vorcha didn't know when to pass on it seemed.<p>

Things went to hell rather quickly when one of the marines took a needle shot to face. The drone had got a lucky shot. A single needle round was like a small firecracker going off in your hand. The marine fell to the ground, grabbing at the gash on his head. The needle had struck near the eye, to say it hurt like hell was an understatement.

Jorge had rushed out to pull the downed Marine to safety, a number of other marines following. That was when the Vorcha with the flamethrower on its back came out from the alley. It sent a stream of fire at the rescue squad. Jorge's shields protected him, two of the marines weren't so lucky. One's arm was lit on fire, the other half his body. While they rolled around on the ground trying to snuff it out, Jorge fired a hail of bullets from his chaingun. One of them, or a few of them who knew, ruptured the Vorcha's fuel tank. As a spit of flame jutted out from the hole the Vorcha recognized what was wrong and tried to pull the pack off. It let out one final bloody curdling scream before the pack exploded, taking the Vorcha with it.

Now the Drones and Vorcha were coming out of the wood work. They were on all sides, in the alleyways, inside storefronts, on top of buildings in the air. They had a perfect kill zone set up. This entire town was a deathtrap. It wasn't enough that the Covenant had to kill everyone here. They had set up shop as well. They had used it as bait to add to the body count of humans. More than likely hoping some UNSC patrol would come in and start looking for survivors or supplies.

That's what troubled Six. Something seemed so off about this whole set up. Drones weren't this independent or smart. From what he knew of Vorcha the same applied. And they were pulling this off by themselves? That just made no sense. There had to be some Elites here, or those Blood Pack mercs, someone running this show.

But there was no time to think about that, they needed to get back to Garrus.

"Jorge take the lead, we gotta cut a path back to the town square!" Six told his larger companion

"On it!"

The streets were clogged with the enemy, as were the rooftops. The Drones did not bother to stay in one position for long. They kept darting away from out of their cover up to higher ground, trying to edge closer to the marines and hopefully close the distance. They weren't as easy to shoot because of this, making life hell for the Marines below and in front of them. One Drone swooped down towards a squad crouching behind fallen dumpster, grabbing one of them by his shoulders and lifting him up into the sky where he soon let him go, simply letting the poor Marine fall to his death.

Another Drone scurried along a wall as Marines tried to blast him off it. The bug zigged and zagged across the concrete as the bullets whizzed all around it. It fired back at the Marines while it launched itself back into the air and headed for the rooftop adjacent to it. Its plasma pistol caught one in the shoulder. The Drone scampered up the side of the wall once more and continued to return fire on from the rooftops.

However Jorge was not about to let the Drones maintain their advantage. As a new group began to fly off the rooftops and make dive towards the humans below the Spartan II opened fire his chain gun. The lead Drone caught it first, its head breaking into chunks as the bullets ripped into it. His wingmen weren't as lucky. Their backsides and wings were properly thrashed by the barrage. They fell to earth in a heap, twitching but alive. The marines fell in front of showed no mercy as they unloaded rounds into the bugs until they quit moving.

"Remember your training Devil Dogs!" Jorge shouted out over the constant rattling of his chain gun "Aim where they're going!"

Jorge walked up the street, taking fire but rarely noticing it. With a stroke of his chaingun he cleared rooftops full of the drones, catching them center mass mostly. The ones in the air managed to avoid the Spartan's makeshift flak, but it did no good. He had rallied the Marines behind him and the ambush went all wrong for the ambushers relatively quickly. Bugs began to fall out of the sky in their attempts to seek better cover. Their wings filled with holes, their thoraxes leaking vital fluids, their exoskeletons cracked like walnuts.

The carnage above kept the skies clear of Drones, on the ground Six kept the few Vorcha in their sector from helping their new Covenant friends maintain the initiative. As one Vorcha charged madly jumped out of cover from inside a nearby store window, he carried with him a rocket launcher of sorts. Six fired a full clip from his pistol into the alien's body. He didn't want to take any chances of the alien regenerating. The tactic worked, at least in so far it caused the Vorcha's itchy trigger finger to fire the rocket into the ceiling, the debris cascading down onto the vicious alien. He surely wouldn't get up from that.

Six turned his attention to a bus in front of the team, one that had been raked by plasma fire from the looks of it. It lay in across the street in front of them, inside were Vorcha firing on the Marines as theyr worked their way up and out of this death trap.

Six lobbed a grenade into one of the Buses' windows from afar. The blast easily took out at least one Vorcha. Six could tell because he the alien's hand come flying out, still attached to the shotgun it was holding. He wasn't sure about the others.

"Jorge!" Six shouted "Rake the damn bus!"

Jorge complied and momentarily took his attention off the Drones to pepper the bus with bullets. The Marines seemed to know how to handle the Drones now, as the skies were almost clear. Six almost felt like they were doing the job too well when one Drones fell to the earth smouldering. One of the Marines had used the Inferno ammo from the Normandy on it. He was not the last, soon everyone with a gun from Normandy was switching their settings to inferno rounds and letting their shots burn through the flying Drones.

As the engulfed corpses of the overgrown cockroaches began to fall like hail, Six and the Marines alike did their best to avoid the crashing and burning enemies. Jorge paid no attention of course, he didn't need to. He was big enough and strong enough to brush off a dead Drone's body. In fact as one plummeted towards his head on fire shrugged his shoulders backwards as the Drone hit and let it topple off of him. The Spartan stumbled a bit forwards but did not fall.

Six kept dodging the falling Drones. He didn't have the luxury of Jorge's size to let one of them hit him. He heard the screeching scream of a Vorcha rushing up the alley near him. Without missing a beat he took out his kniofe and jammed it into the alien's throat as he rushed past. Six didn't let the alien go after that but slammed him into the nearby wall and began to continuously plunge the sword into the Vorcha's body and throat until it finally gave out and collapsed.

This victory was soured when Six heard a new sound, more buzzing, coming from behind. The cavalry was coming and they did not want to be here when they arrived.

"Jorge let's pick up the pace here!" he shouted "I think we've worn out our welcome!"

"Ya don't say?" Jorge quipped sarcastically as he crushed a twitching Drone underfoot.

* * *

><p>Garrus was doing what he could but this situation was no win. Vorcha were swarming from all sides, using the cars littering the streets as cover. Garrus had Snipes look for killzones, places where the Vorcha would funnel through like gaps between cars. The Drones didn't have that problem, they could fly. They weren't bound by the same rules. It felt like he was fighting the Collectors all over again.<p>

Garrus stood next to Staff Sergeant Taylor as they tried to coordinate the defence of the town square. There were men on top of city hall, using what weapons they had to beat by both Drone and Vorcha alike. Both species were relentless in their dogged determination to see the humans dead, even if they had to step over their brothers to do it. They could afford losing the numbers of course. Garrus didn't have that many men at his disposal.

He took aim at a flamer packing Vorcha in the midst of the squad. He shot out its tank and let the alien scream in terror as the thing exploded. The blast killed both the flamethrower packer and his squad. That one act saved Garrus countless rounds. He had instructed the others to do the same given the chance.

"This position is gonna get overrun!" Taylor told Garrus as he fired back at the approaching horde. "They just have too many angles work with on their end!"

Taylor saw plasma bolts rake the ground behind them, striking a marine in the leg. He pointed his gun skyward and squeezed off two three-shot bursts at the Drones who did it. He clipped one in the wing, causing it to crash towards the ground and smash into the window of an abandoned car. The other got it in the eye and plummeted lifelessly to earth.

"We'll hold until Sam and Six's groups get back." Garrus explained frantically as he levelled his assault rifle at the next group "We'll pull back to Zaeed's position and make a break for the military base!"

"We'll be boxed in a bit there." Taylor warned

"It has to be a better defensible position than this." Garrus informed him.

At that moment a streak of biotic attacks slammed into some of the flying Drones, forcing them to ground. A shockwave followed soon after, tossing a number of cars and Vorcha into the air. Garrus looked to where the attacks came from and saw Samara leading her charges through the fray. Emile was close behind. Firing as he went. Samara was carrying one wounded Marine over her shoulder and set him down next to Mordin how was in the miudst of the command setting trying to get the wounded back into the fight best he could.

"He took a needle in the leg." Samara informed the Doctor "Get him battle ready as soon as you can."

The Salarian simply nodded and went to work. A combination of medi-gel and bio-foam helped to seal the wound. Samara in the meantime joined Garrus on the defensive line and activated a singularity above them to suck the Drones into a cluster. One Marine hefted a rocket over his shoulder and fired it into the spiralling miniature black hole. The explosion sent chunks of Drone everywhere.

"Nice little trap you walked us into Xeno." Emile said as he pressed his back against cover.

Garrus ignored the attempt to cite his ire. They had bigger issues right now.

"What happened on your end Sam?" Garrus asked as his eyes recovered from the blast

"They ambushed us, waited till we deep inside their sector and came alive!" She began to explain as she returned fire "They must've stood still for countless hours. We didn't pick up anything on the motion tracker until it was too late!"

"Six and Zaeed called in with the same thing." Garrus complied "This whole thing reeks of a well thought out trap. Except Vorcha don't plan!"

"Drones don't either." Taylor added as the rest of his Squad joined up near him "They're followers by nature. Someone's pulling the strings and letting these idiots take the heat for them. Except unlike Grunts Drones don't know when to quit."

"Scarier too, always freaked out by the creepy crawlies personally." Pearson added

So they pretty much all agreed, thought Garrus to himself. Their current assailants hadn't thought this plan up. They were being directed by someone. Possibly an Elite who was watching things from the side lines. They just couldn't find him.

More gunfire came from their other end of the town center, as Six and Jorge rushed back to join the defence. They had a mass of Drones on their tail from the looks of it. That settled it in Garrus' mind, they couldn't stay here.

"Zaeed I need an opening!" he shouted over the comm.

"I've got ya one Vakarian!" Zaeed promised "It won't last long though. These damn Bugs are coming in and Vorcha ar popping out of everywhere! They must be using the sewers or something to get around! We kill three there's six more! How many bloody Vorcha did the Blood Pack take here on their getaway! I heard of taking pets on vacation but this is insane!"

"Just hold that opening Zaeed!" Garrus told him "We'll come to you!"

Emile scoffed as the conversation ended.

"Oh so now we're running." He bemoaned "Can see now why Noble One put you in charge."

Garrus just grimace din Emile's direction as plasma fire pelted his cover.

"I don't care right now about your damn issues Emile!" he shouted "Your commander put me at this retreat's head! I'm in charge, get use to it! Now start pulling back! Now!"

Emile didn't say a word more and Garrus called the retreat.

* * *

><p>Carter arrived at their designated stand point, just near the cave littered pass. Dust was blowing in from the south. The small storm had helped mask their movements a bit from the covenant as they trekked further inland. The view had cleared up a bit since then, but there was still no sign of Garrus' team.<p>

"Mountains are full of twisty paths sir," Kat told him "probably gonna take them awhile."

"Yeah, still let's get some defences up for when they do come." Carter told her "I want this place ready for the Covies and them."

Kat merely nodded and took off to inform the men. Carter looked out at the horizon, thinking of Garrus and hoping the alien was doing alright. Not so much for Garrus in general, but for the lives he had placed under the Turian's command. He had Jorge with him, who knew the land, and that would help them. The problem now of course wasn't so much as if they'd get lost as much as they'd make it in time. They needed everyone at their disposal to halt to Covenant here and give them a chance to get out of Viery in general.

If they had run into trouble though, well, he hoped Garrus was smart enough to find a place to hold up for a bit before heading out. Otherwise there would be no one left to make it to the rendezvous.

"Just get here Vakarian." He said softly to himself "Just get here."

* * *

><p>"Go! GO!" Taylor shouted to his men as they raced inside the old military base's walls.<p>

Alongside them was the entire ragtag group of Marines, ODSTs, Aliens and Spartans rushing amongst them. They had managed to make it to the base, firing back at their pursuers when they caught up. The place was better suited for a defence but with that mass of buzzing approaching Garrus had hoped to find some kind of anti-air weapon. They didn't find anything. Night was closing fast, as were the enemy. It looked like a last stand was all they had left.

With everyone inside the walls and the Vorcha and Drones getting closer the large group of humans looked for a place, any place, to set up a defence. Ramirez and Kowalski rushed back with Zaeed and two ODST's to the back of the ground level of the main HQ building.

"We can probably lure the bastards in here, sneak out a side entrance and then blow the whole palce down on top of them." The merc suggested "Any one got some explosives?"

"Yeah but UNSC construction is built to code." Starkey explained to him "I'm not sure we got enough to blow this joint up like that!"

"We at least set them as booby traps or something!" Zaeed shouted "We can't just sit around and let them bulldoze us!"

As they discussed things Ramirez looked around the corner nearby to sight something at the very back of the building.

"Hey! Hey there's some kind of door." He said

Zaeed's attention caught he joined Ramirez at looking around the corner. There he spied large iron cast door, like some sort of bank vault. Nearby was a demolished and overturned book case. Once this door had been hidden, in the previous fight for this town it had been uncovered. Lucky for them, or they probably wouldn't have found it.

" Garrus," Zaeed spoke over the comm. "you may wanna get over here."

The Turian called everyone inside the HQ once he found what Ramirez had stumbled upon. Garrus didn't know where it led but he could tell it was a door strong enough to keep their enemies out. Possibly even offer a way out.

"Mordin can you open it?" Garrus asked

"Not specialty but will attempt." Mordin accepted "Could use your help."

Garrus agreed and they looked for the control panel. It was in bad shape. The cries of approaching Drones and Vorcha pushed them on though. Within minutes they had the thing working again. Blast doors opened wide. It was a godsend to every soul within the building.

"Do we even know where that leads?" one marine asked

"Hell gotta be better than this shit." Added another.

"Alright everyone pile on inside!" Garrus ordered "We can consolidate a better defensive position inside!"

Garrus' order didn't come a moment too soon, as the Vorcha and Drones entered the base's walls and began firing like mad on anything in sight. As the plasma fire reached them every closer the marines rushed in. Zaeed and Samaras went back a bit just as the first few Drones and Vorcha entered the building proper. They fired back on the Covenant and Vorcha as they came inside.

"Keep moving! They're breeching the perimeter now!" Zaeed called back

They slowly moved back as the last couple of Marines and ODSTS rushed inside the blast doors. As every got inside Garrus smashed the door controls and was one of the last to rush into the packed room within. The doors began to close and the Drones soon arrived. They couldn't fly indoors, but they could still blast at the humans in front of them. A few marines returned fire as the lastinches of the door slammed shut. It locked behind them all, leaving them in the dark.

Luckily a number of marines had packed flares quickly laid them down on the ground to light the area up. After catching their breaths, Garrus asked the grisly question.

"Mordin, what's our headcount?"

After a few minutes of quickly scanning the room, Mordin came up with a number.

"I estimate at least 37 of our number dead." Mordin announced grimly and sadly "Another 46 wounded, all present and accounted for. Still fit to fight, more or less."

The news was not at all pleasant to hear. In the red glare of the flares, everyone from the highest ranking Spartan to lowliest Marine finally took stock of their situation. They were stuck in here, beaten back by an enemy that had completely surprised them and they were now licking their wounds. It was not a very good feeling at all. They hadn't won anything. Garrus knew that, Emile knew that, Samara knew it and so did Taylor. Everyone did, some expressed it more readily than others.

"Fucking hell that was crazy!" A disgruntled Private Agley shouted as he threw himself down on the ground "How the fuck did they jump us like that! What did they just slaughter this whole town hoping we'd show up and investigate or something?"

"Calm down man," Ellingham told him "worst is over now. They can't get through that door. We're good."

"Calm down? We're good?" Agley asked back, sounding even more agitated "I'm not sure if you've been keeping up with current events Ellingham but we just got our asses kicked! We should all be dead! We probably already are!"

"Relax!" Garrus shouted "Look let's just get the lights on and figure out exactly where we are so we can figure out our next move. Spread out, look for a fuse box or something."

It didn't take long to find the lights. Samara seemingly pinpointed the breaker box a few feet away and switched it on. In moments the dark was illuminated revealing a large military bunker of sorts, with steel and concrete stretching far and wide.

"What is this place?" asked Peason "Some kind of fallout shelter?"

Six walked along the steel mesh floor under his feet to a railing. He looked over it to reveal a long shaft heading down into the earth.

"Nope, looks like we got ourselves a missile silo." He told them all "Hasn't bene used in a long time though."

"Yeah heaven knows we could use one of those." Jorge added

"There's more." Six said, sounding rather shook "I just turned on my night vision to get a better look below with my Pistol's scope. Garrus you may wanna take a look here."

Garrus looked over the railing through his sniper rifle and spotted through his own night-vision what Six was seeing. A large hive-like structure several feet below them in the dark, and even this far up he could see the skittering little creatures below.

"Well..." he said looking at Six grimly "I think this qualifies as what you humans call FUBAR."

"You got a word for that in Turian?" Six asked

Garrus backed away from the rail slowly.

"We're exposed here we need better cover." He reasoned

"There's probably a command room somewhere nearby." Taylor told him "Let's hoof it too there and fast."

Garrus agreed and the group slowly but surely moved out. By now the moon was probably edging up into the sky. Everyone secretly wondered if they'd ever see the sky again or if this old missile silo would be their tomb. Garrus didn't voice anything, no one did. All they knew was that this day was still not over for them. As Garrus had come to expect by now, nothing went according to plan. Not with the Normandy Crew. Not ever.

* * *

><p>OOC: This probably would've been done sooner were it not for the fact that autumn this time of year has too many bloody games. Skyrim chiefly among them, I should've finished this earlier, but what ya gonna do huh? Ah well. Point is I buckled down and got it done. That's important.<p>

But as you can see it's another substantially long chapter because I had a good chunk of stuff to get into this one. For one that interrogation scene which I've been looking forward to forever and the general atmosphere of properly showcasing the real cost of the war in general. Oh and more Tali/Shepard relationship woes, because I am cruel to the characters I love.

Not to mention why the hell Legion is behaving strangely. Think about it, it's like a glitch in the system. It's telling your computer to do one thing when it knows it has to do another. It doesn't realise something is wrong because it's technically incapable of figuring that out on its own. Legion allowed a foreign program inside their hardware. There were gonna be consequences for that. You don't just inter-mix two AIs with varying degrees of differences in their construction and function without something going haywire. It's like installing something on your hard drive that your computer just can't handle because it isn't properly updated.

It's a lot different than that of course, but again it ultimately is just asking the very simple question about Artificial Intelligence. If an AI doesn't consider itself an individual, if that is a key component of its programming, how exactly would it react if the concept of individuality was inadvertently introduced into its systems without it knowing? Would it "evolve" further? Or would the programming potentially harm rather than help? It's something I wanna go over and ultimately I want to ask the question "Is Legion better off without an individual personality? Or are there benefits to it?" I'll discuss it more later.

Kozma is an appropriate Hungarian surname. Obviously Reach was founded by Hungarians, so that's why the town is named as such. But you probably picked up, what with the name "Kozma's Hope", how we went on about motion trackers, how I kept calling the Drones Bugs and of course one of Agley's lines at the end. I'm paying homage to Aliens... and it's completely intention for one very important reason.

You see a complaint about Halo I see a lot is that "It borrows so much form far better science fiction! It ain't original at all!" Well I hate to point this out, but it is true. Halo does borrow a hell of a lot from other science fiction sources for its story. I'd argue however that they're more aesthetic choices than anything. The Elites looking like the Predators and the Space Marines appearing as they do. In any case, what does it matter? They're not ripping the story off completely; they're borrowing familiar elements inherent to a lot of science fiction films. Star Trek paid homage to the "The Thing" on DS9 one episode. It's a common fact in this genre that people borrow heavily from one another because the ideas work. Look at friggin Avatar, I'd argue it stole a hell of a lot more from Halo than it ever did from Aliens. The bloody choppers look exactly like the Hornets from the third game! The Transports are dead ringers for the Pelicans!

But let's not use that as an example. Because this is an ME/Halo crossover let's consider Mass Effect, the first game. Zhu's Hope? Evil company exploiting colonists for personal gain? Ancient alien ship with an egg inside? Insectoid Bug Queen with crazed children running through an installation killing people by protruding their appendages through their chests? You needing to basically overload a reactor of sorts to kill them all? Does any of this ring any bells? Oh and let's not forget the follow-up quest where you head to some planet that looks disturbing like something out of another movie starring Bug Aliens where said bug aliens are attacking a bunch of marines in grey armour as the bugs dig up from underground and attack en masse. So I think if we're really gonna blame Halo for stealing ideas we might as well as call Mass Effect out on the same deal. Mass Effect should be just as guilty for stealing ideas from Aliens and Starship Troopers as Halo has been accused. If you're really gonna go all the way you can even make note on how both of them use Lovecraftian horrors as their main enemies.

And before you say "Well that's just the first game, they don't do that again." Really? Cause all the time I was playing Grunt's loyalty mission I kept thinking "When does the Klingon battle theme start?" And I started to wonder if Keelah'Selai meant "So say we all" in Quarian and if anyone was named "Star'Buck vas Galactica." And let's not even get started on how much Omega looks like the bleak future of Blade Runner.

None of this is bad! I'm not criticising Mass Effect at all for any of this. I just noticed similarities to other franchises within the genre and I doubt that I'm the only one who has. We just have a strange tendency to make up our minds as to whether or not they're homages or rip-offs based on our personal bias. Halo doesn't really borrow that much outside similar looks for its game world. It's what a game, movie or story in general DOES with those familiar tropes and idioms that should determine if it's a rip-off or not. If it plays with them, does something new, actually molds them into its own, it's fine. Imagination in its purest form is taking what exists and making something new with it. That was the whole point of that ride at Epcot!

Yeah I miss the old ride too, but at least Figment's back.

Anyway, that's just my thoughts on it. Expect a few more tributes to the movie that inspired a lot of both Halo and Mass Effect's look and feel. Finally, before I go let me comment n how appropriate it is that I update on the tenth anniversary of Halo's release. Huzzah for me for making that personal deadline. And before you ask, yes I will be playing the Anniversary edition. Why? Cause damn it, it looks pretty and Cortana doesn't look like a trampy Lesbian anymore. Not that there is anything wrong with Lesbians, it's just I always loved her hair in 2 onwards better. And I guess I'm a sucker for Nostalgia. Also, I have seen the "supposed" spoilers for ME3. Let me alleviate fears for all those who haven't looked at it but have heard bad things. The "script" is incredibly contradictory and a jumble of messy paragraphs and set pieces that don't match the footage I've seen of the actual game or are so loaded with spelling mistakes and errors I can only assume this a really, REALLY old draft and while some of the ideas are probably still relevant within the actual game I highly doubt that every single detail within that mess of words matches the final product. It doesn't even look like they've listed all the choices or potential outcomes. So stop worrying and just relax

Till next time.


	13. Trespassers

Chapter 13: Trespassers

**August 12****th****, 2552**

Garrus wondered how precisely old this silo was. Was it just the fact it had been taken over by the enemy adding to the gloom or had the place just been decommissioned? There would probably be answers within the silo's command center in the center of the complex. They were several feet underground, but claustrophobic feelings were better than being exposed out in the open. Especially when one considered that they had accidentally stumbled onto a Drone hive from all appearances. The ones outside were just the peripheral outposts, forward eyes for the real base the Drones had created here. No doubt under the direction of the Elite Commander, wherever it was, that was running this operation.

On their way down they had come across parts of the base covered in waxy substances, the walls dripping with whatever gunk it was that the foul extraterrestrial insects used to make their nests. They got lucky. No one was home in the makeshift bug burrows, for now. They'd find safety within the command center for the silo.

The heavy steel doors locked behind them as they entered the heart of the silo, where terminals and large wall encompassing screens greeted them. Garrus momentarily wondered how big a range the nuke that was once housed here had, perhaps wondering that if it was still around they could've used it. It was a moot point anyway, the large screen at the back was broken and without power it wouldn't show anything anyway.

What they did have was a small armoury off to the side in one room, a few offices that would've housed personnel, both military and otherwise, the terminals and computer screens sitting directly in front of the broken big screen and a large planning table in the back that depicted Reach in general. There were several other maps as well on the walls and chalkboards around the table. No doubt they were of other planets that fell under what was called the Inner Colonies sector of UNSC space. Garrus would find a few discarded maps in the trash nearby, he could only guess what they meant.

"This must've doubled as a command center in general." Jorge said as he looked around, his helmet off so he could get a better look at everything. "They were probably keeping tabs on the war, running scenarios for how to combat the Covenant more effectively if they ever landed here."

"Fat lot of good their little project's done for us lately." Emile quipped, his shotgun slung over his shoulder.

Both Noble Team and Normandy team members were currently gathered around the table itself. The rest of the soldiers were securing the perimeter around them or finding ways to lock up the doors tight behind them. Thick metal or no, they did not want anything getting in. Garrus instructed them to leave at least one door open for now. They could use it to funnel any incoming Covenant into a small kill zone at the very least. Still, Garrus wasn't planning to stay here any longer then they had to.

"Doesn't matter what they were doing here. Right now it's the best place we can sit tight while we try to find a way out." Garrus told the two Spartans as he looked over the table "That door was closed when we showed up so the bugs probably haven't been using it to get in and out. They must have another way in, could be our lead to finding our path out."

Garrus knew that was a long shot. For all he knew there was only one other path in or out and that would mean it take them right back to Kozma's Hope and the swarm of Covenant waiting for them there. Still, it was worth a look.

"I'll see if I can dig up anything on the blueprints of this place." Six told Garrus "I'm sure they got something in the archives."

"Do it." Garrus replied "I'll gather up the men, plan a defence strategy in the meantime."

Emile just seemed to chuckle at that thought. It earned him a look from everyone, but only Garrus already knew what it was about before the Spartan said anything else.

"You got an issue Emile?" Garrus asked grimacing

"Nah Captain Xeno," he derided "just that it's funny you think you're in charge or something."

"As I recall your commander did just that." Garrus reminded him

"Yeah, he did." Emile said as he lowered his shotgun back into his grasp "I guess everyone's entitled to one mistake, even Noble One."

Garrus, already far beyond taking his breaking point by now, approached Noble Four and stared him straight in the eyes of the skull carved in his visor.

"If you have a problem Four spit it out." Garrus told him sternly "Just get it off your damn chest instead of being an ass constantly."

Emile just shrugged.

"You led us here Vakarian," he responded plainly "just plain cold hard truth there. Walked us right into this here ambush So that means them 37 body bags we can't even fill cause we had to leave the bodies behind? Those are on you Xeno."

Garrus' teeth flashed as he was on the verge of outright growling at the Spartan. As the two stared each other down Jorge was quick to intersect between them and push them apart.

"That isn't fair Emile." He said "He didn't know. None of us did. I didn't see you warning us to move on either."

But the silver garbed Spartan was adamant.

"Fact is big man we have several Marines and Orbit Drop Troopers piled in here who've all lost buddies. Who you think they gonna blame?" Emile asked rhetorically "And he thinks they're gonna listen to him now? Like hell they are."

"You offering to take over then son?" Zaeed asked from across the table with his arms crossed "Cause unless that's the case maybe you should shut your trap already and be productive."

Emile just snorted.

"Fine, I'm gonna go check on the ordinance then." He said simply "Just don't be surprised if Plate-Face here has a mutiny on his hands in the next hour."

With that Emile left, leaving the rest of the group to sort things out among themselves.

"Plate-Face?" Garrus asked "That the best he could come up with?"

"Ignore his insults Garrus." Samara assured the Turian "We have much greater concerns."

"Yeah, finding them blueprints for one," Six said quickly before taking off "back in a jiffy guys."

Garrus sighed a bit inwardly as bent down over the table and shook his head.

"Don't let Emile get to ya Garrus." Jorge told him "He's hard with everyone, it's who he is."

"I can deal with him Jorge, relax." Garrus assured "In any case he's the least of my worries right now. See about rounding up the men. We're gonna need to put our heads together if we're gonna survive this."

Jorge merely nodded and walked off leaving the Normandy team by itself at last.

"Emile does have a point though," Garrus admitted "these guys aren't use to aliens ordering them around. They're not gonna be happy about me giving them direct orders."

"Carter put you in charge for a reason Vakarian." Zaeed informed him "If they're smart they'll just respect that and deal with the circumstances. No questions."

Garrus laughed a bit under his throat.

"You're just saying that cause that's how you work Massani." Garrus replied with a bit of a smirk "You're a merc; no questions asked is part of the job ain't it?"

"Policy has served me well so far." Zaeed countered "That's all I'm saying."

"In any case we're behind you Garrus." Samara assured

"Yes. Led us through Collector Base. Lead us through this." Mordin added "They will see that."

He hoped they were right, but he knew it wasn't gonna be easy to get them on his side. He knew Emile wasn't one of a kind in his stance on aliens, not in this silo, not on this planet, not even in this dimension. Worse still, this last stand scenario was bringing back memories, bad ones. He had been in command before in a similar situation after all. He shuddered to think of the results being similar as well.

* * *

><p>The tanks had long since set themselves up close to the river bed. In front of them were what comprised of the entirety of Carter's infantry, all save for Jun. The Spartan Sniper had taken to the nearby ridge to keep an eye out for the advancing enemy. The night was growing short, soon it would be past mid-night and yet the day still would not be over.<p>

It didn't take a sniper however to see what was going on in the distance. The Supercarrier was bombarding the ground beneath it, with both fire, machines and soldiers alike. Carter silently wondered how many were going after his group and how many had veered off to chase after Garrus.

Either way he knew they were both in for some difficult fights. That was the only logical reason he assumed Garrus hadn't shown up already, he was embroiled in something. He just hoped the Turian could weather it.

Carter, for his part, just had to stay here long enough for them to catch up. Then they could flee into the caves beyond the river bed where they could all make their way back to their lines in relative safety. Hopefully, the beating they'd give the Covenant when they attacked would succeed in further discouraging them from following.

He had a decent enough defence strategy. Scorpions would focus on any vehicles. He paired each Scorpion tank, of which he had around nine, into threes. They would engage a Wraith together, taking out the mortar tank in one consecutive hit. It would keep the Covenant from zeroing in on their position and make the most effective use of their depleted numbers. Wraiths had a tendency to creep their barrages closer to the target. He just hoped that would remain true for this fight.

The infantry line would of course engage and Covenant soldiers that came rushing at them. The dry river bed would give them a small up-hill advantage upon the enemy trying to cross it. Enough to cut down the majority of the enemy at least before they scampered up to their side.

Unfortunately even Carter knew it was an advantage that wouldn't last long. This entire action was only meant to slow the Covenant enough for their people to escape, not to turn the tide of this battle for the planet. They stood here for any lengthy period of time they would eventually be overrun. Which is why Carter was hoping Garrus would get here soon.

Jun contacted him over the radio.

"I'm seeing a mass of Covenant sir, I wager they're going to be hitting us soon after 0100 hours." He explained "If not sooner. They mainly seem to be consolidating themselves for now."

"Well what's the rush right?" Carter responded "We're weak and puny humans. Easy to push over and they got a giant ship backing them up. They're over-confident. Should help us a bit, keep an eye on them Noble Three, when they move I want to know."

"No problem sir."

* * *

><p>The command center had no windows, at least none that had been bolted down before they even got here. They could only assume the place had gotten locked down before everyone left. Good for them, no one would be bursting through glass to kill them. These Vorcha certainly could take shards of glass cutting, probably wouldn't bother a Drone either. For now the only way to look out at anything was the one door Garrus had instructed to be left open. Kowalski personally wanted to be far away from that door and any other opening around. As much as he wanted to know what was going on outside he didn't want to get shot by a sniper. He asked Taylor to put him on door welding duty with Ramirez.<p>

Their door, specifically, was up on the second level overlooking the main floor. Ramirez was close by taking a look over the railing to the floor down below.

"Really wish we had found a nuke in here." He said "Would've made our troubles go away."

"i doubt one nuke is gonna change our situation all that much Ramirez." Kowalski told him "That carrier has shields too mind you and missiles of any kind haven't exactly been successful on them from what I hear."

"Well maybe if we took out their shield..."

"That assumes our flyboys could even get close." Kowalski told him "Face it we're deep shit here right now."

"Oh don't sound so melodramatic Kowalski."

That statement came from Pearson, arriving late to the discussion with a helmet firmly strapped onto his head and a MRE packet of sorts in one hand. There was also some kind of pink drizzle on his chin that was most distracting.

"It could be a hell of a lot worse I tell ya." He said rather casually

"How could this situation possibly be worse?" Kowalski asked him in all seriousness "Above ground a carrier is blasting us to pieces and down here we're stuck inside a Drone hive. And just outside that drone hive is a whole mess of nasty aliens who are probably gonna be coming back in here through God knows where just to finish us off."

"But none of them are in here presently." Pearson reminded him with a smile "So we got some time to ourselves for now. Enjoy the little things Kowalski, all I'm saying."

With that Pearson lifted the open MRE packet to his mouth and took a swig. More drops of pink liquid spilled over the sides a bit. Instantly Kowalski knew what was in that packet.

"A milkshake MRE?" he said astonished "At a time like this?"

"Little things Kowalski." Pearson reiterated

"Where'd you even get the water for the powder?" Ramirez asked

"Pipes still work in this little bunker's bathroom. Guess they wanted the amenities of home while they waited for any fallout to dissipate." Pearson assumed "I've already told Taylor, so we got water now."

Kowalski just rolled his eyes.

"Yes water, that's our silver lining here." He said unconvinced of Pearson's argument "I'm sure that will really help in getting us out of here."

"Hey maybe we'll need to crawl through the pipes." Pearson suggested "If so, I just cut off a few hours of us searching for them. All we gotta do is follow the plumbing now. I may have just saved us all by making a milkshake."

"You are unbelievable," Kowalski snorted back as he returned to welding the door shut "How you got promoted to Corporal I'll never know."

"Its a question I ask myself daily as well I assure you." Pearson replied smugly back

Ramirez was less inclined to argue about the nature of their problems, he just wanted to know one thing.

"You got anymore of those milkshake packets?" he asked "I haven't had one since I was a kid."

"Sure Newbie." Pearson said smiling "Saved up a bunch, you want Chocolate, Vanilla or Strawberry?"

"No Mango?" Ramirez asked disapointed

Pearson gave Ramirez a seemingly bewildered and critical look.

"Mango? What the hell does this look like Ramirez a fancy ice cream parlour? You should've indulged your fruity tastes in shakes when you weren't in the Corps."

Ramirez would've taken more offence to the comment had it not been for the sound they all heard next. Something was clanging wildly nearby. Snapping all of them to attention, even Pearson, they did their best to track the sound. Tilting their heads from side to side they eventually eyed a grate for a vent nearby. Ramirez, his gun up and read approached the vent slowly.

"Careful Ramirez," Kowalski warned "it could be-"

Kowalski never finished his statement. The vent burst open and out of it rushed a snarling beast, its mouth open wide. The vent cover flew past it nearly hitting Pearson in the head. Free from its confinement the creature itself, its appearance that of giant sharp toothed lizard of some sort, tackled Ramirez to the ground in an instant. It pressed a single claw onto Ramirez's chest to hold him there and snapped once at him. But, while new to the corps, the young Private was fast and stuck his rifle into the roof of the beast's massive mouth. He fired once, forcing the creature off him. Kowalski and Pearson had by now pulled out their sidearms. Kowalski was still carrying the carnifex pistol, pre-set to inferno rounds of course and Pearson held an M6G pistol, standard issue in the Corps. They both plugged away at the best, eventually it went down in a heap of fire. As the monster's blood began to drip through the catwalk, Ramirez got himself to his feet.

"Fuck is that thing!" he demanded to know

"What was that about them not being in here Pearson?" Kowalski asked deridingly.

The shootout had not gone unnoticed. Already Garrus had rushed up with Mordin and a few other marines to see the commotion. When he saw the dead creature and the open vent he didn't bother asking what was going on.

"Is anyone injured?" he asked in the next instant

"Ramirez got jumped but I think he's good." Pearson replied

The rookie gave the ceremonious thumbs up to all, just to make sure they knew he was indeed okay. He still panted voraciously nonetheless, winded from his ordeal. Garrus went back to looking at the dead creature.

"Varren," he stated simply "just what we need."

"Not unexpected." Mordin told Garrus "Varren common within blood pack."

Garrus just nodded, but he had forgotten he wasn't among like minded knowledgeable people.

"Excuse me, but what is a Varren?" asked Kowalski

"That thing," Garrus replied quickly "vicious son of a bitch. Check your codex it should be in there by now. Seal up that vent and get down to the map table at the back. We need to layout our strategy."

With that Garrus left. Pearson looked back to Kowalski and tossed him one of his MRE milkshake packets. Kowalski gave him a look that was not very thankful for it however.

"Fine, we're in the crapper." Pearson finally admitted "But that's no reason to dwell on it. Die with some good memories, that's the best any of us can do sometimes."

With that strange bit of questionably "sage" advice Pearson marched away. Kowalski looked down to the shake he had gotten. It read chocolate on the side of the packet.

He was almost done with the welding on the door and the vent wouldn't take too long. He couldn't recall what these shakes tasted like. It had been so long. He reasoned that this was as good a time as any to remind himself.

* * *

><p>Guard duty felt weird for Jack. The Ex-Con being on prisoner watch, there was a certain ironic feeling to it. She didn't have too much of an issue with it, except for the fact it was so boring. But they were short handed right now, and she picked the short straw. Why she even indulged in the game was beyond her. She would've said to herself "at least I got the Krogan to keep me company" but Grunt was... well Grunt. He wasn't the best on chit-chat. Then again neither was she. So perhaps there was a silver lining, she didn't end up with someone like Kasumi or the Quarian who would probably talk her ear off.<p>

That didn't mean Grunt didn't talk of course. As he looked into the makeshift cage beyond, eyeing the prisoner through the cracks in the door, he grumbled aloud his displeasure.

"We should just kill him." He said "No warrior would wish to die like this."

"You wanna go in there and shoot him be my guest." Jack told the Krogan "I ain't getting in trouble with Shepard. Not that I give a shit, it's just I can't stand another one of his self-righteous do-good pussy speeches."

Grunt snorted at the idea.

"I wouldn't shoot him. We'd engage in proper hand to hand combat." He explained "Shooting a chained enemy is cowardly. It denies him the chance to prove himself."

"Nevermind what I said then," Jack replied "I'd rather have that thing in there caged than skulking around without them irons."

"Says the former convicted criminal." Grunt added

As said before, talking with Grunt wasn't much of an experience. The growling warrior culture crap got grating after awhile and Jack found it as annoying as Miranda's prissy uptight attitude. They could at least agree on one thing, that the damn alien in that cell needed to die.

Why keep him alive anyway? It just made things riskier for them. Sure, he could be their link home, but it wasn't like Jack cared about going back anyway. What was there for her? Except a coming invasion of alien death machines and a bounty on her head there was nothing. Then again there was probably nothing here for her either, what with the Covenant and all. Either way she didn't care if they got home or not in the end, she'd deal with it like she dealt with anything. It was how she survived that long back in their home dimension, this place would be no different.

Of course no doubt the others had way different opinions on that matter than her. Miranda especially since she probably wanted to look for a new job where she could apply her talent of being bitch. That is of course if she didn't intend to just return to Cerberus.

Just as Jack's thoughts turned to Miranda though, the "cheerleader" herself appeared with two armed guards.

"Finally, getting relieved." She sighed in relief as she began to walk forward to pass Miranda "Next time just put one of those two jackboots on this detail."

Miranda stepped in front of her as she tried to leave.

"I'm down here to finally remove that thing's armour." Miranda informed her haughtily "Nothing more. We should've done it when we got it on board but we were unfortunately semi-distracted by everything that was happening. We're gonna sedate and strip it then leave, you'll keep watching him afterwards."

Jack was, of course, not at all happy with this information.

"The fuck cheerleader! I got shit to do!" Jack shouted back

"Like what? Sulk in your room all day and not socialise with anyone?" Miranda asked condescendingly "It's not like the scenery down here is any different from your hidey hole."

Jack's face scrunched up even more as she practically pressed it up close to Miranda's.

"You're just doing this to piss me off. Big mistake Cheerleader." She warned scowling

"Threaten me all you want Jack," Miranda told her in a lowered tone of voice, trying to match Jack's own "but you and I both know you can't do anything about it. Shepard won't have it."

Jack didn't flinch, but she knew she wasn't winning this. Like it or not Lawson outranked her on this ship. Technically everyone did since she wasn't much of an active participating crewmember in the day to day routine of the Normandy.

"You can't hide behind the Commander forever Lawson." Jack said as she stepped back. "Remember, he hates Cerberus as much as I do."

"Which would matter if I was still Cerberus." Miranda reminded her "Now let me do my job so we don't have to deal with each other."

Miranda brought out what looked like an injection device of some sort as she passed Jack and Grunt. She stuck the Elite in the neck with the injector before he reacted. The security team closed the second set of doors after that, blocking their view.

"I thought you were over that petty rival stuff." Grunt said, sounding a bit confused

"Just shut up Krogan." Jack said still scowling "Go back to being a wall, you're good at that."

Grunt paid the insult no mind. He didn't care what the tiny human beside him thought of him. Jack in the meantime silently admitted to herself that the Krogan had a point though. She couldn't help it though. Miranda had always pissed her off. She just didn't like her period and her quitting Cerberus hadn't changed anything. Her siding with Doctor Halsey the child-kidnapper hadn't helped. Maybe it was petty to hold a grudge, whether or not her reasoning for it was good she didn't care. She just wanted Lawson out of her face and not ordering her around. She supposed that was too much to ask for, given the situation currently.

She began once more to her ask herself why she stayed aboard this ship in first place.

* * *

><p>"No word from Garrus in hours." Jacob said with a grave look of concern stretching across his face "Hell no word from anyone groundside in hours. Frankly Gardner, I'm worried."<p>

"Please that Turian is a tough bastard." Gardner told him as he wiped down the counter "He took a damn blast of gunship rounds and full on missile impact to the face! He'll handle whatever trouble he's stepped into."

"Maybe, but its war down there." Jacob reminded him

"Nothing you can do about it Taylor." Gardner reiterated "We just gotta hope that Turian has his head on straight is all."

Jacob wasn't exactly thrilled with that prospect. Scuttlebutt was Garrus was dealing with issues. Nothing concrete but he had overheard that Vakarian hadn't jumped at the chance to lead the team when they went to Visegrad. He wondered if maybe he should've talked to the Turian about it.

He remembered how they had all taken sides in the "Halsey Debate" as it was being called. Garrus and him were on the opposite ends of the spectrum. They never confronted each other about it. Both were too professional to let it get in the way of things. They weren't like Jack and Miranda. Still, he wondered if the debate had further stirred something in Garrus and if it could be causing problems down there for him.

Then again it was more likely the human soldiers were giving him problems. In a sense he could understand their situation, he wouldn't like being ordered around by an alien either, at least not one he did not know personally.

Jacob shook his head. He was letting his mind wander too much. Gardner was right. There was nothing he could do about it from up here. Except hope for the best groundside he supposed.

"You hear anything from Shepard?" Gardner asked "I haven't seen him in hours since he disappeared into the lift."

"Probably in the loft," Jacob said "I'd have thought he'd have come up with some kind of plan by now."

"I always thought his strong suit was playing it by ear personally." Gardner added "Worked for us so far."

Jacob lifted his head up to the old grizzled cook.

"What you mean?" he asked inquisitively

"Well this is the UNSC's turf right? What authority we got to give them battle strategies?" Gardner asked "I think we should just wait it out, they'll come up with an idea sooner or later and we can help them execute it. Less work on our part."

"Didn't work out so well today." Jacob noted as he looked away.

Gardner quickly shook his head.

"Hey, no one could've planned for this. Things were going well until that damn Carrier popped up." Gardner reminded him

"They were toying with us Mess Sergeant." Jacob reminded him "They could've decimated us at any time and they chose not to in the hopes they wouldn't have to lift a finger. Battle was lost from the start, with or without Blood Pack and Batarians helping them out."

It was a depressing conversation, but then again it was the only conversation everyone was having. It was hard to talk of anything else on a ship that had just seen a massive carrier materialize out of thin air and decimate a destroyer-class starship in one hit. The only other subject was concerning their guest down in the hold, everyone was keeping tight lipped about that for one reason or another.

"Maybe we should change the subject." Gardner said as he backed off, although entirely unsure of what to change it to. "Um... how are things in the armoury?"

Jacob merely shrugged.

"Okay I guess. Working with the Particle Beam a bit, trying to properly get it working the way me and Mordin figure it could." He explained "Also swapping out a few pieces and bits with the other guns. Modding them to our own. Got the idea from Legion when it put one of the UNSC's sniper scopes on the Widow Rifle. It ain't easy getting the parts to fit all the time and I'm keeping it to real small changes, but so far I think we might be able to get some kind of an edge on things. At least in targeting I'd imagine."

It was then Gardner came upon an idea in his head.

"Ain't the Mattock basically an older cartridge based gun made to work with thermal clips?" he asked "Can't we do the same to these UNSC guns?"

"I could but it would take time and way better resources than I have here." Jacob explained "That and I don't work so good under pressure, at least not like this. Mordin's always on his game, but this... man. It's hard keeping up with that Salarian and he doesn't even specialise in guns. He's a doctor!"

"A doctor with a quick trigger finger from what I hear." Gardner noted "Guess he knows more than he lets on."

That too, Jacob agreed inwardly. Either way he'd rather have the Salarian back so they could make progress on the particle beam. He was good with weapons but Jacob could understand any of Mordin's notes. He had a weird way of writing things down. It felt like study night back at the academy, when him and some friends traded notes and he ended up with the guy who practically drew sketches of things he didn't get at all. Still, Jacob wasn't stupid. He had a base idea of what they needed to do next. He just wasn't comfortable he'd get it right without Mordin's help.

Jacob looked back at the gaggle of faces at the table behind him. Quite a few members of the regular crew were there. Patel, Goldstein, Hawthorne and the rare sight of Daniels up from engineering for once and not attached to Donnelly, they were all in attendance at the main mess table. Jacob saw out of the corner of his eye another crew member rush past the corridor towards the bathroom. Everything looked pretty normal, you'd almost not suspect any sense of dread. But the crew was use to this stuff now, even with the prospect of potentially looming doom over them everyone seemed to be trying to go about their regular business. He couldn't get what the crew members were talking about but it seemed pretty standard more or less.

Maybe they were trying to get their minds off what was happening, like he and Gardner were. He couldn't blame them. He wished it was easier to tear his mind away from this stuff. But being the member of the ground team, going on missions with Shepard, it made it next to impossible to tear one's self away from it all. He saw the carrier with his own eyes, unclouded by any windows or view-screens. He saw the Grafton get shredded in two.

"Pour me a drink Gardner, a s stiff one." He asked a t long last

"You could ask Kasumi, she's got her own little lounge remember?" Gardner reminded him

"Yeah, I kinda don't wanna go in to Kasumi's room and ask for alcohol." Jacob said nervously

Gardner just laughed.

"Afraid ya won't come out huh?" he laughed

Jacob just grimaced as Gardner poured him a drink.

* * *

><p>Talking with the others was a bit of a stress relief for Gabriella Daniels. Donnelly was a great friend, but even they needed some time apart now and then. Besides, someone had to clean out the drive core fuel lines. That and keep the boss company while she went over that Slipsespace engine of hers more.<p>

"You know even though things went to crap, ya gotta admit at least the Normandy kicked ass right?" Hawthorne suggested to the group "Well, Joker and EDI kicked ass but you know."

"I don't think Joker would agree with you right now." Patel told him

"Oh he's just having one of those days I'm sure he'll snap out of it soon." Hawthorne countered.

Gabs could see what Hawthorne was trying to do, look for a bright side in all of this. Bless him he was trying, but one didn't just forget about the giant ship of doom hovering over the planet. They could still see it even this far out if they went to look out one of the windows on the portside of the ship. Still, as Gabriella sat there with her head sitting on the table top in dismay she reasoned that any discussion that did not refer to what happened during the battle was preferable. No one liked being reminded how futile their endeavour had been.

Nor did they like being reminded of the presence of Reapers in this Galaxy. Still the subject inevitably came up.

"You know the whole mistaking Reapers for Gods I can get," Goldstein started "but how the hell does anyone look at a giant spike that turns you into a robot zombie and thinks that's on the up and up?"

"I'm with Gardner on this." Hawthorne answered "he said don't bother figuring out how a crazy alien thinks, let alone a crazy religious one. Leave that for Shepard I say."

Goldstein just sighed as she let herself lean back a bit in her seat.

"Remember when life was simple and less complicated?" she asked everyone "You know, when we worked for Cerberus and we thought we were all about protecting humanity?"

"Wasn't that before we found out they kidnapped biotic kids and stuck autistic people with tubes in their mouths?" Patel asked in return

"Like I said, life was simple when we were naive." Goldstien replied mournfully as she placed her hands back on the table "Now we got wormholes, inter-dimensional anti-human alien alliances and continent sized planet killers."

"And yet we still end up working for questionable organizations, go figure." Hawthorne shrugged

They were doing this a lot to themselves lately it seemed. Assessing their own mistakes or actions, their decision to join with Cerberus. Ever since Shepard spilled everything he knew about these Spartans, or at least the Spartan named Jorge as they understood it. It brought up old questions Shepard had once asked them about their former employers. On one hand they found out the so called defenders of humanity, Cerbers, were actually selling out their humanity. A strange kind of contradicting hypocrisy in a sense when you thought about it, Gabs was now wishing she read up more on what these people had been doing. Joining out of spite for the Alliance seemed like a dick move now.

On the other hand, they were now in a universe that actually made all the crap Cerberus had ever pulled make a crazy kind of sense. If Gabs understood it right then it had even saved them. That and if she and Ken had never joined they'd have never met Shepard. Course that would also mean they wouldn't be stuck in an alternate dimension, but that was beside the point.

Patel eventually succeeded in changing the discussion and Gabriella's thoughts to a different subject.

"So how's the boss lady treating ya Daniels?" she asked, her hand still holding her head.

Gabs finally looked up at her colleagues, finally something that didn't bring morality or their impending doom to mind.

"Alright, she thinks we're gonna make progress on that drive thing soon enough." She began, her tone rather low and distant "Something about parts though, said she'd talk to the commander about it."

"How come you sound so down about it then?" Goldstein asked "She pushing you and Ken too hard?"

"Nah, this is Tali remember?" Gabs countered "She doesn't lead like that. Hell that's a whole other story. No, it's just she seems distracted."

Patel got a rather malicious little smile on her face.

"Well maybe she keeps thinking about the Commander without his duds on huh?"

She and Goldstein had a little laugh, Gabs abstaining while Hawthorne frowned.

"Hey, I'm the guy, aren't I supposed to make the dirty jokes?" he asked seemingly offended

"We get free passes cause we're not wannabe alpha males." Goldstein said cuttingly

Hawthorne grumbled a bit to himself, mumbling 'you ever gonna drop that geez' as he did. Gabs still didn't laugh.

"Seriously, it's not that." She corrected them all "It may have something to do with the Commander, but... I don't know. She just doesn't seem as focused on the drive as much. She hasn't been the same since she got back in engineering. Got even worse after she and Shepard talked to... well you know who."

"She's probably just trying to process this whole thing like us." Patel suggested

"Maybe, but when she got back down from meeting Shepard near dusk she asked me something." Daniels continued "Something about glitches and viruses. I can't remember, but I suggested this book to her I had a copy of on my omni-tool. I'm telling ya our dear Quarian is in the middle of something."

Hawthorne now took the time to lean back with his arms at the back of his head.

"Meh, I say we leave the ground team to whatever their issues are. Not our place to poke our noses into it." He said "Hell I barely get this whole SlipSpace thing myself. Go with the flow I say."

That was easy for Hawthorne of course, he knew a few of the ground team members but he didn't really get too involved in their affairs. Daniels had to work with Tali daily, she was more than her boss at this point. She was her friend. It was hard not to worry about her.

As Gabriella continued thinking of Tali and what exactly she was doing, one of the crewmen passed by heading towards the forward gunnery position. He stood in front of it waiting for it to open, rather befuddled at why it didn't.

"Hey buddy," Hawthorne said "that's locked off until Garrus gets back. Didn't ya hear? Shepard announced it hours ago."

The man stared back at the door and then marched away, pausing briefly to check on the med-bay before continuing onwards. Glacing at Kelly and Chakwas who were inside the place momentarily before heading towards the elevator. Gabriella didn't get a good look at his face, even as he marched off past her.

"Probably missed the announcement," Goldstein thought aloud "maybe trying to get some sleep or something."

"Yeah, I guess." Gabs relented

* * *

><p>Everyone was now gathered, more or less, by the table at last. ODST, Marine and Spartan alike save for Six was present and accounted for. Garrus hoped the numerically named super soldier would come back soon with the blueprints, he didn't like talking about a defence plan only. Not when what they really needed was an escape route.<p>

"Alright, I know we're all in a tight situation here." He began as his fellow Normandy crew members took his side "We're tried, cornered and we don't exactly have much in the way of ammunition. Still, we can't let that get to us. Not now. I've already come up with a defence strategy. One that should keep us alive long enough for us to figure out how to get out of here."

"Whoa, wait a second," Shouted one ODST from the crowd of soldiers "why exactly are we listening to you?"

It was almost as if on cue, Garrus silently looked to Emile. He couldn't see the Spartan's face but he honestly wondered if he was smiling about now.

"Haddock give it a rest man." Said another ODST nearby

"No Rivers shut it." Haddock replied "This xeno got us stuck in here! It's bad enough we had him in charge in the first place now he's telling us how to clean up his mess."

Garrus didn't bother getting emotional, but he did answer as best he could.

"Noble One put me in charge," he began "and yes I did lead us into this town. For those reasons I'm taking responsibility here and getting us out."

"I'd prefer having a human lead us." Haddock continued "You ain't UNSC and Noble Lead ain't here. Why should we listen to the orders of some damn Spartan that ain't even here! We should put one of us in charge. Not keep taking orders from one of Noble Team's xeno friends."

Garrus looked back to Emile, who seemed a little less happy about the outburst then he had been before. He was already gripping at his machete and looking like he wanted to tear the man's head off.

"Corporal Haddock settle down." An ODST Lieutenant said "We don't need more of your outbursts."

"You know I'm not the only one who feels this way LT." Haddock continued "I'm just the only one saying it. We don't want a xeno, covie or no covie, telling us what to do. We didn't sign up for this."

Garrus looked to the other men, he could see a number of them nodding, seemingly in agreement with Haddock. He needed to gain the momentum back in this conversation before everything fell apart. Luckily Zaeed was there to help.

"This Xeno held off three of the toughest Mercenary bands in the Galaxy in a far worse position than we are in mate." He declared "He did it for who knows how ruddy long and he didn't do it by acting like a damn cry baby. Show him some respect."

"See now we're getting ordered around by mercs people!" Haddock shouted unconvinced "This is ridiculous!"

"That is enough Haddock," the ODST lieutenant said sternly "shut up. Now."

The crowd that had looked close to backing up Haddock was backing off, and with no support the trooper settled back down. Still, Garrus needed to address the situation now before someone brought it up again.

"I know I'm not exactly the ideal candidate for a leader spot. But I trust Noble One's decision." He looked towards Emile "I think all of us should trust in his judgement."

Emile looked away hesitantly, but it was enough for Garrus. Now assured there would be no more problems, for awhile at least, he returned to his defence plan.

"Alright we've sealed off all the doors that are facing where we saw that hive was." He began "Except one, we're gonna use that as a funnel and set up lines of defence outside it, then continuing inside. We'll hold them there long as we can and then we're gonna head out along our escape route."

"Which is what exactly?" asked another ODST who was beside Rivers

"Noble Six is working on that currently." Garrus said begrudgingly

As mumbles began, worried and some derisive from what Garrus could gather, Six thankfully reappeared, a device under his arm.

"Ain't working on it, finished it." He said lifting the device "Found this hologram of the facility."

He clunked the object down in the center of the table and pressed a button. The entire missile silo came into view for all to see. The holo circled as everyone stared up at and Six began his explanation clicking on a remote pad he found with the device to show a dot that followed his directions.

"There's a secret escape hatch in the middle of the control room's floor. It leads into the concrete foundation that serves as a support for the place. It exists out at the lowers levels and from there we can run to bottom of the shaft where we can find a tunnel system that cuts directly into the mountain side."

Six let the holo zoom in on the tunnel system and follow it.

"It's essentially a large sewage system. Kinda doubles as an escape route in case part of the mountain caves in, I guess." He continued "It exits out just beyond the mountain range and about 6 or so miles off from our rendezvous point with Noble Lead. We can make that in around an hour. So we won't miss any more time, thankfully."

"So why don't we go right now?" Jorge asked

Six hung his head and pointed to where the escape hatch exited out on the lower levels.

"I think the escape route cuts nearby to the drones." Six explained "More specifically where their hive is located. We need to go through there to actually get to the tunnel and that's assuming the drones haven't discovered them yet."

"Then we need to be sure." Garrus said "We can't use the escape hatch to get down there now we'd risk them following us back up it and then we'd be in real trouble. I'll lead a team outside the perimeter and we'll recon the Drone hive from a safe distance away. Any problems we head back here to safety. First things first though we need to actually set up a defensive perimeter. What we got for weapons?"

"We found some heavy machine gun turrets in the small armoury they got in here." Sgt. Taylor spoke up "We can set them up as outer defences. Got a bit ammo from it too, but otherwise we're kinda dry on that."

That was a problem, but thankfully Garrus wasn't completely relying on the UNSC's guns.

"How many of you managed to snag some Covenant plasma weapons before we got chased in here?" Garrus asked

A number of people raised some plasma pistols in the air, trophies of their bug kills. Five raised some plasma rifles, one of them the ODST Rivers and another, his friend Starkey.

"Where'd you get those?" Pearson asked

"Some of the Vorcha were using them." Starkey explained "Not very well mind you, I don't think they've gotten used to the way the gun vents and the recoil."

"Doesn't matter," Garrus told them before looking to Mordin "Professor hand out some of those recharge devices you made to these men. We need to keep them active in case our own guns run out of ammo."

Mordin simply nodded and began to work of handing out said recharge devices from the pack that contained them.

"We'll pool together what few thermal clips and bullets respectively that we have left. Anyone with weapons that use our thermal clips, see Samara. She'll make sure everyone gets enough. Anyone who wants to volunteer for the recon mission, see me. Alright, let's get it done then."

Thankfully everyone seemed to fall in with the request and hurried towards their respective tasks. Sgt. Taylor himself approached Garrus.

"I'd like to help out with the recon mission. My squad can hold the fort here." He said

"Alright we'll leave soon." Garrus said "Once they get those machine guns up."

Taylor nodded once in agreement before getting closer to Garrus.

"For what it's worth Garrus, xeno or not, I'm just glad someone has a plan here." He told him "Hoping this go around we can catch these bugs with their pants down."

"Same, but honestly I'll settle for us just slip out without having to get into another slug match." Garrus replied

"Yeah, that would be nice I guess." Taylor admitted with a smirk "Just not as fun though."

* * *

><p>Gabriella had decided to return to her shift. Ken was out of the drive core maintenance shaft and back to looking over the SlipSpace drive it seemed. They had long since installed into the ship and you could get a good look at it whenever one the wall panels were opened up to allow access to the FTL drive, which the SlipSpace drive had been installed on top of. Ken had one of its panels open and was scratching his head at it all.<p>

"I don't know how she knows what parts we need, it's not like this technology exists back home." He said to himself as he looked over the series of wires. Almost instinctively, as if she knew Gabs was there he turned around to see her walking down "Oh hey Gab, just going over what some parts Tali thinks were gonna need to salvage from the Corvette and jury rig into this thing. Not sure how she's gonna do that though."

Gabriella didn't add to the question, she merely looked around somewhat bewildered at the engine room. Mainly for one reason and one reason alone, that it was missing one of its regulars.

"Where is Tali anyway?" she asked

"Went up to see Kasumi about somethin' she said." Ken explained "Canne' tell ya why to be honest. Something about a side project I think."

Gabs shook her head at that. She had resolved upstairs she was gonna at least try to approach Tali about what she was stressing about. She knew the Quarian, she'd be honest with her if she asked. Now that was gonna have to wait though. With a sigh she turned back to Ken with yet another question.

"Ken," she began, sounding rather despondent in her voice "you ever feel like we're out of the loop?"

"What ya mean lass?" he asked right back with puzzlement

"I'm just saying," she said seemingly defensively as she raised her hands "sometimes I feel like they don't really tell us that much or anything really. I mean remember when Legion first came onboard? We get a shock to learn a Geth has joined up then we're parked outside the front door to one of their space stations after only a few days. It's crazy. And let's not forget that in-between all that was an AI/Human hybrid that tried to take over EDI and the ship."

"Then we got abducted by space-bugs, I knows Gabs, I remember." Ken said slightly frustrated at Gabs retrospective "What's your point?"

"My point is I kinda wish they'd keep us in the loop a bit is all. Let us know what's going on." Gabs explained "I knew it was gonna be dangerously but I expected they'd tell us exactly what kind of crap was gonna go down in advance."

Ken merely shrugged.

"Miranda made announcements to keep us informed." He reminded her "EDI did the same."

"You know what I mean Ken." Gabs told him "We just seem to figure out the full story more often than not AFTER the fact and it never seems to come from Shepard's or the others mouths. I understand secrecy and all, but, well, we're friends aren't we?"

"Try not to let that feeling get in the way of work Gabs." Ken warned "It's just how they are."

Gabs shook her head; clearly she wasn't explaining this properly. Or Ken was just being thick headed, whichever came first.

"Look Tali is stressed about something, I know you can feel it too." She said plainly "She hasn't been this shook up since the time she got accused of treason and that whole Migrant Fleet thing happened."

"It wasn't exactly something I would find easy sharing with people either Gabs." Ken informed her "Hell she ended up finding her father dead. Canne' fault her for keeping it to herself."

"I don't it's just, well if she told me I could've helped her through it. Instead I have to hear it through the rumour mill and everything get's awkward." She explained "I guess I just wonder how much they trust us is all. I mean, they're not just our bosses, Shepard and the ground team are practically like family. Family that saves our asses from becoming goo no less, I'd think they'd be less inclined to keep things from us until we hear it second hand later on."

"Shepard told us about the whole Spartan and Ackerson thing." Ken argued

"No, he instructed EDI to give us a general message at a pre-destined time. He told the ground team directly." Gabs corrected him "And that was more like a general 'here are your orders concerning this' matter."

Finally Ken just sighed deeply and turned to face his colleague.

"Look you want my opinion then?" he asked "It's not our place to pester them about their issues Gabs. They're friends, fine, but our job is to do our job so this whole ship doesn't blow to kingdom come. They don't need us running up to them every two seconds prodding them for information. If they think we should know they'll tell us. If we ask and they don't put up a fuss about it, all well and good, but that isn't why we're here. We're here to help them do their job. If you think Tali is stressed out about something, let Chambers know, that's her jurisdiction remember? If you want ta ask her, okay, but if she doesn't answer don't keep bugging her about it. She'll tell ya on her own time."

Gabriella supposed Ken had a point. Perhaps she was letting her emotions get the best of her. Still, it didn't feel right ignoring a problem when she had a gut feeling a friend was having trouble. She remembered when Tali had gotten that message, saying she was charged with Treason and everything. She knew something was wrong but she didn't confront Tali about it personally. She only overheard about it when Shepard came down to talk to her. She felt bad for not trying to figure out what was making her boss so jittery and nerve wracked, for not trying to find a way to comfort her. Until the whole matter was resolved she did her best to keep the poor Quarian calm and less focused on potentially being exiled.

Maybe this was all just old guilt, but it was still stirring up some questions.

"I just wish there was something I could do." Gabs said mournfully

"How about helping me with this thing so when Tali does come back she doesn't have another thing on her mind to worry about hmm?" Ken asked "And I'm not just sayin' that to share the misery of work with ya."

Gabs smiled and walked up to join Ken at the drive. That is until she heard a loud thunk sound followed by a crash from down below.

"What was that?" she asked

"Probably Jack getting pissed off and crushing something." Ken groaned "Now I'm gonna have to fix that AND risk getting my head pulled off. Honestly."

But Gabriella shook her head. That couldn't be the case at all.

"Jack is still guarding the prisoner with Grunt." She said "She's not in her room now."

Ken's head lifted up at that. If that was true, then someone else was in Jack's room. To anyone who knew Jack, to anyone who was on the Normandy period, they knew heading into the hidey hole where the angry convict resided was incredibly taboo. Whether Jack was away or not. No one would be that stupid. And yet, something was rattling around down there.

In a flash Ken left the SlipSpace drive and raced out of the engine room with Gabriella. They bounded down the steps, repeating "No one goes in Jack's room. Everyone knows not to go in Jack's room" to himself. Maybe they were jumping to conclusions on this, they both thought, maybe it was nothing. Then when they got down there they saw a panel stripped off the wall and several wires protruding out of the space.

"Aw shit," Ken said grasping his head "ya got to be kiddin' me! Now I got fix all that!"

Gabriella approached the pried off panel slowly. As she did she stepped on something that made a crumpling sound. She looked down to see a device, similar to an OSD, lying on the ground. It didn't look like any of the portable information devices they had though.

"I think someone was trying to hack into the mainframe from down here." She suggested to Ken.

"Who would wanna do that?" Ken asked

Who indeed, Gabriella reasoned. And she had a good idea of what the answer was.

* * *

><p>Garrus started to wonder how big human nukes were. Even supposedly half way down the shaft it felt like the silo stretched on forever. They were no doubt several feet below the surface by now. Perhaps the silo housed more than one nuke rather than one really big impractical one. Whatever the case it housed something far more dangerous now, at least to their immediate future.<p>

Sergeant Taylor had taken point with another of the volunteers, an ODST grunt that Zaeed had vouched named Starkey. Garrus was just happy some humans were willing to follow him on this mission, well besides Zaeed of course. He was honestly surprised at yet another instance of the merc putting himself out there, especially when the command centre was safer and potentially defensible. But Zaeed insisted and coming along, even though recon work wasn't his style.

As they got closer to what they presumed was the hive, the walls covered in the substance that the Drones used to make them, tensions grew high. You could see it in the way Starkey was keeping his head on a swivel. So much so Garrus was worried it was gonna unscrew itself for a moment.

"He okay?" Garrus asked Zaeed as they continued down the stairwell

"He and his mate Rivers got jumped by Vorcha up top." Zaeed explained "Probably worried about it happening again. Seen it in both rookies and vets all the time. First taste of a new enemy they get antsy, start-"

"-Getting hyper alert, I know. I was in the military too." Garrus reminded him.

Zaeed quieted down as they reached the next landing and exited the stairwell. He figured they were close by now.

"Shouldn't be too far." Garrus said to Taylor and Starkey "You two stay here guard our exit something goes wrong hightail it back to the defensive position."

"What about you?" Taylor asked

Garrus didn't answer, that was really all Taylor needed to "not" hear to get the message. Zaeed walked forward as the two others kept watch at the stairs. He closed in on Garrus from the left, keeping him covered.

"You didn't have to come." Garrus said suddenly once they were far enough away

"Shepard's orders." Zaeed answered, assuming he meant come down planet side.

"No, I mean you didn't have to come here period, on any of this." Garrus reiterated "You didn't need to stay on the Normandy, you could've argued to stay up on the Normandy today, you could've stayed behind back at our makeshift fort and instead you're here covering my back. Why?"

Zaeed didn't answer at first, motioning his gun to an overhanging ledge above them before they moved out. Nothing was up top so he lowered his weapon and they kept moving, quietly.

"You'd prefer you were going at this alone?" Zaeed asked confused "What's your point?"

"You're a Merc Zaeed," Garrus reminded him "you always said you were in this just for the credits. You got paid in full once the Collector mission was done. Don't feed me that excuse that you worked out a salary with Shepard. Why are you here?"

"I could ask you the same question Vakarian." Zaeed replied dismissively as they approached small staircase that led to another landing "You volunteered to stay groundside. Now you're leading a bunch a humans, half of whom don't even seem to like ya."

"I wasn't given the choice of whether or not I could lead them, you've had the choice to keep your head out of the line of fire since the suicide mission wrapped up." Garrus informed him "So I think my question is a little more relevant."

Zaeed just smirked at Garrus.

"I'll give you mine if you tell me yours." He said simply "No bullshit."

Garrus just sighed.

"Shepard doesn't know this, well he sorta does." Garrus explained "I took a peek at what the Shadow Broker's files had to say about me. Wanted to know how much info he had on me, my family. See if I could get Liara to lock it down or something."

Zaeed recalled his own file, which he had also looked up out of curiosity. He hadn't paid it much mind, wasn't like the bastard could use it anymore. He hadn't checked anyone else's files. Zaeed somewhat valued the privacy of others, just a little. Still kept a camera feed link in his room though. Just to make sure who was where and when. Bit paranoid, but it was an old habit.

He didn't understand what any of that had to do with this though.

"He came to the conclusion, the Shadow Broker I mean, that I'd never be a capable leader under Shepard's shadow." Garrus blurted out softly "I think it's why Shepard has been trying to get me to take on more responsibility, he's afraid he's... dulling me I don't know."

"You can't seriously be letting that bastard's notes be getting to you?" Zaeed asked astonished.

Garrus shook his head.

"No, but it was hard having all that stuff get thrown back in my face." He explained "My team on Omega, my job at C-Sec, getting passed over for the Spectres, not fitting in with the military. It doesn't leave as easily as you think, all that stuff. Fact is, I don't want to get back in the pilot's seat like Shepard wants. Not until I'm sure I'm ready. Not sure that I'm as good a leader as he seems to think I am. But I'm not there yet. Too much baggage is all it is. I've got too many little doubts and I'm wondering if I'm really cut out for any of this. You don't have that many screw ups in your life and not have it mean something, ya know?"

Zaeed shrugged a bit at that.

"It means life's a bitch kid. Handle it." Zaeed told him bluntly "Sides, you're doing pretty damn well so far. Kept these people alive."

"Only because I'm the one that got them into this and I'm leading them out. If I felt anyone else knew what we were dealing with, if anyone else could handle this sort of thing I'd hand over this command in a heartbeat." Garrus explained frantically "But Carter put me in charge and I've bene in this situation before."

Zaeed knew immediately what he was referring to.

"It won't be like Omega Garrus, we have the advantage this time." Zaeed assured "Them buggers won't know what hit'em."

"We'll see." Garrus said, his head turned to the side. "So then, your story?"

Zaeed nodded slightly.

"Alright, truth is, I'm old Vakarian." he flatly admited "I've fought for a hell of a lot of things. Petty things. Credits, booze, women sometimes. My glory days are almost done. Before the Collectors I just wanted to retire, live out the rest of my days trying to get some rest in. After what we saw though... well... doesn't seem as important to me anymore."

Zaeed lowered tone, tired and droning as he continued. Made garrus lower his weapon to his side and look back at the merc.

"Either way, if I left or not, I was gonna die anyway. I'm not gonna last long against Reapers Vakarian, I know that. I started off in this Galaxy shooting scumbags in DMZs, later slavers and red sand traders on every planet you could think of. But this? This ain't my Galaxy anymore."

The turian smirked a bit at that comment. Given the circumstances it was impossible not to.

"Well that's kind of an obvious observation." Garrus joked.

"You know what I mean." Zaeed retorted "But if I'm going down, I figure might as well die doing something worthwhile for once."

Garrus' perched his brow in surprise.

"You telling me the crotched old merc actually gives a crap now?" he asked

Zaeed just snorted.

"Don't be ridiculous Turian." Zaeed shot back "More or less everyone seems to think Shepard is sentient life's only hope for God knows what reason. But hell, he's made it this far, figure I'd cash my chips with him and actually do some honest work for a change too I guess."

Garrus shook his head, smirking a bit. He couldn't blame Zaeed's evasiveness in the end. If he did make it he didn't wanna ruin his image after all. In any case he'd gotten his answer, more or less.

With that done they continued on their way to the railing of the landing and looked down on their target through their sniper scopes. As expected there were a number of Drones scurrying about, popping in and out of holes of their large wax like hive that had grown like a tumour within a cavity. As he searched the area Garrus could make out what they were looking for, the entrance to the tunnels, their way out.

"Ain't as straight a shot as hoped huh?" Zaeed said stating the obvious.

"We need fight our way past that drone Hive," Garrus reasoned "it would be easier if let them send the bulk of their forces our way first before we made a move. Then we can use the escape tunnel to get back down here and run to the exit while their forces aren't as concentrated en route."

"But what's to keep them from following us?" Zaeed asked "Bugs have one track minds."

Garrus thought for a moment, taking another peek at the hive.

"What if their little home was in danger?" Garrus suggested "Would they leave it to burn?"

Zaeed grew a wicked smile at that suggestion.

"Worth a shot I guess." He reasoned "I brought the flamethrower, but we're gonna have to set off a really big match in there if we want to draw them off back to their hive while we make a break for it."

"Then we're gonna need explosives." Garrus suggested "Let's head back and see what we can pool together."

The two got up from their position and rushed back towards the others on the stairs. As they did though Zaeed stopped for a moment and looked back up at the ledge far off in the distance to their right. Garrus noticed the old merc had stopped and looked back.

"Come on," he reiterated "no time to admire the scenery."

Zaeed stared intently at the ledge.

"Thought I..." he began before shaking his head "maybe nothing. Eyes acting up. Let's move."

Garrus wasn't sure what Zaeed thought he saw, he just hoped it wasn't a Drone that had picked them up or something. They didn't wanna get ambushed before they got back to safety.

* * *

><p><strong>August 13<strong>**th****, 2552**

Midnight on reach had long since passed, and yet the day still wasn't over for the Marines. The machine guns turrets had long been set up where Garrus wanted them. The defensive lines in general were almost complete. Still it did little to bring the beleaguered soldiers hope. What good was holding off the enemy? They wanted to get out, not to make a stand. It wasn't like they were buying time for some other unit to take an objective after all. They thought of the escape tunnel, but Six's mention of the hive being near its exit put them off the idea of even trying it. Mainly they just kept busy with their work. Even if they didn't trust Garrus to get them out of here his orders at least gave them something to do. That and it would provide them cover when the Drones eventually stormed them.

Kowalski had hoped they could find something better than sandbags or sheets of metal to make makeshift barriers with. Proper metal field cover for one, they would give the gunners better protection as they fired onto the attackers. But Marines made do with what they had, not complained about what they didn't.

Ramirez and Private Agley were near the second turret while Kowalski was with Ellingham near the first. The former two were busy placing sheet metal around the nest of the turret. Agley was less than enthusiastic about the task. Even from all the way over here you could see his hands shaking. His head wasn't paying attention to the job. He was more concerned with his surroundings, surveying them constantly. You could tell he didn't want to be out here.

Thankfully none of them would be for much longer. As Ellingham screwed the turret's final bolt to the stand, a grin grew across his face. Now that the gun was safely secure to its stand and in place their little defensive line was more or less finished.

"Well that should keep the neighbours at bay." Ellingham joked as he knocked a wrench against the turret's barrel.

"For awhile," Kowalski reminded him "we don't exactly have that much ammo for them remember? As soon as they're dry we'll have to pull back."

"Geez maybe Pearson is right, you are too gloomy for your own good." Ellingham responded chuckling "We have an escape route remember? Soon as it's clear we'll be out of here."

There was a dismissive grunt from behind them, no surprise it came from Haddock and few of his ODST compatriots.

"Yeah, the Spartans and the Aliens are gonna save our asses. Keep dreaming greenhorn."

Haddock dragged another sandbag into place as he finished his quip. The two marines decided to just ignore him for now and hope he wouldn't let his distaste for Garrus get them killed when the fighting started. As Haddock spoke of Spartans and Aliens however, the larger Spartan Jorge plodded up to the entrance, his helmet off and under his arm. He was scanning the darkness beyond the positions, trying to pick out shapes in the shadows from the looks of it.

"Any sign of Vakarian?" he asked Kowalski

"No sir." The private replied "They should be headed back by now though."

Jorge looked back to the shadows once more, narrowing his vision as he did. Slowly he reached back for his chain gun and pointed it down the range. No one really asked what was happening, it was obvious.

"Not Garrus?" Kowalski asked as he brought his assault rifle to bear.

"Not unless he walks around on all fours." Jorge replied

Looking down the range now Kowalski and any other marine near him could see the shadows of the approaching enemy. The silhouettes of the attackers were a clear indication that they were Varren. Similar to the one that had attacked them before, except this was a whole pack.

"Don't fire till they're close!" Jorge ordered "We have to conserve ammo!"

Kowalski didn't need to be told twice, he swapped the assault rifle for the Carnifex pistol, making sure it was set to incendiary. He hoped it would burn straight through their tough reptilian hides. Ellingham stuck to his magnum pistol, kept an eye on the approaching lizard-dogs in his sights. The Varren closed in, no longer cast in shade they could see the bulbous eyes and gnashing teeth that were rushing towards them. Jorge still kept gripping his chaingun, but he didn't open fire. He let them get closer. They were 100 yards away, then 80, then 60, their powerful legs thrusting them ever closer to their delicious human meal.

Kowalski started to honestly wonder what the hell Jorge was waiting for? For the Varren to be right on top of them? Finally Jorge gave the signal by blasting into the pack of vicious looking beasts at full throttle. The first two Varren seemingly had their legs cut out from under them as they toppled forward. Jorge's bullets swept the entire field of view in front of them as Varren after Varren fell. Kowalski and the other soldiers on the defensive line opened up themselves. The Varren were scrambling over the small barricades in an attempt to reach the humans, but the effort only slowed them down enough to make them easy targets. Kowalski fired point blank into the gaping maw of one Varren as it closed on him. The poor creature stumbled backwards as the flames engulfed its mouth. Ellingham fired at the eyes of the beasts as they came for him through the scope, killing them in one hit. No tough hide around there to save them.

Ramirez, still with Agley near the second turret, was crouched down firing quick short controlled bursts at the on rushing Varren with his DMR. Like Kowalski he aimed for their eyes, but as the beasts got closer he made a move for his knife. One of the Varren made to tackle Ramirez, but this tiem he was ready. He slashed the beast along its nose, forcing it to the side and allowing Agley to blast it with his assault rifle until it stopped moving. Even then he didn't stop firing until Ramirez forced his gun up.

"It's dead! You got it! Shoot the live ones!" he shouted at Agley, who promptly returned to shooting living targets.

The pack was quickly picked off, but what remained tried to go after Jorge. A rather large Varren rushed up the center, taking pot-shots from every marine on the line. Even as cuts and sores opened up from the whizzing bullets that smacked into it the enraged and feral alien creature continued its dash for Jorge. It leapt high into the air and aimed its giant jaws at Jorge's unprotected head. But while the giant Spartan didn't look graceful, he was far from being that easily taken. He threw himself backwards as the Varren attacked him, letting the beast soar over him. The chain gun kept rattling away, tearing at the Varren's underside. As bullets entered its stomach and exited out the back, Kowalski could've sworn he saw the very moment the Varren's life left its eye.

It was on the last shot Jorge fired into the creature.

The Varren fell to the ground, torn asunder by Jorge's fire. Several Marines rushed over to try and help Jorge up. He was a heavy man, with or without the armour. So he wasn't easy to get back on his feet again. Once righted, Six and Emile rushed out onto the line, weapons drawn.

"At ease," he told them "show's over."

"You could've called us big man." Emile told him, sounding a bit disappointed

"Just more of those lizard dogs Garrus says are skulking around in here." Jorge said "Hardly worth your time."

At that moment there was a strange low pitched sound. Like moaning, but not, it hissed more than anything. It was coming from where the Varren had attacked previously. Kowalski turned back towards the shadows, and saw lumbering forms through the dark. They weren't on all fours, so they weren't Varren, but there were too many to just be Garrus coming back.

"Um, guys," Kowalski motioned "I think they ain't done yet."

Everyone was now attuned to the approaching sound. They heard the low moaning hisses as well as saw the strange forms stumbling towards them and readied themselves along the defensive line. They pointed their weapons down range once more, expecting perhaps Drones that were walking in or perhaps Vorcha.

But what came out of the dark looked almost familiar... yet twisted.

Stumbling out of the dark came what appeared to be humans, staggering ever closer towards them, strange bits of metal and tubes pouring out from their mouths.

"Mother of God what the hell?" Was all Ellingham could ramble out

As one of the creatures approached a shot rang out from their left. A round tore through the skull of one of the human like creatures. Everyone looked to where the shot came from and saw who had fired it.

"They're not human!" Garrus shouted as the smoke from his sniper rifle began to evaporate "Not anymore! Open fire!"

The marines hesitated for a moment, but then the creatures burst into a sprint towards them. Electrical energy was pulsating from their bodies and they didn't look at all friendly. The marines obeyed at last and fired as many rounds as they could into the swarm of bodies. Ramirez and Agley grabbed the machine gun turrets and raked the crowd. No normal human or living thing could take as many rounds to kill as these things did. Strange goo seemed to pour out of the wounds as the bullets hit them head on. Sometimes it took the entire body coming apart for them to stop moving.

Private Agley's finger never left the trigger, his teeth chattering all the way along with the barrel of the gun. One of the creatures, its lower body torn apart, dragged itself along the floor and up along the cover. It knocked the barrel away and roared directly and Agley's face. The already frightened Marine stumbled back in shock, but thankfully he was not so scared as to forget he was still armed. He pulled out his pistol and fired two shots into the head of creature. Still too shaken to get up, even as his assailant lay dead on the turret's nest, another Marine took up the machine gun for him.

Jorge fired into the crowd, backing up Six and Emile who pressed forward. Six went for headshots with his pistol, endeavouring not to waste ammunition trying for body shots when that clearly didn't seem to be working. Emile didn't have the same problem, he fired point blank shotgun rounds into the mass of creatures, letting them crumble to bits. As one got close he bashed the head of the creature apart and let the body fall to the ground. Garrus and the rest of recon team joined the firing line, taking headshots at the approaching horde.

Eventually the bullets subsided, the bodies stopped moving and the enemy lay dead in a heap at their front door. No casualties taken, but everyone on the frontline was visibly shaken. Six was the first to speak.

"They look almost like the Elite in the tower but... human." He said

"Husks," Garrus told the Spartan as he approached "we've encountered them in our universe. We uploaded info about them to your codexes not long ago."

The marines and ODSTs that had riddled the once human Husks approached cautiously. They now got a good look at the enemy, they were indeed once human. Garrus, upon closer inspection noticed something different about these Husks. They were transformed like the others, but some of them still had their human clothes on them. Torn and shredded, but it was still recognizable as fabric. Not only that but it appeared some parts of the husks still looked relatively human. The blotches of pink skin were here and there. The Covenant must've been shoddy in their conversion of them, or the drones didn't know how to work the Dragon's Teeth. Whatever the case the humans had probably only been changed recently, perhaps a few minutes before they arrived down here.

"They must be the people from the town." Jorge said in shock "What... what did they to them?"

"They made them into shock troops." Zaeed noted "Let them and the Varren go on a suicide run towards us to probe our defences. Next attack will be the whole nine yards with Vorcha, Drones and whatever the hell else is down here."

Garrus knew Zaeed was right. He contemplated on what they needed to do before that happened. They needed a bomb for one, something to light that blasted hive on fire, maybe two if they were lucky enough with the materials. The other one obviously to destroy the command centre once they were gone and the Drones had overrun it. They had little time to get that all ready too.

Something caught Garrus' eye as he looked over the carnage. He wasn't sure but he could've sworn he saw something move. He tried to track it, but he wasn't sure what he was tracking. There was nothing there. He looked over towards a Marine that was tapping against one of the dead husks.

Then he saw a Plasma blade appear in mid air.

Before Garrus could even shout a warning the poor Marine was sliced into from behind and tossed aside like garbage. Everyone saw it instantly and pointed over to the disembodied sword. Another Marine near the floating sword opened fire upon whatever had killed his comrade, only for the sword to fly at him and separate his head from his torso.

"Spec ops!" Jorge shouted as he fired at sword, his chain gun rattling away.

He was soon followed by an orchestra of gunfire, all blasting into the same area, even as the sword vanished from the shadows it had come from. Garrus joined in with his assault rifle as he moved back to the safety of the barricades. The firing continued even after that, every soldier, Spartan, Trooper or Marine blasting into the nothing, hoping to kill the Spec Ops Elite who had cut down two of their fellows.

Two plasma bursts flew from a nearby catwalk, cutting down an ODST but not killing him. He caught it in the arm, burned like hell. The firing shifted to the catwalk and remained concentrated there for a good thirty seconds, but no dead Elite ever fell from the railing in that time.

Finally Garrus shouted out "STOP! HOLD YOUR FIRE!" as loud as he could. Eventually the bullets subsided.

"It's gone." He said sternly "We can't waste ammo. Not with the drones still coming."

That was why it had blown its cover, the Elite wanted to catch them when they were most off their guard. Looking at the dead bodies of the people they had sworn to protect turned against them, what better time to make to strike even more fear into them. Still, it was a cocky move, one that had shown Garrus that a Spec Ops Elite was in here and obviously running this show.

Mordin had rushed out with bio-foam and medi-gel at the ready for the fallen ODST. Everyone else began to fall back to the command centre.

"Get him inside Mordin." Garrus said "We can't stay out here."

Mordin had another Marine help him get the ODST inside and Garrus was the last step in. The situation had now gotten even direr than before, the Covenant knew where they were, they knew what to expect when they showed up and they had an Elite Spec Ops soldier leading them from afar. He had no doubt watched the whole fight and if Elites lived up to their warrior reputation this one was already planning away around such defences.

They needed a new plan, something to shake things up a bit before the Drones and Vorcha showed up. And they needed to think fast.

* * *

><p>Gabriella was not one to rush to conclusions, but when all the evidence pointed to an intruder on board she didn't argue. Ken however was a bit sceptical.<p>

"What made them think they could get into our systems from down there?" he asked "From a random wall panel they pulled off the wall even!"

"I'm thinking it was out of desperation." She suggested as they kept walking "If you don't know how a ship works what would you do?"

"I'd try to figure it out! I wouldn't start pulling things apart!" Ken replied adamantly.

"He's made a mistake and he knows it, he got sloppy." Gabs added as they kept walking "Now he's gonna get even more desperate to get into the system."

There were only a few places on the ship someone could do that and one of them required getting past the resident doctor. So that was where Gabs and Ken were off to. Hopefully whoever had been digging around downstairs hadn't gotten to Chakwas yet.

They found her in her usual spot, going over some notes on her desk. It was really late by now, but even she wasn't sleeping. She looked up as the door opened wide to reveal Ken and Gabriella.

"Hmm, I thought I was the only one pulling an all-nighter." She noted.

Gabriella cut straight to the chase, no time for small talk here.

"Doc, have you seen anyone down here recently?" she asked "Anyone trying to get into the AI Core?"

The old physician looked behind her to the door that led to the core itself.

"No I can't recall. You're the first people in here since Kelly stopped by a few hours ago." She explained "She was going over some psych evals of the crew with me. Don't worry, she didn't share anything confidential, just suggestions about treatment."

"Sorry to be abrupt here Doc, but that's really not out concern right now." Ken explained

Gabriella proceeded to explain what had occurred down in the engine room, Chakwas attention now firmly held in her grasp. The idea of an intruder aboard the Normandy trying to access their systems was frightening. What if they had gotten into EDI? Or any of the vital systems for that matter? Chakwas wasn't a tech head, but she knew enough about this ship to know they couldn't let someone mess with her systems.

"Can you think of anyone today who looked odd?" asked Chakwas

She thought for a moment, trying to recall something from previously that night. She suddenly raised her head up, her memory clear.

"Yes, it was with Kelly a few hours ago too, when she was dropping off the evaluations." She realised "I believe I saw someone peering into the room for a moment and then walking off. No, I know I saw him looking at us. I figured maybe it was someone, you know, leering at Chambers. But awhile later I thought I saw one duck around the corner of the elevator."

That jogged Gabriella's memory.

"That crewman, the one that tried to get into the forward battery!" she said stunned "I thought he looked odd!"

"Did you get a good look at his face?" Ken asked them both.

"A bit I think," Gabriella reckoned "but that ain't gonna help us find him."

Gabriella turned to Ken.

"Think. You need to access the Normandy's systems but you can't get to the AI Core and you don't know how to hack it from engineering. Where would you go if you wanted to get in?"

It took about a second for Ken to come up with some answers.

"Well I could try one of the EDI terminals, but she'd know something is up right away sound the alarm." Ken surmised "The command deck is too public. It would have to be out of the main view of everyone and with a computer that you could use to enter the systems more covert. Something EDI wouldn't expect checking cause it's a system that she's familiar with and not some foreign data pad or OSD."

All at once all three shouted their answer.

"Mordin's Lab!"

* * *

><p>The command centre was abuzz with activity as Garrus gathered everyone together once more and asked them to pool grenades. It didn't matter which, if it exploded he wanted it. There was a good number, plasma and fragmentation respectively, the question was now how to make an effective bomb out of it.<p>

"I suppose we could like, toss a nade into the pile as we leave and blow the place that way." Rivers suggested.

"A pile of grenades just randomly set off isn't exactly going to leave much of an impression." Sgt. Taylor said "We need something with a bit more bite I think."

Emile, who had digging in his satchels on his vest for awhile, let out a groan that quickly resonated across the room. He dug into one of his satchels on his armour and pulled out a small packet of C-12 explosives, detonators and all and tossed it into the pile.

"Here just strap the nades to that already." He said annoyed "Honestly do I have to give you all the answers?"

Garrus looked down at the C-12 with a scowl and then back to Emile.

"You could've told us you had some proper explosives." He said annoyed

"You only mentioned you wanted to blow something up just now and I was trying to find them. Hell, forgot I had them until you mentioned your little plan." Emile explained with a sustained distasteful tone "It's not gonna be any use on the hive, it's not gonna set it on fire like you want it to for one and I don't have a remote detonator for it. You're gonna have to wire it and trigger it the old fashioned way. So it's perfect for this room and you just need a few grenades strapped to it to make the blast bigger. "

Garrus didn't appreciate Emile's tone, but he did appreciate the contribution to the plan nonetheless.

"Alright, so that solves our problem with the room, how about the hive?" he asked the assembled troops.

"We even sure they're gonna go for their hive instead of chasing us?" Agley asked "I mean, don't we seem more important?"

Mordin who was nearby and finishing up his treatment of the ODST with the Plasma burns fielded the question.

"Entomology quite clear on subject." He informed "Hive based insects will endeavour to protect hive above all else. If Drones similar in respect to regular insects, no different. High possibility of significant number of them breaking chase to save home."

"And if anything the fire should cover our escape." Garrus noted "Hell maybe the flames will draw them in to be incinerated for us. Point is we need a distraction of some kind if we're gonna stand a chance of getting to that exit."

Zaeed bent down and picked up one of the plasma grenades in the pile.

"These little numbers could start a fire." He suggested "Problem is getting them into the hive. And I do mean in, only way the blast is gonna be contained enough to do any damage."

"So what do we do?" Starkey asked the merc "We can't just toss them all at it and hope that enough get in."

"Well there is a pretty big hole on top of the hive where all the buggers go in and out from what I remember." Zaeed suggested "if someone could get on top of the hive or above it and drop them in there then set them off with a grenade that could do the trick."

It was a bold plan, certainly Zaeed's style, but it also meant something else which Samara pointed out.

"Whoever does that will be exposed, they'll have to get into position before the drones come at us and wait for us to arrive." She noted "They'll be on their own, cut off. With no guarantee they'd make it to the exit."

Agley was the quickest to voice his objection.

"Fuck, you want one of us to go out there with those things crawling around?" he asked "No way man, no fucking way. Count me out."

"Yeah color me shocked." Ellingham derided

Agley wasn't one to take the insult lying down.

"Oh yeah? I don't see you volunteering for a suicide run!" he shouted at him

"Least I'm not pissing my pants at every goddamn shadow I see!" Ellingham shot back

A brief shouting match erupted among the assembled Marines. It drowned every other sound as Agley and Ellingham continued to bicker. Finally Zaeed jumped up and fired once into the ceiling with his sniper rifle.

"I'll do it." He said "It was my bloody idea anyway and I think I know the best place from where to drop them is."

Garrus looked at the merc with concern.

"Massani?" he asked

The Merc looked back at him, his eyes steeled and ready.

"I know, I'm sticking my neck out again." He admitted "We went over this, I have my reasons. Sides, if someone doesn't try this, no one is getting out of here."

"Still we should send someone else along with you." Six suggested "It would increase the chances of either one of you pulling this off."

Ramirez stepped up as soon as Six finished.

"I can do it." He said adamantly "I got a good throwing arm. I could probably make the toss if things go to shit."

The whole room was suddenly very quiet. Taylor approached him from behind and put a hand on the rookie's shoulder.

"Private are you sure? No one can ask you to do this." He told him.

"Hey it's like the geezer says, we either do this or none of us have a shot." Ramirez countered "Might as well be me right?"

Taylor only gave a curt nod, signifying his approval.

"Alright then," Garrus continued sternly "next we need to pull the machine guns in here. I'm not risking more men with that Elite Spec Ops guy out there. We'll just have to pull back and set up a perimeter around the door. We can still funnel them through if they think this is the only door not sealed. Then we can cut them down as they enter. Let's move people."

* * *

><p>Like so many others aboard the Normandy, Kelly just couldn't seem to get to sleep no matter how hard she tried. She tried to keep busy with what she could, but it wasn't like there was much at all for her to do. There were no messages for Shepard, predictable there hadn't been any since the wormhole, she had already filed her psyche reports and it wasn't like she could go into Shepard's room to feed his fish since he requested no visitors until otherwise. Besides, Tali had taken over that job anyway.<p>

"Sometimes you just can't help but feel a little useless." She mused to herself with a sigh "Oh well."

With nothing to do work wise but still unable to sleep she decided to find something to play on her computer screen. A movie or game would do. Something to keep her preoccupied or better yet make her tired. Problem was the only games installed on the system were Grim Terminus Alliance and Alliance Corsair. She wasn't big on the violent games. As soon as they got back she was requesting they install something on the recreation server for the ship that didn't require you to blow other sentient beings away or at the very least had a story that was decidedly less macho. There were plenty of RPGs out like that for one.

Her train of thought was interrupted by Hawthorne however as he grumbled his way towards the elevator.

"Up late aren't ya?" he asked as he passed

"I could say the same of you." Kelly replied "Why are you up here anyway?"

Hawthorne looked from side to side and then produced a sidearm, specifically a UNSC pistol.

"Finally convinced Jacob to let me have one." He said with glee "I hear these babies pack a major punch. Don't tell anyone, I want it to be a surprise until lunch tomorrow when I whip it out to show Goldstein. Gonna make everyone so jealous."

"Mmmhmm, good luck with that." Kelly said, not entirely interested in another one of Hawthorne's attempts to look badass. She was still trying to figure what to do to keep her from being bored. "Say you know any good movies on the recreation server?"

Before Hawthorne could even reply the doors to the elevator swung open revealing Ken and Gabriella.

"You sure the doc is safe down there?" Ken asked as they exited

"She has Legion," Gabriella reminded him "someone needs to guard the AI core in case he doubles back to the med bay."

Kelly was, sufficed to say, rather confused by the discussion going on in front of her. She was only able to gauge that there was something seriously wrong.

"What exactly is going on?" Kelly asked

The two looked ahead rather surprised that Kelly was still awake, but also seemingly relived.

"Kelly did you see anyone besides us just now walking about up here?" Ken asked

"Just me and Hawthorne." Kelly relented "What's going on?"

Kelly began to explain, about someone going into Jack's room and messing with the wall panel. However her explanation was interrupted when a loud crash was heard in Mordin's Lab.

"Damnit we're too late." Ken said as he pulled out his side arm "Hawthorne come with us! Kelly get Miranda! Call Shepard! We'll try to stall him!"

"Stall who?" Kelly asked flabbergasted as Ken and gabriella took off for the Mordin's Lab.

Hawthorne still wasn't sure what was going on, but he followed nonetheless with his newly acquired weapon at his side. They rushed through the doors to Mordin's Lab, taking position along the door frame as they slide open. Ken peered in and saw bunch of Mordin's tools and instruments thrown to the floor. Usually Mordin's desk was a mess with them, but someone, potentially someone who was sick of sneaking around and had just decided to drop the quiet act, had thrown everything to the floor to make more space for himself. They knew because they could see a man, wearing a Normandy Uniform and looking very disgruntled. He was hunching over Mordin's laptop on his desk punching at buttons furiously. In his hand he held some kind portable device in his hand that was haphazardly connected to the computer itself.

"Work you piece of junk!" he said in hushed anger "No I don't want to look at this asshole's log on fungi growing sentience in tubes! Let me in!"

Ken and Gab nodded at each other and rushed into the room.

"Hold it there boyo!" Ken shouted aloud pointing his gun at him.

The man responded in an instant to their intrusion, he pulled out a Carnifex pistol and aimed it at the three crew hands.

"Stay back! I know how to use this!" he said, as the computer pinged loudly "Ah finally!"

He pressed a button on the device in his other hand and it began to glow blue.

"Put the gun down." Hawthorne demanded "We got you outnumbered here."

"You're too late." He said "I've already logged into system, I'll have everything I need in a matter of minutes! You shoot I'll kill at least one of you before I go down and you'll have to explain why you shot a human aboard your ship."

"We'll take that chance bucko." Ken declared "You ain't got anywhere to go."

The man suddenly looked up at a small yellow pipe along the right side of the wall. Without even thinking it over he aimed his pistol at it and fired. Steam shot out and blinded the three crewmen as he grabbed the laptop and ducked into cover behind the desk. He fired blindly from behind it as the crewmen took cover. Ken and Gabs in the corner beside the diagnostics and research terminal screen and Hawthorne rolling into cover near the second doorframe.

"He keeps connected to the systems he'll get everything on the Normandy! We need to destroy that device of his!" Gabriella shouted

"On it!" Hawthorne nodded as he leaned out of cover. He fired two shots from his pistol at the man's desk. They didn't hit, but they made him cover his head in shock.

The man quickly retaliated, firing a wild spree of shots at the group in fear.

"You come out another inch and I'll blow you all away!" he declared as he popped his head out and pointed his weapon directly down range. "Stay back! I didn't want to kill any humans on this assignment but I will not get caught like that other idiot!"

He was so busy however keeping his sight focused on the crewmen in front of him he failed to recognize that there was someone else in the room. He didn't hear the empty surgical tool tray being lifted off the desk on the wall, he didn't hear the footsteps creeping towards him and he only saw the faintest appearance of a shadow before his head turned slightly and met with said tray head on. He was hit hard enough for his hacking device to slide out of his hands and onto the floor where Hawthorne quickly rushed towards. He pointed his gun down and shot point blank into the device, destroying it. He then looked up to see Kelly standing over the dazed body of the intruder. She kicked the gun away from his hand and then turned back round to kick him in the face to keep him laying on the floor.

"How'd you get in here?" he asked

Kelly pointed back towards the maintenance shaft in the corner of the room.

"Had to rush downstairs and clamber over Thane in his sleep but I guess I made it just in time." She explained "When I heard the shouting I knew you must've been in some kind stand-off. So I figured you'd need someone to flank the jerk."

"Quick thinking." Ken said as he approached "Hope it wasn't too dirty in there."

"Nah, vents are actually pretty clean. Guess we have Gardner to thank for that."

The side door to the front door to the Lab opened wide, Miranda stomping into the room with a huff.

"The hell is going on here?" she demanded to know as she surveyed the scene "Why is this placed trash? Who blew out that pipe? And why is that man unconscious?"

Ken sheepishly looked to the side, Hawnthorne clutched the back of his neck and Gabriella and Kelly just twiddled their fingers a bit.

"Well, um," Gabs began to explain "I think we just stopped a spy."

Miranda just groaned.

"Shepard's gonna love this." She bemoaned. "Start from the beginning, please."

* * *

><p>Zaeed kept point, Ramirez covering his rear. Zaeed lugged the small container that they had stuffed every plasma grenade they had into it. They were gonna drop it inside the hive once Garrus and the others arrived, but until then they were on their own and exposed. They travelled along the catwalk, their sense heightened all the way. They could barely see anything in darkness that surrounded them.<p>

"Nothing on motion tracker." Ramirez told Zaeed in a cautious hushed tone "You think this Elite can trick those too though? Not just our eyes?"

"Look for any bit of air that just seems to get all wavy oddly." Zaeed told him quietly "That's the only thing we can do. Damn what I wouldn't give for some thermal specs right about now."

"Amen sir." Ramirez added

It felt weird being called sir. Zaeed hadn't had this many people refer to him as a superior in a long time, not since he was still leading the Blue Suns. He didn't let it go to his head. This was after all just a rookie adhering to code. In any case he needed to remain focused if either of them were gonna make it out alive.

Thankfully they reached the spot Zaeed had found above hive without any incident. Looking down Zaeed could see the hole. It was a good 20 feet below but it was a straight shot into the hole. Of course there was more than just the hive down there, it went without saying there was a mass of bugs beginning to swarm around the hive itself.

"So now we just wait for the others to come rushing out?" Ramirez asked

"That's pretty much the plan." Reasoned the old merc

However, as was typical of things, plans changed. They both watched the Drones start to take flight and quickly both Marine and Mercenary rushed away from the ledge and ducked behind the cover of steel pillars. The bugs suddenly surged upwards flying in a huge mass through the shaft of the silo. They were headed for the command center. Not every Drone left of course, enough stayed to keep the hive safe. But for that brief moment, when the swarm was flying towards the top of the silo, all one could see was the blur of their sickly green exoskeletons and all one could hear was that terrible buzzing noise.

The sound was deafening, but while he was old Zaeed wasn't at a loss for hearing. There was a more familiar sound away from the swarm mass, something clambering around in the dark reaches of the silo behind them. He could hear the snarling even over the wings of the Drones. Vorcha, maybe even a few Drones that weren't with the main group, were on their level, keeping an eye out on the perimeter.

"We got trouble," Zaeed said as he stared back into the darkness "I can hear patrols. I know why we got in here so easily. They were massing for that. Now with the bulk of the hive gone they're spreading out their perimeter."

Ramirez cocked his ear towards the darkness, he could hear it too now. Especially once the swarm's bulk had gone.

"But if they're patrolling the perimeter and they find us here, the whole plan goes belly up."

"I know." Zaeed grumbled "We need to draw them off."

Zaeed shoved the container of plasma grenade into Ramirez's arms.

"Take this, when the time comes toss it in with one of your frag grenades and book it to the exit." Zaeed ordered

"What?" Ramirez asked utterly bewildered "Why-?"

"If we both go we may not get back in time or at all when Garrus shows." Zaeed informed him "You said you had a pretty good throwing arm. Just stay down, hold your position, try not to alert the enemy."

Zaeed fished into one of his suit's containers and pulled out a few heft looking cylinders that he passed to Ramirez.

"Toss a few of these beauties in there when the plasma goes off too. They're inferno grenades, should spread the flames even faster." He explained "Another reason I was the best choice to go, I keep them stockpiled all the time."

"And what are you gonna do?" Ramirez asked "Run around in the dark shooting bad guys till you get lost? What if you don't make it back in time for ex-vil?"

"I'll keep them off you and on me, that's what matters." Zaeed told him, not even bothering to properly answer the questions "Now quit arguing with me and get back into position. Wait for Garrus and make a run for the tunnel."

Zaeed didn't wait for Ramirez to argue more, he took off in a rush, his assault rifle held firmly in his arms. Ramirez just gulped and returned to his position over the hive. As he looked down on the drones several feet below him he shivered. He was all alone now, with a crazy old man running about in the darkness as his only real protection and facing the very heart of the enemy. What was worse, he wasn't even sure if he'd be able to make it to the tunnels from up here when the time came.

The only thing he could take comfort in was that if the Drones were attacking the command center there was a good chance the Spec Op Elite was there with them. At least, he hoped that was the case.

* * *

><p>Garrus had done everything he could, they all had. Now they could only sit and wait for the inevitable to come, for the swarm to bust through the door and try to melt their flesh off with plasma. Not exactly a great prospect. Already his mind was going over the possible weaknesses in their defensive line. The terminals and desks they had turned over probably wouldn't hold up to sustained plasma fire for long, they didn't have complete coverage of the room with the machine guns in case they broke through another door, he had spread Mordin and Samara out to cover every potential entrance but it had weakened the center of the defences where he stood. Ironically he had better odds alone on Omega in that little hideaway facing three fully armed mercenary groups than here. At least back then there was only one way in or out.<p>

He kept looking to the troops, wondering if they were waiting for some heroic speech from him to lift their spirits. Truth be told he never had been one for that, again that was Shepard's way of command. He had only given a speech once, to his team on Omega when they first formed, never before a fight. He didn't count a clever quip before they opened fire on a E-Zo smuggling convoy as much of a speech. He'd try and give them that much here when the time came. He'd try to lead from example in combat from there.

He looked to Sgt. Taylor who was nearby.

"Anything yet?" he asked

Taylor flipped on his motion tracker, his eyes darting around it as he did.

"Not a thing." He said, seemingly annoyed "Taking their sweet time."

Garrus looked to the other men he could recognize. Kowalski was hunkering beside Ellingham, keeping their aim firmly locked on the door. Pearson was close by to Taylor, pressed up against his cover and taking deep controlled breaths to keep himself calm. Haddock was with the rest of his fellow ODSTs on the left flank of the doorway, ready to lay down rapid fire on the bugs as they entered catching them in a crossfire between front and side. Rivers and Starkey were close by to Mordin, Rivers had a plasma pistol and he obviously wanted to stay close to the guy who had developed the only device capable of recharging plasma weapons so far. Samara meanwhile was down on the far right of the room standing in middle of a group of Marines, looking as calm and composed as ever, completely unafraid. Or at least she appeared so. The same couldn't be said of Agley who was quaking in fear at his post on the machine gun.

"Come on already just bust through." He grimaced through his teeth "The hell you waiting for already?"

"Ease up Agley." Garrus told him "They'll come soon enough."

That didn't calm Agley in the slightest, but at least he replaced his quaking with heavy breathing. It was considerably less annoying to hear.

Suddenly Taylor jerked his head up.

"I got blips, they're coming." He warned.

With that everyone immediately brought their guns to bear on the door. Garrus just hoped the Drones were directed to this one and not any of the others that were welded shut. This would still be the easiest door to open out of any of the others. All they had done to reinforce it was to wreck its locking mechanism so it wouldn't open automatically. They could still bash it down easily enough. The blips got closer and the buzzing louder. Soon countless red dots were covering the screens of every marine's motion tracker.

They heard scurrying around the door, but no attempt was made to bash it in. They just seemed to tap on it slightly. The buzzing wings of the drones a constant companion along with the tapping. Garrus wondered for a moment what the bugs were doing, then as the buzzing seemed to die down, suggesting they were moving back considerably he got his answer.

An explosion ripped apart the door and good sized portion of the wall. Blue flames ripped the concrete and metal apart and threw them at the men huddled inside. The debris smacked against their cover or broke through it, forcing the marines behind it to duck out of the way or be crushed. The bugs had torn a large hole in the command center's wall, no doubt with some kind of bomb. The shock value served its purpose, in the brief moment that the marines and ODSTs were disoriented by the explosion and before the dust had even settled, the first wave of drones poured into the room their plasma blasters firing at anything that moved. They then flew up to the ceiling as they fired and began to circle, raining down even more plasma on the humans below.

"Aim high!" Garrus ordered

Rifles and machine guns fired upwards in unison, but the plasma rain was taking its toll. Several men had already been hit, Mordin was scrambling between each of them to try and help those with the worst burns. If they weren't dead already of course, then he simply had to move on to the next.

The machine guns did the most damage against the Drones, as Garrus expected. Even unable to completely rake the roof with fire, a large portion of the storm of bugs was cut down. Soon bits of Drones were raining down along with plasma. Agley's jittering had finally stopped, but his finger was once again glued to the trigger. He swept his gun from side to side, cutting Drones down like weeds. One drone's wings were completely cleaved off in one solid sweep and it fell to the ground, smacking it's head open on a guardrail as it did.

But the swarm's circling hurricane-esque formation was effective in keeping other Drones alive. The formation was like a school of fish, you could kill some, but the others could dart away just as easily. It also served another purpose, allowing the Vorcha ground troops some leg room to rush in the hole the Drones had made, along with a second wave of said Drones, more inclined to stay in the air at a medium height and not as high up at the hurricane formation above.

Garrus, who had been taking pot-shots at most of the drones as they flew over them with his sniper rifle, now shifted his focus back to the door. He fired one round at Vorcha that had come screaming through the door with a plasma rifle. He fired another of course immediately after. With Vorcha you more often than not needed two headshots.

"Machine guns! Concentrate on the hole!" he ordered

Agley and his fellow gunner obeyed and they were soon joined by Jorge who had long since taken center stage in the battlefield. He was after all guarding their one hope out of here, the escape tunnel. His chain gun rattling, Jorge tore the incoming Vorcha to shreds, not giving them any chance at all to regenerate. However, being so close to the enemy didn't give Jorge the luxury of distance from them like his fellow soldiers. A drone rushed down from on high and clamped itself firmly on Jorge's back. It began tearing at the Spartan's shields with its claws before charging it's plasma rifle at full blast, intending to shoot Jorge's head clean off with it. However Jorge knelt down, activating armour lock. The plasma bolt struck against it and could not harm his shields or his person. The next moment, Jorge deactivated the lock and pulled the Drone from the perch on his shoulders. He threw the bug to the ground, stuck his machine gun in its torso and fired. The exoskeleton fell apart as sickly green blood stained the floor. Jorge returned to the door once more, cutting down another three Drones as they tried to fly inside.

The ODSTs were caught between defending themselves from the swarm above and keeping more bad guys from getting inside. They split the difference between them to compensate, half of them shot upwards the rest at the door. Starkey remained firing his plasma rifle up into the air, setting drones alight with blue plasma fire. The Drones fell to the floor, pieces of their body tearing off as the plasma ate away at them. Rivers kept blasting barrages of plasma bolts at the door, figuring that any Vorcha that they connected with would die in one hit otherwise.

They were both going through their respective pistol's battery life so fast they found themselves plugging the weapon straight back into the recharge device every minute or so. So far that little thing had been a lifesaver as much as Mordin and not just for Rivers and Starkey. Thanks to the Plasma pistols of their friends and their plasma rifles, the Vorcha weren't able to recover as well from the burning green and blue bolts that kept striking them. They were like inferno rounds but worse, their regenerative abilities were simply no match. One of the plasma pistols from a Drone River's shot fell in front of him. Seeing another opportunity he didn't hesistate to take it. River's let the pistol overcharge itself. Then he fired and struck a Vorcha square in the jawl. It tore half of the poor creature's unprotected face clean off, revealing the skull behind it. It fell to the ground dead. There was no regenerating when half your brain was gone and the other half was smoldering.

"That one was really overcharged." He noted of the bolt that had struck the target.

Mordin had now found a fulltime use for his UNSC equipment. The bubble shield was keeping him and other wounded ODSTs safe while he treated their plasma burns with medi-gel. That didn't mean he was completely on the defensive though. When he could pull himself away from the task at hand he stuck the barrel of his submachine gun outside the protective bubble and fired. Mainly he did it up into the air, he was bound to hit something with the swarm still buzzing about. When managed to fix up the last ODST in his current bubble he picked up a DMR that one of them was no longer able to carry. He did the same thing he had done with his submachine gun and fired at the doorway, gunning down two Drones with two well placed shots. He then waved over one of the ODSTs that could still walk into the bubble.

"Plasma burns severe." He told him "Need better cover. Get him to Garrus."

He followed the ODST as he carried the still recovering trooper out, providing cover fire for them both as they edged to the safety of the gun turrets, dragging the wounded along with them as fast as they could. As soon as Mordin was done with that task he went back out onto the kill floor to find others soldiers in need of medical attention. There were plenty to keep him busy. As he rushed forward into the fray he launched a cryo blast into the attacking swarm at the door, freezing three of the Drones as they flew. They were promptly mulched up by the bullets of the other humans. As he slid into position beside another downed Marine he fired another of his cryo blasts overhead. Another three drones froze in mid air before summarily plummeting to the ground and shattering.

Samara in the meantime was holding her end of the line best as she could. Even for a Justicar these odds were grim, but she had people to protect and by the code she would not fail them. Keeping the doorway relatively contained was simply enough, Garrus' crossfire method was working and Samara's Biotics made it even simpler. One biotic throw after the other, as fast she could manage each, sent Vorcha and Drones tumbling over one another. The only problem she had to face was the fact she couldn't keep it up constantly. The incoming fire forced her head down more than once. The marines beside her ducked down in an attempt to protect themselves as well, but when the plasma bolts came from on high there was little one could do but pray. One Marine just a few inches away from Samara took the full brunt of a Plasma bolt to the chest and slumped to the ground clutching his chest in pain as it smouldered.

Gritting her teeth, Samara stood tall once more and fired her assault rifle into the swarm above them. It drew the plasma fire onto her and she quickly darted away from the Marines. She would not make them a target any longer, she ran for better cover, hoping the Marines would cover her retreat. As plasma licked at her heels Samara leapt over a overturned terminal desk and landed on her back behind it. A blast of green struck the cover just moments afterward.

Close call, the miss would be that drone's downfall. She bolted up from her cover and thrust out her hand. She had her biotic energy surge over a large grouping of Drones flying in the midst of the swarm. Trapped and unable to move, Samara held them in her sway before directing them down towards the floor like a rocket. They met the ground with a splat, their exoskeletons crumbling under the pressure as their bodies met a sudden stop at the end of their forced fall.

"That's what I call a flyswatter!" laughed Ellingham from nearby as he and Kowalski kept cover from the plasma fire of the swarm up above.

However Samara's more concentrated biotic attacks only caught a few drones in her grasp, many more easily escaped. Now with their attention returned to the Asari once more they opened fire. Samara's shields took a big hit as the plasma smacked into her. She ducked behind her cover, her teeth bare din anger.

"Enough of this!" she declared in quiet anger

Samara knew they wouldn't last much longer if that swarm of circling Drones kept up their fire. they needed to scatter them at the very least. She knew a singularity attack could end the problem. The issue was making it big enough. Singularities, depending on how strong their polarity was and how much energy you put into them could potentially pull in more enemies. It was very difficult for an average biotic to muster enough power to make a singularity strong enough to take on the amount of Enemies Samara now faced.

But then again, Samara was a Justicar. This would tire her out, drain her for a few moments, but it would give the Marines time. It would give Garrus time.

She put her assault rifle away and let her biotic energy flow into her hands. The ability to control the very force of mass flowed through her fingers as she began to form her attack, build up the energy required to produce a large enough polarity center for her singularity. When it was done she stood up in a flash and let her biotics loose on the center of the Drones' formation. A great blue tear opened in the "eye" of the Drone Hurricane. As expected it began to pull large swaths of Drones out of their hurricane pattern, drawing them into the singularity's core. As they now buzzed/ and kicked their legs uselessly Samara now concentrated once more on the singularity itself. The miniature black hole had served its purpose it had cracked the formation, now she intended to shatter it completely.

With a single concentrated thought, her eyes deadly focused on the singularity she sliced a huge Biotic wave at it. When the two forces collided the singularity erupted apart, sending the trapped Drones inside hurtling into the comrades fortunate enough to escape the pull. The subsequent shockwave either sent further Drones into walls or flying uselessly out of control. Their hurricane died in an instant and the swarm no longer resembled the terrible tropical storm. The individual bugs were easier to pick out now and began to frantically buzz around directionless as the humans below too advantage of their separation. Fire from machine guns, DMRs, assault rifles, sniper rifles and other weapons tore at the drones, before long even more were crumpling to the ground, their legs twitching in their death throes.

Samara however knelt to the ground behind her cover, breathing heavily. As she predicted, her attack drained her, so much biotic energy expended at once was trying, but she soon recovered and took up her weapon once more. Her body would need a bit more time before she tried anything like that again, but at the very least she could still fight, and so could countless other Marines beside her now free from the Plasma rain.

However the loss of the concentrated swarm had a side effect, the Drones still on high now dived bombed the Marines below. Many were shot as they closed in, but just as many managed to get through and tackle the human soldiers to the ground. As they clawed out their prey the poor ODST or Marine could only hope that someone would blast the disgusting insect off them or else they would have to try and do so themselves lest they be torn apart. Corporal Pearson would find this out the hard way as he stood up tall from his cover to fire on the enemy and found one Drone screaming in his face. As the bug grabbed him and started to drag him across the ground, Pearson struggled to aim his gun properly, the creature's skittering appendages making it difficult. As his uniform was torn at and his armour scratched by the alien's talons, he finally felt the barrel of his assault rifle knock against the Drone's thorax. He pulled the trigger three times and the Insect buckled from the shot. It collapsed to the ground with Pearson, its body now lying on top on him. Garrus, hearing the scuffle rushed over to help get the corpse of the Drone off him and get the corporal to his feet.

"So we got them where we want them yet?" he asked the Turian

"Almost," Garrus replied "we need just need to hold off their advance for a bit longer and then we can pull back."

As the Drone assault continued to escalate Emile remained at the fore front of the defence. His shotgun rang out loudly with each burst, the spread from the gun killing numerous swarming Drones. The insects were easy prey for the Spartan, especially now that their swarm had been disrupted. The fact they had now grown bolder because of it only delighted Emile.

Three plasma shots smacked against his armour, he turned to see three Drones racing towards him from across the floor. His gun at the ready Emile was able to fire two consecutive shots. He killed one Drone, then the other, each of them tumbling over from the blast, their bodies coming undone and smacking against the cold hard floor. The third Drone closed the distance however and Emile let it.

As it closed in, Emile pulled his large intimidating kukri knife out once more and let the Drone slam into him. The creature's mandibles spread out and it screamed its ear piercing cry directly at the Spartan. It's forced its head towards Emile, intending to smash through his helmet and chew the human's face to pieces. Emile, however, did not intend to be so easy a meal. He lifted the kukri up just in time for the Drone to bite down on it instead. The Drone growled and screeched as it continued to try and force its head forward, the knife cutting into its insectoid jaws as it did. As blood from the torn mouth of the bug dripped on his suit Emile kept his free hand on the creature's torso, making sure not to let it close further a distance with him. Finally, Emile tired of the struggle and forced his blade further into the maw of the Drone. He sliced the top portion of the alien's head clean off and threw the now lifeless body of the Drone off him.

As Emile flicked his blade to clear the blood off it, he heard a sound from up above. He looked the catwalks over their heads where the clanging was coming from. Suddenly there was yet another explosion and Emile saw the tail end of some flames shooting out along the catwalk. As soon as the flames died more Drones swarmed in over the catwalk. Emile knew there was only one entrance the Drones could use up there. It was painfully obviously that the vents were no longer sealed.

"That old merc better be ready by now." The surly Spartan thought aloud "We can't stay here much longer."

* * *

><p>Zaeed kept pondering to himself exactly what the hell he was doing. This was so incredibly not like him, offering to go on the much more dangerous mission of acting as the distraction while the rookie stayed behind in relative safety. As safe as being near the mouth of the enemy could be of course. Still, today had offered a plethora of new experiences for Zaeed. Why stop now?<p>

"Besides," he thought "what would a rookie know about finding bad guys in the dark? Nah, this is the safer assignment for me."

More assured now that he hadn't gone crazy, Zaeed refocused himself on the task at hand. Which was keeping the patrols from finding Ramirez. It was easy enough to find them of course. They did little to mask their presence. Why would they? They were in friendly territory. The first group he came upon consisted of one Vorcha and several Drones. He wasn't sure why there was only one, but perhaps the bulk of its fellows were up near Garrus right now. Whatever the case, the Vorcha would be the first to die. He didn't want a regenerating freaky looking alien bothering him. At least, from what he understood, Drones stayed dead when shot.

He would need to make this quick, wasting too much time with the Vorcha would allow the drones to get the drop on him. He took out one of his inferno grenades. One good hit would hopefully not just set the Vorcha alight, but perhaps do the same to anything near it, namely the Drones.

He kept hidden behind his cover of some old containers as the patrol passed him. With his assault rifle in the other hand he tossed the grenade at the Vorcha when they were just crossing him, the explosion came a second afterwards and flames lit up the corridor. The Vorcha screamed in pain as the fire took him, it ran around in a desperate attempt to put out the flames. The Drones nearby had their wings singed or faces scorched by the fire, two of them were already burning alive, skittering on the floor in pain.

Zaeed now stepped out of cover and fired his assault rifle as he rushed across the corridor to the other side. He killed the Vorcha for certain and caught another Drone in the head. That was four enemies down, but about five more to go. As hedove behind the cover of more discarded UNSC supply crates and steel beams, the Drones opened fire, their needlers and plasma pistols striking out at the old mercenaries cover.

But Zaeed was undeterred by the fact they had him zeroed in. He armed his flamethrower, intending to finish the job he started with the Vorcha. When the nozzle lit up he stood up once more and fired a stream of flames at the Drones, screaming bloody murder as he did. The Drones threw up their arms to block the flames and the searing light coming off them, It did nothing to save them of course as their exoskeletons began to cook under the intense heat. Zaeed stepped out of cover, stepping over the charred remains of the patrol, hearing dead scorched bugs crumble beneath his feet as he did. The corridor looked as charred as the covenant aliens and the Vorcha were.

Zaeed next heard more sounds coming from down the corridor though, Drones who had picked up on the commotion he had caused.

"Well ain't that peachy." He thought aloud stoically as he pointed the flamethrower at the on rushing sound "Time for a little Buggy Bar B-Q I wager."

He saw heard the buzzing as it approached the stairs at the back of the corridor. Then he saw the heads of his enemies peer over before they began to fly down to meet him. Zaeed pulled the trigger on the flamethrower again and let the fire consume his foes. The swarm was devoured by the fire, but even as they burned alive more still came. They flew over the arcing flames in an attempt to close the distance on Zaeed, but the old merc was able to burn them out of the skies. He pointed his flamethrower up towards them and let the fires soak them as they attempted to dive bomb him. Plasma fire was sporadic, some shots hitting his shields, others missing entirely, the Drones unable to get a good shot with the white hot flames in their eyes blocking their vision. That is if they weren't been charbroiled by it of course.

However as Zaeed left a trail of burning corpses in his wake, even he knew this wouldn't last forever. He could hear more bugs coming and as stocked up on heavy weapon fuel cells as he was, his flamethrower would run out of gas eventually. There was a time to hold the line and a time to run. As he was playing the distraction for Ramirez the choice was obvious. He pulled a pin on another inferno grenade and tossed it into the chasing swarm. Then he took off. The fires killed a great number of drones and created a miniature firewall. The drones had difficulty getting over it at first, but when the flames died down enough they flew over the fires and raced after Zaeed. Still it had delayed them enough for him to get a running start. As Zaeed raced down the corridors of the missile silo, lighting fires as he went with his flamethrower in an attempt to delay the drones for a bit longer, he again wondered what the hell he had been thinking when he decided to do this?

Then again, torching buggers was good fun, even if it was probably gonna get him killed.

* * *

><p>Garrus had begun to pull the Marines and ODSTs back, ordering them towards the safety of the machine guns and giving up the flank to the enemy. The only thing he didn't surrender was their escape root at the middle of the room, that single door that was their only way out of here. Jorge remained at the center of it all, spewing bullets from his chain gun as he and two other Marines took cover behind a desk and terminal they had pushed over to serve as protection.<p>

For his part, the Turian kept trying to pick out targets for his sniper to take out. But by this point all he had to do was aim and shoot. There were so many Drones occupying the room by now, buzzing around and charging at Marines and ODSTs it was impossible to keep count any more. Huamns were getting dive bombed and picked up by the Drones only to be dropped unceremoniously by their captors, sometimes on other soldiers. There was very little they could do for them, but hope the fall didn't kill them. Samara managed to grab one or two now again with her powers, lowering them to safety, but far too many more ended up getting treated by Mordin. The Salarian was completely entrenched by Garrus side, tending to the wounded.

Many more Marines and ODSTs alike were unable to withstand the sheer amount of fire coming at them. An ODST vanished in a mist of pink as too many needles hit him square on. Another Marine fell to the floor clutching his face in agony from a lethal plasma shot.

"This is crazy!" Agley shouted as his machine gun kept firing away "Let's just bug out already! Call it even! The hell are we still here for!"

"We need to make sure we get the bulk of these bastards!" Garrus explained aloud "Make sure they have the run of the room before we blow it!"

"What does it look like they've done?" Agley asked back frantically

A Drone suddenly rushed past Agley and jumped at Garrus, it's jaws gnashed and spat as the Turian held the alien back with his rifle. The two struggled over it for a good ten seconds, before Garrus booted the alien off. It rose back up to attack once more only for several bullets to strike it from behind. They came from the smoking gun of Haddock, as he and the rest of the ODSTs seemed to be pulling back to the machine gun nests.

"Left flank is folding!" he shouted aloud "We can't stay here much longer!"

Garrus agreed, the bulk of the Swarm was overtaking them. If they waited any longer they'd never get out. He looked to Mordin.

"Arm the bomb!" He ordered "We're booking it on my signal!"

Mordin nodded and rushed towards the charges they had set up to arm them. As he did, the whole room heard something loud stomping towards them. The unmistakably large footsteps of something big came echoing ever closer to them. A Hunter? No it sounded far too big for that. Far too big.

The answer revealed itself shortly. For the colonists hadn't been all that the Covenant had turned, arcing through the large doorway came a towering monstrosity. It was unmistakably stitched together from several Drones, their various eyes jutting out from all over the beast's body. The creature had two sets of giant forearms, its head and enlarged version of a Drone's but with five eyes, one big one in the center. It dragged itself along with four large pointed legs. It roared loudly at the marines, its slobbering maw decorated with horrifying mandibles. Everyone stared in utter shock, disgust and fear of this monstrosity, a huskified amalgamation of several Drones that towered over them, twisted and warped into something far more horrifying than any Covenant any UNSC soldier had ever seen. Agley summed up their feelings best.

"Game over man!" Screamed Agley in fear "Game over!"

Something suddenly smacked against the beast face, biotic energy. And while it didn't topple to monstrosity it certainly made it pause, its face shifted in the opposing direction and then centered back on Samara, her arms brimming with biotic energy.

"Not on this day soldier!" she declared as she stared the beast down "Garrus! I will hold it off! Get them out of here!"

Garrus knew how foolish it was to argue with Samara. He looked back to Mordin and he nodded at him. The device was armed. He tossed the Turian the Detonator at once. He looked back to Samara at that instant, who tossed another huge biotic wave at the foul Husk monster, smacking it's head against the wall this time. Other Marines had by now opened fire on the beast. Its head curled back forward and it suddenly spurted out a huge wave of plasma in one direction. It hit two marines in cover, killing them instantly. As much as Garrus appreciated the Marines fighting on he knew they couldn't beat this thing like this. Without hesitation Garrus gave the signal.

"Head to the shaft!" he ordered "Everyone move!"

Jorge quickly opened the door as and motioned the two marines beside him to head inside. While they ducked inside he stood tall and fired on the monster mere feet away hovering over him. Luckily for him, Samara was keeping the giant insect busy, smacking it with Biotic blasts, forcing its oversized head into catwalks and the concrete wall. When the monster retaliated with another plasma blast Samara rolled out of the way as it travelled along the floor and up the opposing wall. Tired of engaging the Asari from afar the monstrosity charged forward on its skittering legs intending to close the distance. As Samara intended, she led the beast away from the humans and Garrus by running towards the back of the command room. The creature followed her as she rushed for the large desk and several offices in the back, ignoring the humans making quick their escape.

Garrus had rushed up along the line beside Jorge, firing away with his Sniper Rifle at the Drones still forcing their way inside the room. By now he was running low on thermal clips. He wished he could say the same about his amount of targets. By this point even Jorge has resorted to blind firing. He was hunched over behind what little cover they had, his chain gun straddling the terminal while it continued to spew out bullets. Garrus was amazed how much ammo this Spartan had for that thing, but he knew it couldn't last forever.

While they did their best to cover the others, Mordin assisted the Marines in getting the wounded to the shaft. He once again used the bubble shield this time to protect the escape route's door from incoming fire as both the injured and non-injured soldiers clambered down into the shaft. Garrus and Jorge as well as any other marines acting on cover fire duty however remained unshielded. They needed to be able to keep firing on the enemy, even though they had very little ammunition left in which to use against them.

Garrus fired another shot, ripping through the eye of a Drone that had landed on a catwalk guardrail. He then fired once more, cutting down two drones with one shot that ripped clean through their torsos. Next he sent a concussion shot streaming into the air to strike one Drone out of the sky, the bug plummeted to the ground upon impact. Garrus went to fire on another Drone, this shot severing the creature's arm and right wing. But when he tried to shoot again, all Garrus could hear was a click from his gun.

"Out." He said in anger

Putting the rifle away he looked around for any weapon he could use. Nearby a dead Vorcha lay across the floor, a plasma rifle was mere inches away from the dead alien's frozen grasp. Garrus quickly pulled the rifle away from the dead Vorcha. It wasn't a sniper rifle but it would serve its purpose more or less. He once more returned fire on the enemy. As his first few plasma shots connected with the onrushing Drones however a white hot blast struck out across his vision, hitting a retreating ODST in his arm. He fell to the ground, his wound smoking.

"Mordin!" Garrus shouted, catching the Salarian's attention.

Mordin had just launched a incineration blast at the door, torching a large group of Drones as they rushed in. Garrus' call caught his attentio and he looked to the downed soldier the Turian was pointing at. He instantly got up and made a mad dash towards him. Meanwhile more white hot blasts of plasma struck out across the battlefield. He could seem to locate the shooter, but Garrus knew what the weapon was. The same focus rifle Legion had grabbed for itself. He knew Elites used them and he suspected their Spec Ops friend was nearby. He just needed to locate him.

It wasn't hard, every shot would disrupt the invisibility cloak of the Elite, giving Garrus a split second or two to find him. It didn't take long to trace the shots towards the right side of the catwalks. As he did though, the shots started streaming towards him. The focus beam struck at the cover, breaking off a large chunk of it. Garrus pushed himself back as another beam fired at the same place, nearly hitting him along his back.

Without a sniper rifle it wasn't gonna be easy to hit the Elite, but Garrus had to try. He could see other marines and ODSTs taking hits from the focus rifle, their chests exploding as the plasma ripped through them. He wasn't gonna let more people under his watch die, not when they were so close.

He bolted back up, aimed where the Elite had been, saw him fire once more and then pulled the trigger on the plasma rifle as many times as he could until the weapon began to smoke from the heat. As predicted not many of the shots met their mark, but two lucky shots did. One struck the Elite in the shoulder, the other in the head. For a brief moment the spec-ops Elite became visible and roared in anger as it clutched at its helmet. In another instant it grabbed another weapon of its back. Even from distance the distinct red colouring of the weapon was clear enough to recognize it as a concussion rifle. The Elite began to fire wildly down at the humans below. Each explosion edging ever closer to Garrus' position, killing anything that came in its path, even Drones.

"Fall back!" Garrus shouted, motioning Jorge and the other two marines to rush into the bubble shield to avoid the attack.

Thankfully they made it, just before the concussion grenade ripped apart their meagre cover. Elite had apparently run out of ammunition for his weapon, as he had stopped firing. While he reloaded Garrus used the opportunity to rush out of the bubble shield once more and launch another concussive shot. The Elite's shields still down, the shot was able to throw the Covenant officer into the back of the wall. Garrus wasn't sure how long that would keep the alien down, but after getting hit in the face with Plasma he hoped it would be enough to make the Elite reconsider his position on the catwalk. While he relocated more Marines and ODSTs could get to the escape hatch.

* * *

><p>Samara was buying those same soldiers even more time as she kept the Drone Husk monster chasing her around the back of the command center. Its plasma breath tore through the offices that had once housed UNSC high ranking officials, windows and desks broke apart as the stream cut a swath through the offices. Samara kept her head down as the plasma wave sailed over her head. When the blast died down the drone husk clambered closer to the Asari's position, crushing the giant table under its girth as it slinked across the floor. It peered into the now decimated offices, looking for any sign of its prey. Samara soon made her presence known with a big enough biotic strike across the right side of the monster's head.<p>

The strike was hard enough to force the creature back, skittering its forearms over its eyes. It thrashed out in pure anger, striking out at the Justicar with its massive talon tipped legs. The large spikes crashed down on the offices, destroying them even further. Samara rushed from room to room as the giant claws crashed in, trying to stab her, pin her against a wall. She made a beeline for the catwalk. From there she'd try to double back to the escape hatch while keeping it at bay just a bit longer.

That plan didn't pan out for her. The Drone monster crashed one of its legs down upon her path destroying the catwalk. The beast now turned its head back to the Asari, its mouth opening wide, preparing another Plasma blast. With nowhere left to go, Samara sent another biotic strike lower and upwards, a biotic uppercut of sorts. The energy was enough to lift the creature's head up, it blasted the ceiling instead, causing bits of concrete and metal to fall upon it. Cuts and sores opened in the Frankenstein-esque abomination, revealing all the more how many Drones had been sown together to give this thing life.

Samara didn't wait for the dust to clear, she started running back to the other side of the offices, she'd use the stairway to get down to the floor and then run for Garrus. But once again the Drone caught her off guard. One of its arms slashed forward striking Samara in the shoulder. She careened into the wall separating two offices and watched as the beast closed in.

However someone else was watching Samara's escapade. Kowalski and Ellingham hadn't retreated back to Garrus yet, they were still in the same position they had been the whole attack. Then they saw Samara run off, to lure the monster away from them and their fellow Marines. They saw her get sucker slashed. They saw the Drone Husk close in. And it was at this point Kowalski grew tired of watching.

"Get to the escape shaft!" Kowalski told Ellingham as he rushed away, but not towards said shaft.

He thought he heard Ellingham shout out at him a 'what?' in confusion. He didn't pause to answer. He rushed towards the C-12 charge near the machine gun nest, grabbed one of the grenades piled near it and then rushed back past Ellingham, who still hadn't moved. By now the Drone Husk was powering up its plasma weapon again, he could see the creature practically glowing. Kowalski hoped he was fast enough, that his aim was good enough. He got close as he could, pulled the pin and then chucked his grenade at the head of the Drone Husk. The blast interrupted the plasma attack and shook the already scarred Drone Husk creature further. Its head and body contorted to look back at Kowalski, centering on the lone Marine and him alone.

"Okay genius you got its attention," he said in a self-derisive tone "now what?"

The Creature began to slink its way towards the Kowalski, kicking up bits of cover, desks, debris, anything that came in its path and letting them hurtle towards the young marine. It raised its giant claw to come down upon the poor human but suddenly there was a bright blur of blue energy smacked the beast in its side. Before it could recover from that another slammed against its head. It's forward momentum still going the creature turned in full. Its head and body continued to travel towards the ground but this time it slammed into the destroyed catwalk. One of the guardrails, twisted upwards into a spike, came up to meet the husk creature's head. The rail impaled the beast through its eye and it roared in pain.

Kowalski looked back to see the carnage for himself and Samara hovering herself towards him. She landed, skittering on the ground, not as graceful as she usually did. Given the circumstances it was just impressive she could still stand.

"Move!" She ordered "It will not stay that way for long!"

Kowalski just nodded and the two rushed together towards their exit route.

* * *

><p>By now most of the Marines and ODSTs were away. Six, now down to his last few rounds in his pistol, fired at the ever advancing Drones, a small pile building up in front of him. Emile was next to him, blasting shotgun rounds into the mass of enemies as the backed up to the escape shaft. It was at this point the machine guns stopped firing.<p>

"Out of ammo!" Agley shouted

"You've done your job get out of here!" Garrus shouted, his plasma rifle resting on what was left of their cover, firing into the enemy

Agley didn't need to be told twice. He and the other gunner booked it for the escape hatch, practically diving head first into it. Ellingham raced up to Taylor who was bent down on one knee firing now over abundance of enemies. As plasma fire rained all around them, Taylor looked to Ellingham and swivelled his head around.

"Where the hell is Kowalski!" He demanded to know "We gotta ex-vil now!"

Ellingham couldn't answer, his words just failed to escape his tongue. Suddenly Pearson, who was nearby pointed behind him shouting "there!" making Ellingham look back. There was Kowalski and Samara racing forward through the fire towards the escape hatch.

"You're late private!" Taylor shouted "Get in the hole!"

"With pleasure sir!" Kowalski said as he lowered himself down.

At that moment the Drone Husk raised it head up to the ceiling, screaming as its fluids spewed out across the floor from its massive head wound. It stared at what remained of the command center's garrison and bellowed. As if they needed more incentive to get out of here.

"Marines! We are leaving!" Sergeant Taylor screamed as he forced Kowalski down into the hatch entirely.

This made room for Pearson and Ellingham to jump inside without a second thought. Taylor went next, followed by Samara and Mordin. The Three Spartans and Garrus were all that were left as the massive Drone Husk began to scramble its way towards them. Jorge kept firing to the last as he forced his way into the hole. Tight fit, but he made it inside. Garrus motioned Six and Emile to head down next. The Drone Husk was now mere feet away from them. Garrus ducked into the hatch and slammed the lid shut. The Drone Husk however did not want to give up that easily. It slammed it's talons into the hatch trying to bust through it. Garrus kept rushing down the ladder towards the bottom of the shaft. He blocked out the clanging noise of the beast above as he reached the bottom of the shaft. Already the marines, ODSTs, Spartans and other two members of the Normandy squad had left down the shaft, making a run to get away from this death trap as fast as they could.

Garrus looked at the detonator in his hands and hoped the wires hadn't been wrecked by the battle. He pressed the button. Up above the drone husk screeched its last, as a blast of light took over the entire command centre. A huge fire ball went up as the C-12 detonated the pile of grenades it was situated amongst. The fires exploded out of the door and across the room, killing almost anything and everything within.

For Garrus there was no time to dwell on the success though. For they still had one last challenge ahead.

* * *

><p>Interrogating the spy proved difficult. For one he wasn't talking, not to anyone. Miranda was slightly impressed this go-around. Unlike the last person that Ackerson had sent their way this man wasn't a basket case of emotions. He wasn't afraid of what Ackerson would do to him if he talked. He believed in his mission enough that he simply wouldn't. Reminded her of how she used to feel about Cerberus. But there was no room for Nostalgia here, especially not after her call to Shepard had practically deafened her. Miranda wasn't sure how much of it was him being angry at her and how much of it was directed at Ackerson. She supposed it didn't matter.<p>

That had been over an hour ago, Shepard put her in charge of finding something out before he got down there. With talking to him getting nowhere the best she could for now do was go over what he potentially stole off their systems and how the spy had got his fake uniform. They had removed it and placed the prisoner, tied up securely, in the back of Mordin's lab under constant watch by Hawthorne and other members of the security team. After giving it a quick analysis the answer became rather clear.

"Thing looks like it stitched together from similar materials to our own jumpsuits." Patel noted as she looked it over "They had some problem finding the right colour for the Cerberus emblem though. Some patchwork isn't the same, but it's enough to fool us. No one is really paying attention to these kind of details I guess."

"By the way when are we removing those emblems?" Hawthorne asked from across the room.

"Eventually, if you want to rip off your sleeves go ahead." Miranda derided him "Back to the uniform."

Patel nodded.

"I'm guessing pieced it together from what he saw aboard the ship when he first came on." She assumed "He probably has been working on it for awhile, but it's impossible to be sure. I'm just guessing here."

Miranda simply groaned once more.

"How the hell did we let this happen?" she asked aloud to no one.

"Don't blame yourself Miranda." Yeoman Chambers said from across the room in her usual comforting voice "With everything that's been happening here we haven't exactly been paying attention to the comings and goings of the crew as much. We're all trying to keep busy and stepping over each other. You can't control that."

"Easy for you to say Chambers, but I'm the Normandy's Executive Officer." The former Cerberus agent informed her "It's my job to be on top of these sorts of things. It's my fault I let this slip. You and the other crew members however should be commended for your quick thinking. I'll make sure Shepard knows that while he's reading me the riot act."

Kelly just smiled at Miranda. It was rare for Mrs. Lawson to go out of her way to try and commend other people. She never took credit that was undeserved, but when they were starting out she didn't do much to point our exemplary behaviour. She spent most of her time cooped up in her office, playing the Illusive Man's shadow game. Then again those days were long gone by now.

"Now then the computer," Miranda continued "what did our Spy manage to send out before we stopped him?"

As Kelly began to explain the matter, the blue orbed visage of EDI popped up on the room's nearby AI terminal.

"Me and EDI scanned the entire archive and we have good news and bad news." Kelly began "First the former, he didn't get into our weapons files or defensive systems. We stopped the hack jus tin time for that."

Good news to Miranda, she could tell Shepard Ackerson hadn't gotten the specs to the Thanix Cannon or their ships weaknesses. The Commander wasn't willing to share those secrets just yet, especially considering the origins of said cannon. That still left the bad news though which EDI helpfully provided.

"Unfortunately significant information concerning the application of Element Zero, biotics, and Mass Effect technology was taken and transmitted to an unspecified computer system. We were unable to trace it." The AI informed her.

"I doubt Ackerson will be able to use that though." Kelly added "I mean harvesting Ezzo isn't a picnic. There are all sorts of factors to take into account. Not mention actually finding it. We have the only actual supply."

"Which means he may try to steal it off us." Miranda told her aloud.

Kelly hadn't thought of that and her head sagged downwards at the thought of the ship's supplies being raided.

"There is more." EDI warned "several files concerning Professor Solus and Tali'Zorah's independent studies on the Geth and their evolution were among the first files copied and sent. They pertained to specific information about Geth culture and ideology as well as their technological capabilities."

"Great, that could spark Ackerson's interest in another crew member." Miranda thought aloud "That is if he's given up on our biotic friends altogether. The information on Biotics he stole may convince him to give up try to figure out how they tick."

"He's made it very clear that he's no quitter ma'am." Kelly expressed

"All the same, I suggest we keep Legion close, they could be in danger." Miranda replied "If Ackerson gets it on a slab he'll tear the thing apart trying to figure out how it works."

"Much like how your initial suggestion on what to do with Legion would've resulted in." EDI seemingly cheekily added

Miranda wasn't amused by the AI sense of irony, but she let it slide. That was after all the truth and if Ackerson reminded her of anyone it was the worst elements of working for Cerberus. As the discussion closed, Jacob rushed into the lab.

"Still no word from Garrus," he said "but we got reports Carter's group have engaged a Covenant tank squadron. They're holding them back, but they need help."

"And we still can't get to them I imagine." Miranda predicted.

Jacob simply nodded, that no-fly order was still in effect, an order that included the Normandy. Jacob explained that Shepard was trying to get permission to fly a sortie of sorts into the zone, but it would take time.

"Nothing we can do till then I suppose." Miranda shrugged "Other than hope Garrus can reach them in time from where ever he is."

* * *

><p>Arcing blue plasma hurtled its way towards the line, slamming down just inches in front of them all. The Scorpion, set in their fixed defensive positions, fired back. They picked their targets, splitting the difference between them. Shots paired in threes rang out across the line. They connected with the approaching wraiths, creating a pillar of blue fire once the alien mortar tank was hit. The Scorpion tanks managed to destroy many of the Wraiths like this, but still more kept approaching.<p>

Moving up with their advance was of course infantry. They swarmed towards Carter's defences after every Wraith volley. Suffice to say they attacked very frequently. As soon as the plasma explosions dissipated a large group of Grunts and Jackals came rushing out. They were led by a handful of Elites, but even a handful was difficult to keep at bay. The machine gunners on the Tanks had a field day trying to keep the Covenant at bay.

Carter was nestled in one small section of the defensive line, going through clip after clip as the enemy kept hounding them. Another plasma blast slammed into the ground just in front of him, he threw himself back as the heat seared his shields. Kat was quick to rush over and pick him back up.

"They can't keep this up forever." She told him as they rushed back to the line.

"No, but they can keep dogging us like this for a good while and then pull back to safety." Carter explained "They're waiting for something to show up, maybe the bulk of their force. When it comes, we can't stay here."

"But Garrus and the others haven't arrived." Kat reminded him "If we give up the position they'll be cut off. They'll only find Covenant here when the show up."

Carter didn't show it but he knew Kat was right. That was the inevitable outcome if they left. He'd leave a whole group of people, including Jorge, Emile and Six to die. They'd die and it would be because of his orders, his decision to split them up. It would be more deaths on his conscious. But if he stayed, if he kept holding this line and the Covenant attacked in force then none of them would survive.

"It's about thirty-five minutes till sunrise. When the sun kicks up they'll have a better shot at zeroing targets. I'll give him more time but if he isn't here in the next three hours from sun-up we're pulling out." Carter told Kat. "Any more and I'm risking too much. Is that understood?"

Kat just simply nodded. Carter could tell she didn't like the idea, but he had no choice. This was never meant to contain the Covenant, it was a retreat. They had hoped to grind the Covenant down and get them off their tail, no more. They could stay here much longer, even if it meant they'd be leaving three of their Spartan brothers and countless other UNSC soldiers behind. It was all on them now.

* * *

><p>The shaft was cramped, but at least they weren't being shot at. The explosion had no doubt done its work, killing most if not all the drones within the command centre. No one was chasing them, no one was following them. All that remained for them to do now was follow the winding path of ladders, slopes and metal hallways to the bottom of the silo and the tunnels that would lead them out of here.<p>

Of course they still had a hive to get by, but they took the small reprieve from battle as it was. Who wanted to reflect on the upcoming mad dash to safety anyway? It was better to enjoy the less hectic march while it lasted.

Garrus, who was now at the front of the line with the others, managed this in his own way.

"So what exactly are we gonna call that thing?" Garrus asked

"Hmm?" Samara responded, her head tilting towards him

"That giant husk made out of drones," he explained "we always name them something. Makes it easier to call them out in the midst of a fight, you know like Abomination, Scion, those sorts of things."

Samara thought on it for a moment.

"Let us keep it simple." She said "What is that creature on Earth, the one with many legs and the fang like appendages at the front?"

"Centipede." Six informed her

"Yeah that works." Garrus said "Centipede it is."

"Giving it a name implies there are more than one of those things." Six said, continuing the discussion from that point. "Not a nice thought to have. Let's just hope we never have to scream that during combat okay?"

Garrus silently agreed on that point. It was only a few moments after that they came to a large set of metal hinged doors. It was unlocked for them and as Garrus peaked through it he could see the hive beyond them. Once again the hive was buzzing furiously, but there were far few drones then before.

"Looks like our plan did the trick so far." He reasoned.

Garrus peered across the way, to the right end of the room that lay before them, he saw the tunnel access way, freedom.

"Now it's up to Ramirez and Zaeed." He noted as he brought out a small reflective mirror and began to motion it in front of the door.

* * *

><p>Ramirez had kept a constant vigil over the door he'd been told the others would come out of. For the better part of an hour he stayed there, his eyes practically never leaving the spot. He had started to get worried, wonder if the others had made it out alive. When he saw that reflecting gleam he breathed a sigh of relief.<p>

"Alright, time for your job." He said to himself.

He picked up the box of plasma and inferno grenades and looked over the side of the grating. He looked at his target the hole at the top of the hive and chucked the box towards it. The box hit the rim and then fell into the hive itself, the contents within spilling out into a small pile as it hit the floor of the alien structure. Two Drones within eyed the pile curiously.

Outside and above them, Ramirez readied a grenade. He only had one real shot at this, he may have had other grenades but the explosion would alert the rest of the hive to his presence. He probably wouldn't get another chance to make this.

"Okay, just basketball with the old man." He told himself, shaking slightly "Hell it's not even higher than you, you're above and it's even a bit bigger. You can do this."

He breathed in deep, momentarily wondering where Zaeed was. Had the Drones caught him? No more time to think about it. He tossed the grenade down and watched it enter the hive through the same hole as the box of grenades. The fragmentation grenade bounced and jittered around the hive until it fell into the same pile as the plasma and Inferno grenades. The Drones looked down at the small explosive for one second before it and the rest of the explosives near them ignited.

Outside Ramirez watched as the top half of the Hive burst into flames, both blue and orange to be precise. The inferno and plasma grenade had done their trick and oversized bug home went up like a roman candle. Dozens of Drones flew out of the hive, their wings practically burning as they tried to fly to safety only for them to crashing down like comets to earth. Immediately any Drones not ablaze rushed to try and save their home and that was when Garrus and the others down below made their move running towards the tunnel entrance.

Now Ramirez, his job done, just had to get down there somehow. Something he hadn't really thought of to be frank. As it moved back from the edge of the grating though, a single Drone rushed up and slashed at him. Ramirez instinctively fired his pistol at the creature as he backed away. The drone took a bullet to the head and fell back and down towards his burning hive. But the gunshots had alerted the Drones to Ramirez's presence and a few broke off to face the lone Marine. On one hand this offered an even greater distraction for Garrus and the others. Of course it also meant now the Drones were going to rip the Marine they had seen apart.

The drones clambered up the guardrail for the catwalk and Ramirez pulled out his assault rifle blasting them down as they tried to rush him. Another drone flew up to tackle the Marine directly, but Ramirez battered him away with the butt of his gun once he got close. Another Drone came roaring at him from his left, Ramirez turned to fire a spray of bullets straight into the insect's mouth.

That was when the catwalk began to buckle. Ramirez maintained his footing while the Drones either flew off the platform or stumbled around as the floor broke beneath them. Ramirez looked down to see the cause. The Drones were firing on the supports for the catwalk below. The entire platform was going to give way as the plasma ate its support structure. As Ramirez reconciled this fact the catwalk lurched in one direction. A support had gone, Ramirez slid downwards towards the burning hive below. Saving himself only by grasping onto the guardrail. He pulled himself up and laid himself against the metal bars clutching for dear life and letting his assault rifle fall to the ground below. That was when the second support gave.

The catwalk broke free from the wall now and was sent hurtling towards the ground floor. Ramirez clutched to the rails as best he could as the catwalk rocked side to side, finally tipping over as it neared the ground. The sudden stop at the end was the only reason Ramirez was forced to let go, his grasp slipping as he slammed into the concrete floor now inches away from him. He smacked his head against the floor and everything went black.

* * *

><p>Six had watched the whole thing, the drones attacking, the catwalk falling, Ramirez clutching on for dear life. He had little ammo left on him, but he wasn't gonna leave a man behind like that. If there was even the slightest chance the marine had survived they couldn't just leave him.<p>

He turned to Garrus who was at the entrance way motioning soldiers inside the tunnels. His head was looking up at where the catwalk once was as well. Six got his attention with a shout and motioned his head towards the catwalk's wreckage on the other side of the hive. Garrus just nodded and Six took off.

A number of the drones were buzzing around the wreckage when Six managed to circle around to it. They were pecking away at the wreckage, trying to the marine that had destroyed their home. They'd never get the chance. Six fired three rounds at the drones closest to the wreckage. Two took the bullets to their heads, the other got it in the back. That drone fell to the ground clutching at the wound before Six Kicked him it in the side of the alien's head. Then he began to lift the battered remains of the catwalk up and tossed them aside. He found Ramirez unconscious but alive. He dragged the poor Marine up and onto his shoulder, rousing him.

"Remind me never to volunteer for bonfire duty again." Ramirez coughed out as his eyes beheld the Spartan.

"Where's Massani?" Six asked

Ramirez didn't get a chance to answer as large group of Drones flew down to block Six's path back to the tunnel entrance. Six fired on them as they inched towards them. Hit them in the shoulders, chest and head. However low on ammo he soon found his pistol merely clicking when he pulled the trigger. It didn't look good as Six dug around for another clip. The plasma flew at them, striking the Spartan's shields and eating at them with each hit.

That was when a shot of flame blast out from behind the Drones, engulfing them all. Six looked beyond their flailing charred corpses to see Zaeed, holding his flamethrower high and spraying the air with fire. He looked back to the Spartan and Ramirez and waved his hand towards him.

"Get a move on mate!" he shouted "Leave these bastards to burn!"

Six didn't need further encouragement and he rushed forward. Ramirez fully recovered from his fall mid sprint and began to run under his own power as they three of them reached the tunnel exit.

"I thought you wouldn't make it back." Ramirez told Zaeed as they entered the tunnel

"So did I for about five or six seconds." Zaeed admitted as they rounded the corner and began to rush down the tunnel "Guess we both underestimated me then."

* * *

><p>All survivors were away and Garrus rushed into the tunnels once Zaeed, Six and Ramirez had rejoined them. The tunnel system looked intact, although the water below their feet was less than pleasant. Its brown oaky colour told the whole story. He should've expected that it was a sewage line. Nevertheless it looked like they were scot-free. Of course, then Garrus heard sloshing footsteps behind him. He was the last one, there was no one else. At least he thought so.<p>

No time to rethink it, with assault rifle in hand he turned back around and smashed the butt of his gun into something. Strangely enough, Garrus knew what he hit because he saw nothing there. The Spec-Ops elite now appeared. He materialized ou0 ofin air, his cloak shorting out the instant the rifle connected with him. The hit had forced the powerful Warrior back a bit and had been so hard that the helmet the Elite wore had come clean off. Turning its head back to Garrus slowly, growling all the way, Garrus got a look at the alien's real face. The plasma burns he had endured from Garrus were still fresh, almost still smoking even. Purple blood had clotted around the cauterized wound, one of the mandibles was practically cinders. With the way the burn reached up along the Elite's face Garrus wondered if the alien could even see out of that eye any more.

"And I thought my scars looked bad." The Turian observed

The Elite activated his plasma dagger and roared loudly. He charged at Garrus, he ducked away to punch the Elite in the side of his face. The Covie staged sideways before slashing forward, nearly cutting Garrus' chest open. The Turian went for the Plasma rifle, but when he aimed the Elite had closed the distance and batted it away. He then kicked Garrus into the nearby wall of the tunnel and the Turian only had a split second to roll away before the plasma dagger stabbed him through the head. Even without any thermal clips or a proper weapon, Garrus wasn't completely defenceless. He still could fire concussive shots. One proper blast sent the Elite tumbling away, he couldn't hold onto his plasma dagger however. It was torn from his grasp and remained stuck in the wall, inside the small hole it had burned deep into the concrete.

Garrus quickly rushed for the weapon as the Elite staggered to his feet. The Turian charged at the Elite now, intending to run him through. The elite merely knocked him to the floor and water splashed everywhere as Garrus landed hard. The Elite dove at Garrus now, pinning him to the floor. He began to choke the Turian, but in his bloodlust he had forgotten who still held the plasma dagger. Garrus shoved the blade into the Elite's neck. He heard the Spec-Ops soldier scream in muffled agony as blood dripped from both the wound and the Elite's mouth.

Then Garrus sliced outward. Purple blood splashed across him, the Elite's grip on his throat faded and the Turian pushed the dead creature off him into the water.

Garrus pulled himself into a sitting position, trying to catch his breath. The others had long since heard the fight from and had rushed back to help Garrus. Of course the Turian had long since dealt with the enemy before then. Samara reached the Turian first and pulled him up to his feet.

"Are you injured?" she asked

"No but I'm gonna need a bath." He complained as he whipped the blood and whatever else he had been covered with off his face "Probably even gonna have to repaint my face again."

He turned to the rest of the soldiers who had rushed back with Samara.

"Well, don't just stare, move!" he ordered "We have a rendezvous to make."

Everyone turned back around, a few saluted as they did. Garrus smiled a bit at it all. Despite everything they had made it. Spec-Ops elites, Husks, Drones, with all that and more against them they should've been killed. But no, they had made it.

The Turian didn't know how much of it was due to him. How much he could actually take credit for. He soon put that thought out of his mind. It didn't matter. He got them out of here alive. That's what counted.

* * *

><p>They had lost about four of the tanks now, they were low on rockets and bullets and the river bed was practically littered with Covenant. Injured and dead on their side was piling up and still no sign of Garrus. Dawn was obscured by a small sand storm that had kicked up, but you could still see a bit of the light through it all.<p>

As Carter surveyed the burning wreckage he realised that this position couldn't be held. One more attack and they'd be broken. Still, the Wraiths had pulled back suddenly. They had taken a great many of them out after all. Now it was just infantry trying to rush them, mostly Grunts of course, with Elites leading the charge and Jackals taking up the flanks.

Kat was on the frontline, firing at the on rushing enemy. He approached her and brought her down to cover.

"We can't stay." He told her "We break this attack and then we bolt for the caves. This position is floundering."

Kat didn't argue, but Carter could tell she was grimacing. Leaving soldiers to die was not what she was built for, not what any of them were built for. Carter felt the same, but he knew that this was what they had to do. He hoped Kat would at least understand that.

"Commander!" Shouted Jun over the radio "I see them!"

"See who?" Carter asked back

He soon got his answer. As he peered over the barricade he saw incoming fire from behind the Covenant, taking the aliens by surprise. Rushing from out of the sandy winds were a large group of Marines, ODSTs, and three unmistakable Spartans. He could see Garrus in the lead, even from this far away. He was firing with an UNSC standard issue submachine gun and running alongside his fellows. The Asari let out a large biotic wave that decimated a pack of Grunts as they made their way across the field.

Garrus rushed over the barricade first, meeting Carter eye to eye.

"What took you?" he asked

"Pest control," was all the Turian said "do you have contact with command?"

"Minimal but-"

"Do they have any long range assets near the mountain range?" he continued

"Last I heard the closest they got is one Destroyer in orbit over the continent keeping Overwatch on Viery." Carter replied "If they haven't bugged out already of course. Command told them to leave, think it's too risky having a warship so close to the Supercarrier even if it's out of range of their guns."

Garrus looked to Kat, his pal outstretched. She could tell just by looking at him what he wanted and placed a communicator device in his hand. The res tof garrus' men rushed across the barricade as he made a call.

"If you're thinking of calling in a strike forget it," Carter told him "The only thing they could give us is a MAC strike and we're so damn close and them so high up they could miss the target and hit us instead. They'd need to get into position and everything for-"

"I'm not aiming for us." Garrus explained, as he turned back to the communicator "Command, I need a MAC gun strike on the Viery Mountain Range, coordinates are the town of Kozma's Hope and the military installation there. Town is lost, repeat, lost. Infested with the enemy. Blow it to hell."

He passed the communicator back to Kat and looked at Carter.

"Only way to be sure we get them all." He explained "Now I'm guessing we need to move then?"

Carter simply nodded, not bothering to ask what that was all about. With the fighting subsided for now t was more important to get everyone up and moving. No time for rest, not with the Covenant giving them this much of a break. They hurried away from the dry river bed, leaving only dead Covenant in their wake. As they made their way to the caves, a crack of thunder went out across the sky. A streak of burning light flew above them heading towards the direction Garrus' people had come running from. A gigantic explosion was heard next.

Again Carter didn't ask why Garrus had called down the hammer. He just assumed the turian had a good reason. Besides he had managed to get these men out alive. As he expected him too.

Moment later Jun rushed up to Carter.

"Commander, they're bringing in a Scrab." He told him "Suggest we duck into the caves fast and get back to our lines now before it comes over that damn ridge."

"Hmm, Vakarian knows how to cut it close." He mused.

* * *

><p>The pounding legs of a metal monstrosity thundered outside but it would not find any prey this day. It fired off its gun at the tops of the caves in anger, but the thick rock was enough to shield the humans within. As they snaked their way back to their lines, moving as far away from Viery as possible, Carter asked for an update on the situation from Auntie Dot.<p>

"What's the word on reinforcements?" he asked as he slinked to a corner of the cave with Kat in tow.

"Help is imminent." She assured "Over Sixty percent of the UNSC fleet is en route to Reach from existing deployments. The first battle group should arrive within forty eight hours."

The news was not at all as comforting as Dot thought it was. Jun pulled his helmet off in frustration.

"Forty Eight hours?" he shouted, his voice practically boiling "That's imminent?"

"On any other day it would be." Mordin said as he passed by the sniper.

Carter recognized Jun's frustration and Mordin's comment. Two days was good, but not when you had a planet killer on your door step. He looked to outside a hole in the cave's wall at the scarred landscape before him, trying to collect his thoughts. They had so far only been successful in destroying a spire that ultimately led to their retreat which had also been their only success so far.

His thoughts were interrupted by Kat. When he looked at her he could just tell what this was about. She had something, and from the looks of it she knew he wasn't gonna like it.

"This isn't gonna end well if we wait." She told him

"When they show up we can blast it out of the sky." Carter replied "Simple as that. We just have to hold out."

Kat shook her head ardently.

"Don't act like you think that's doable." Kat argued "That thing is crushing us and we're waiting for back-up? They'll be backing up a graveyard!"

Carter wasn't stupid, he knew how ridiculous it was to expect to wait. He had fought enough battles to know when one was lopsided in the enemy's favour after all. But what could they do?

"All the ships that have the nukes we need are either out system or went down with the ships that carried them. They couldn't get close enough to get a solid shot through the shields." He reminded her, his voice ringing with ire "You're preaching to the converted."

Kat's retort was as simple as ever.

"How converted?"

He furrowed his brow at the look Kat had had on her since she walked up.

"I know that look Kat." He said, his tone not changing.

"You can say no."

"No." He said as soon as she finished her sentence.

Kat looked bewildered at how fast that had come.

"You don't even want to hear it?" she asked

Carter waited a moment before sighing. She always had him dialled in. Why bother resisting anymore?

"Fine, I'll hear it." He relented

Kat's smile was barely visible, but she endeavoured to explain her little plan. A few feet away the other Spartans and the Normandy team waited as the conversation continued. They couldn't hear much of course, but they could tell it was something big.

"So anyone gonna figure out what their pow-wow is about?" Garrus asked

Jorge looked at the Turian before he started to walk up to Nobles' One and Two, the other following him. As they approached the two leaders stood up.

"Go ahead, tell them." Carter insisted upon Jorge asking what was happening.

Kat curtly went over to Emile.

"Can I borrow this?" she asked pointing at his kukri knife

The surly Spartan hesitated a moment before letting Kat take the knife.

"Don't cut yourself." He warned her sarcastically

Kat began to draw her plan out for everyone to see. Everyone watched with rapt attention, especially when she mentioned the objective, destroying the Supercarrier that was bombarding them.

"This sanctioned sir?" Jorge asked inquisitively

"What do you think?" was Carter's blunt response

As Jorge realised the fully gravity of the situation, Garrus wondered how often this happened. That one came up with a crazy ass plan of sorts that they hadn't gone over with others. If Jorge only needed that response to realise this was all Kat's idea it must've happened often.

A part of him liked that.

Kat explained the whole breath of her plan, that because of now nukes, an improperly mounted slipspace drive would rip the ship apart.

"How exactly does that work?" Samara asked

"It's happened before." Carter answered "Improperly mounted slipspace drive tore apart a passenger ship. We could do the same here."

"Delivery System? Us." Kat continued "Solvable? Getting us up there. That and getting our hands on a slipspace drive."

The little ship-shod drawing had now taken full shape, a long rectangle representing the carrier, a small box representing the drive, several lines representing themselves and several lines leading to each before a large circle encompassed half the rectangle. She then stood back up and handed the knife back to Emile, smugly thanking him for sharing.

Even with the full plan in front of him, Carter didn't like it.

"So all we need is orbit capable transport and the single most expensive piece of equipment made by man?" he asked

"You could use ours." Garrus suggested

"Yours is being fixed up so we can make ours faster." Carter reminded him "I doubt command is going to give up that opportunity. And as good as your ship is I doubt it's gonna be enough to carry out something this damn risky. We need escorts, we need heavy guns, we need enough trained personnel to get this squared away. That's the only way we're gonn convince anyone to go along with this."

Kat shrugged slightly.

"As a soldier in the field I couldn't possibly have access to those kinds of resources." She admitted, a strange step in her voice "That said, a good place to look would be... oh I don't know. The nonexistent launch facility of the nonexistent Sabre Program, dismissed by three administrations as preposterous rumour. And which our newest recruit..."

Everyone turned to Six, who was slightly behind everyone else.

"...Was most certainly never a pilot."

Kat's sarcasm struck nerve with everyone. Six could only shrug at it all.

"What? No one asked." He said rather plainly "It's not something you out and out tell people. It's secret for a reason."

Emile just looked back at Kat.

"You're scary, you know that?" Emile told her, sounding flabbergasted at it all.

"Hmph, never thought I'd hear that from ya." Garrus told him

Emile didn't bother to look back at Garrus in any form of disgruntlement, because honestly he did agree with him for once.

"We can pull this off." Kat assured them all "We just need Holland to green-light it."

"Good luck asking him." Carter responded.

"I'm not, you are." Kat told him "You are our commander remember?"

Kat handed Carter a communication pad. After a moment of staring at it, looking rather whipped to be frank, he took it. He hated how easily Kat always got him to agree to these types of stunts. Then again, the plan was sound. They could make it work. It wasn't gonna be easy, but other options did they have.

A part of him though had a bad feeling about this. So many things could go wrong.

"There is no way he's gonna agree to this." He said as he clicked the pad

Secretly, he hoped he was right about that.

* * *

><p>AN: Not much to add here, just two things story wise, one I love the crew members and I wanted to give them a bit of a spotlight. I hope we see more of them in ME3 and will be very disappointed if they aren't around. Especially Ken and Gabs, engine room won't be the same without them otherwise.<p>

And expect some major crap to go down in the next two chapters, because all know what's coming. No, I have not fully decided on the ultimate fate of one character. You know who I mean. We'll see how things turn out and what I ultimately decide. But i make no promises either way. Don't be too shocked or mad at whatever I decide. This is my story remember. Despite that, I will totally understand if you are angry with me concerning whatever path I take. Killing characters is never easy.

With that said I'm gonna close off with something right now I've been meaning to do. I know a lot of you tend to get bored with how long these chapters take to come out, what with their length and all. I can only hope that when they do come out they're at least really enjoyable. Nevertheless if you want something to do while you're waiting I implore you to check out my blog  .com to have a look at my other projects. I have a number of videos up there, a new one coming relatively soon in fact. If you're interested in what I have to say about a bunch of stuff like cartoons, games, and what not for some reason (I can't fathom why, I'm not sure if I'm all that interesting at times to be honest) feel free to stop by and leave some comments on the videos if you want.

With that said, have a Merry Christmas and an even happier New Year. Or whatever holiday you celebrate around this time for that matter, Happy Holidays all around and such. There, I don't think that will offend ANYONE.


	14. Loose Lips

Chapter 14: Loose Lips

**August 13****th**** 2552**

"I can't believe you went for it." Shepard told Holland, sounding rather surprised.

The UNSC Colonel had contacted the commander via his private channel. Their conversation secure behind Shepard's Quarter's doors he had explained the plan Noble Team had come up with concerning the carrier in detail. It was a risky idea, involving hi-jacking an entire ship just to blow up another one. Or open a portal to oblivion within the other one, since no explosion would really be involved in the final destruction of the Supercarrier.

Needless to say Shepard was amazed that Holland would agree to something that sounded so crazy.

"Neither can I,' the colonel admitted to him "but when you're short on time and options it's not like you can wait around for better ideas."

"It's just strange to think one little SlipSpace drive can solve our carrier problem." Shepard replied, still seemingly trying to understand this whole plan "Can it do what they say it can?"

"It's happened before, a civilian transport vessel." Holland continued to explain "Our original disinformation about the incident was to keep people from getting scared about SlipSpace travel. An improperly mounted drive ripped the transport in half and it could do it again. We have safety measures on a lot of drives now to make sure it never happens of course, but we can by-pass all of those by taking a drive and removing it from its coupling entirely. Its goes off on its own, anywhere, it's gonna take a lot of matter with it. All we need to do is get it in position."

Shepard wasn't one to argue with crazy plans, especially since he had been involved in so many himself. They had gone over why a nuke wasn't available to them, why they couldn't get close enough to take the ship head-on, what other options did they have? But for once the crazy battle plan wasn't of his own making. He knew Noble Team were good soldiers, he had confidence in them, but having his own medicine forced against him wasn't exactly endearing him to the strategy.

He was also reluctant to get excited for the plan because if Holland was calling him about it then he wanted something from him. At the same time though he needed to be involved in this for his own reasons, so he had to go along with whatever Holland asked of him.

"So where do my people fit in?" he asked hesitantly

"We need to escort the drive to a corvette we're going to hi-jack for the mission." Holland continued to explain. He of course noted the look on Shepard's face as he mentioned that part of the plan. So he quickly added the usual line the Commander had heard before. "It's the only way we're gonna trick the Covenant into letting the drive on board. We just have to let the Corvette fly back inside."

Shepard just sighed heavily, relenting at last that he had no control over this.

"Okay, so you need an escort I guess." He assumed "You want the Normandy to help out."

"Despite the failure at Viery your ship inflicted heavy losses on the Covenant." Holland reminded him "We believe that your ship can deliver the wallop we need to the Covenant and your AI's cyber warfare functions could further impede Covenant communication during the hi-jacking phase. Any manpower you can offer to help take the corvette would be appreciated as well."

That was what Shepard had been waiting for.

"Most of my ground team will be down planetside at Sword Base, retrieving the SlipSpace drive from the Corvette we took down there. I'm not sure how useful some of the remaining members would be in the given situation." He answered, trying his best to not sound too eager "But I suppose I can spare Legion. It is an infiltrator class unit, should be very useful. I've seen it take on a whole ship by itself before."

Of course said ship was a half-dead reaper, loaded with husks and other monstrosities, but those were minor details Holland wouldn't need to know. At least as far as Shepard was concerned. In any case it was more than enough for the Colonel.

"Good," he nodded "thank you Shepard. I'll expect the Normandy and your robot to be in position soon enough. In less than 24 hours we launch Operation: UPPER CUT. Maybe then we'll finally have some good news to tell the folks on Reach."

"We can only hope." Shepard replied

With that Holland flickered off the screen, leaving Shepard alone in his cabin. He let out a prolonged sigh. For close to a minute it was the only sound left resonating within the room. Finally he spoke up.

"EDI, tell Legion they can come in now." He spoke aloud in a low, somewhat saddened tone.

"Of course, commander." EDI's voice rang back, a hint of concern in her usually stoic demeanour.

Legion strode in as the doors opened wide and then shut tight behind the Geth as it finished walking in. Legion looked around the cabin wide eyed. It had never been up here before. They preferred the AI core and were rarely very social with the crew outside it. This so far was the only major part of the ship they had not seen.

"You requested our presence Shepard Commander?" Legion asked

Shepard simply nodded

"The UNSC has requested our help in destroying the SuperCarrier. They have a plan and I want you to help Noble Team carry it out." Shepard explained

However, while the Geth didn't understand emotion, Legion could pick up the subtle lack of enthusiasm in the Commander's speech.

"You seem less than pleased." It observed "Does the destruction of the Supercarrier no longer seem desirable to you?"

"No Legion, it's not because of that." Shepard assured "It's because helping out Noble Team is only a secondary objective."

The synthetic titled its head in befuddlement as Shepard continued.

"They're going to hi-jack a corvette and use a SlipSpace drive to destroy the carrier when it flies back inside." Shepard explained "While you're on the corvette I need you to get to the bridge, directly link up with the Supercarrier's data banks via their battle network and find out why they came here, what are their goals, what does The Inquisitor want with Reach, anything we can use to figure out the Covenant war plan and stop their new Reaper buddy."

Legion's head plates shot up like blades of grass.

"You are proposing a risky and dangerous task." Legion stated flat out "If the Covenant recognize that we are within the system and track it back to our position they will most likely destroy the Corvette or try to retake it."

"And the mission will fail and the Supercarrier will remain intact," Shepard groaned "I know. But I wouldn't be asking you to do this if it wasn't important. Halsey thinks we can find out what the Covenant are planning, what they're here for. We just need to get into their system."

Legion's head smoothed out, Shepard was not sure if this meant the Geth had calmed or if the machine was simply contemplating.

"It is possible that she is correct." Legion admitted "However, it inevitably puts the stated goal of ultimately destroying the carrier at risk. Should it fail, both we and any human forces with us will be destroyed. The carrier will survive and will continue to plague Reach."

"No mission is without risks Legion." Shepard countered

"Agreed." Legion nodded "We are willing to risk our existence to do this, but, correct us if we are mistaken, you do not wish for us to share this information with Noble Team."

Shepard didn't respond for a good while, pacing over to his fish tank as he considered his answer. Legion however already figured out what he would say.

"If they find out they'll keep you from doing it." He finally said

"Most probable." Legion answered "You are suggesting that we lie again."

It wasn't a question, Legion already knew what Shepard was implying. But the Commander had prepared for this conversation.

"Not exactly," he answered in kind "I just want you to not tell them about what you're doing there/"

"Withholding factual information is not considered lying by organics?" Legion asked "Peculiar."

Shepard merely sighed heavily. He was already growing weary of how difficult it was to talk this robot into things.

"Hey it's not like you haven't done it with me." Shepard told it "Remember the Geth station?"

"We waited till all available information had been collected." Geth explained "We did not lie, we simply waited until our suspicions were correct."

"Well we're trying to do something similar here." Shepard argued "Collect information, verify or discover facts that we can use to beat the Covenant. A lot is riding on this Legion, I don't think I need to remind you that there is an open door out there somewhere the Covenant are using to enter our dimension. What if this information reveals what they have planned for back home? Hell it could even show us how to get home. I think the risks are worth it, how about you?"

Legion's eye fluctuated, its answer forming within seconds.

"I will do as you request Shepard Commander." Legion relinquished "But we once again voice our displeasure with it and hope that this does not lead to any more deaths than necessary."

"That's all I ask Legion." Shepard told it, trying to sound respectful "I'm not asking you to like it, just do it."

Legion began to leave, but as it did Shepard suddenly registered something the Geth had just said. Like in relief that Legion had agreed to comply with his request, Shepard had momentarily forgot something that was odd.

"Legion," he began, stopping the Geth in its tracks "did you refer to yourself as 'I' just now?"

Legion's eye almost completely closed and it turned back o face the commander swiftly.

"Perhaps there is something else you should be aware of." The Geth replied. Its monotone voice for once seemed strangely nervous.

* * *

><p>The Long Night of Solace was unlike any ship Kreave had ever been on. For one thing it's neon bright lights were constant reminders of the personalities of his new employers, they were annoying, constantly in your face and had such a sickening way of looking down at you with their self-righteous gaze. He hated the colour too. Purple was such a ridiculous pigmentation for a warship. He heard it denoted royalty in some cultures, again how similar that was for the arrogance of the Covenant.<p>

As he trotted down the corridors of the massive ship with two of his men, both dressed in full battle armour, Kreave's eyes shifted from side to side. Everywhere he looked he saw the Sangheili practically bearing their teeth at him. He had expected as much, he had made no secret that he detested them, saw them as inferior warriors. His frequent, seemingly "heretic" as they saw it, slights against their faith hadn't won him any friends either. However he was doing what they asked, he was killing humans and waging their war. As long as he did that he could get away with it, for now at least. The Kig-Yar also sneered as he went b as well. They weren't exactly thrilled with another mercenary band stealing their cut so to speak. Competition did not make the heart grow fonder within the Covenant. Only the Unggoy's knew their place, scurrying away from him as fast as they could. It was the closest he had to true respect aboard this vessel.

He continued to move towards the shipmaster's quarters, plodding along at a steady pace. He had been idle long enough concerning the fool's stupidity. He was asked to be an advisor by this imbecile's leaders, well now he was going to start advising. If that didn't work he'd move onto demanding. Kreave had grown sick of not getting the full details of this operation and what the hell his men were being forced to do for them.

The doors slid open wide as the Krogan entourage waddled in, the Shipmaster of Solace sat up high in his chair. As the Sangheili sat there, looking annoyed at the visit, Kreave was reminded once more why he despised the alien. He looked so haughty as he sat there and he made no effort to stand at attention or show him respect. Within Krogan culture a Warlord was due at least that, and that's who he was after all. Not even standing at a fellow warrior's entrance, especially one of Kreave's stature, was a sign of great disrespect. How this Sangheili made it so far up the ranks eluded the Krogan entirely.

"What must you trouble me with now mercenary?" he demanded

He didn't even address him by his name, shameful. Kreave kept his head held high.

"Where to begin," the Krogan started "there's the fact you have refused to inform the rest of the Fleet of Particular Justice what opposition we are facing or made any effort to contact them whatsoever. You have repeatedly used my men purely for defensive measures when they should be on the offensive. First you did so with the Spire and now with this other construction site you have them guarding. You have also, despite all your superior firepower refused to lay siege to the entire planet instead focusing purely on this one continent for some reason. A reason you repeatedly deny to explain to me!"

The Sangheili Ship Master sighed, still apparently annoyed at Krogan.

"I do not need to bother Supreme Commander Thel 'Vadamee with such a minor concern as humans inhabiting this planet." The Ship Master explained "They will arrive promptly, Gods willing and when they do we will have secured the objective."

"What objective?" Kreave demanded again "I highly doubt this construction site is truly part of your grand design."

"That is not of your concern Mercenary." The Shipmaster declared finally standing up in anger "Your job is to advise us on matters concerning the False Shepherd and he fellows. Beyond that you listen to my orders and my commands and I will do with you as I see fit."

Kreave sneered at the Ship Master once more.

"I and my men are capable soldiers, we came here for war. Not to stand around and wait because of your ridiculous orders." He said as he pointed accusingly at the Sangheili "Too many of my Krogan brethren are tied up defending that slab of metal you're building. They could be of more use driving back the enemy."

"Until Supreme Comamnder Thel 'Vadamee or someone above my rank says otherwise your opinion is of little consequence." The Ship Master replied boomingly "Therefore your will men will guard the construction or be used as extra security aboard my corvettes until ordered otherwise."

Both uses that did not please Kreave in the slightest, as both meant his men were basically stan ding around and waiting while a war raged without them.

"My warriors are not glorified guards." Kreave declared "I want answers as to the grand design you have planned at the very least. Something I can tell them to assure them and myself that their waiting has a point and a payoff."

"You will be paid as per our arrangement! THAT is what should motivate your fellow Blood Pack members!" The Ship Master bellowed "Beyond that they should know they are helping to accomplish the Covenant's ultimate goal. As well as paying homage to a just as great cause, one that has been given and laid down to us from the Gods themselves through the Inquisitor."

Kreave just snorted at the air at the mentioning of the Inquisitor. A word he kept hearing but saw no meaning in.

"Perhaps I should ask this Inquisitor then what we're even doing here." Kreave stated

"You are not permitted to speak to the Inquisitor Mercenary!" shouted the Ship Master "You are an unbeliever, you are not part of the Covenant, merely an ally in a greater cause. An unfortunate one at that I may add. What you desire is of little to no concern of us and the Inquisitor is both unable at this time to be spoken to. It will also more than likely refuse to speak to you anyway, as it has decreed that we shall speak for it. You must simply do as we command. Now get off my bridge or I shall throw you and your fellow non-believers out of the nearest airlock and into the void!"

Kreave knew when to quit, so he began to walk away with his two henchmen. But just because he was done trying to get the Solace's captain to talk didn't mean this was over.

"The fleet will arrive eventually," he told his fellow Krogan beside him in whispers "whether it be weeks or days I'm not sure. It doesn't matter. When it does we will make sure our talents are not wasted on more of this pathetic excuse of a warrior's arrogant orders. We must be patient until then and find and opportunity to exploit."

He let the doors shut behind them and motioned both of his guard's heads towards his own.

"Inform my personal squad and check the com-channels for upcoming missions we can sneak ourselves into." Kreave explained "The bulk of our horde may be unable to move my brothers, but will have our war. I promise you."

* * *

><p>Miranda had kept the spy locked up in her room for the moment. It was the safest place to be frank, at least for him. Anywhere else would just disadvantage people like Grunt and throwing him in with the Elite would make for a strange story to explain to the Joint Chiefs should he speak to them. Surprisingly Shepard had become numb to Ackerson's attempts to mess with the crew. That didn't mean he wasn't pissed however, just that he was in no mood to start breaking his vocal chords over it. He was just happy Garrus was alive and had contacted him to say he was on his way back. So he handed over dealing with the spy to Miranda. They wanted to get whatever they could out of him before they handed him over to the UNSC officials, who were already on their way to take him to a detention center. Good riddance, but first she needed to find out a few things so this wouldn't happen again.<p>

"I know you're not going to tell me who sent you." She began as peered over the desk at the cuffed man, a Normandy security officer over his shoulder "I tried that before it doesn't work. I need to know how you tricked our security."

"The uniform is pretty decent." The man responded

Miranda shook her head.

"We have EDI, we have guards, ship manifestos, how did you sneak on board?" she demanded to know as she clasped her hands together "This crew is tight, the ship small. They know each other too well."

"Kept my face away from people mostly." He nonchalantly said.

"And EDI?" Miranda asked "How'd you get past her?"

The Spy just smirked.

"Maybe your AI ain't as smart as you think." He said arrogantly, with a wicked grin.

Miranda was not amused, but she knew how to make him talk. She cued up an video file on her computer and flipped the screen around to show him. It was video footage that they had acquired of Jack's escape from purgatory, it was not pretty.

"This is one of our crew members." Miranda began to explain as Jack punched a man's head in with her biotics "This is her when we first met her, on a prison ship. She killed everyone on it and practically destroyed the place all by herself. She also doesn't like people entering her room down below engineering. And she especially doesn't like spies from ONI cause they remind her of the people who screwed up her life. So imagine what your experience with her is gonna be like when I stuff you down there and tell her to do whatever the hell she wants."

The spy, for once, was visibly shaking.

"You- you can't do that! What about the-"

"I'll explain to the UNSC that accidents happen, that you escaped and ran into Jack and the option she had left was to rip your spine out." Miranda said, a very pleased smile across her lips "Also, saves them embarrassment of having to explain why a member of the office of naval intelligence decided to spy on an ally. Less paperwork that way, I don't think they'll mind."

The spy, his teeth chattering finally relented, his eyes fixated on the still image of Jack slamming a man into the ground.

"We uploaded a glitch into your systems." He quickly declared "It tricked your AI into thinking I was one of the crew members that was off the Normandy at the time, someone we got detained for a good while at one of the checkpoints when he was coming back from organising the last supply drop into the combat zone. I slipped in during that window."

"Is our man still detained?" Miranda asked

"No, they've probably let him loose by now." The Spy relinquished "I kept sending a signal to hold him longer every couple of minutes."

Miranda let her clasped hands fall in front of her, her smile ever wider as she did.

"Now was that so hard?" she asked as she pressed a button on her desk. "Yeoman Chambers please inform Tali'Zorah in engineering we need a bit of a data scrub concerning our crew members and ask EDI to, from now on, double check every crew member on board, especially facial recognition scans concerning their rosters."

"Of course Miss Lawson, already done." A chipper voice replied immediately

Miranda looked back at the spy, the cheeky smirk now permanently whipped off his face and placed back on hers.

"I don't suppose talking about Jack again would help me identify your boss would it?" she asked

"I'm dead either way, so forget that." The spy declared, now grimacing in his chair.

"Then we're done." Miranda told him as she turned to the guard "They're probably waiting for him outside, take him. And see to it our other crew member gets home without any more trouble."

The spy was led away, allowing Miranda to ease up again.

"Guess Jack is right, there is still a little bit of Cerberus in me." She admitted to herself in her thoughts "I scared myself a bit there, new experience for me. Effective though"

* * *

><p><strong>August 14<strong>**th****, 2552**

It wouldn't be long before they reached Sword Base. Before they got there though Tali wanted to make sure everything was set for the salvage operation. She wasn't going to be a part of it herself, as she'd be inside the base itself, spying on Halsey for Shepard. She couldn't help but feel a bit disgusted with herself. They had just caught a spy on their ship and Shepard still wanted her to peak into Halsey's files. How did that make them any better than Ackerson? Was it okay because they hadn't previously tried to kill her before or something?

She shook her head at the thought, remembering there was another side to this. She understood the reasoning for finding out what Halsey was keeping from them. She didn't even like the doctor all that much. So why should she be defending her privacy.

Because no matter how hard she tried she still couldn't shake the feeling that she about to do something wrong. No matter how justified it was in the end.

She just hoped the others would suspect anything, the cover story that she wanted to research a bit more about Covenant ships for the SlipSpace drive would be good enough as it fit in with what they were trying to do. The people involved in the salvaging operation probably wouldn't suspect much about her absence that way.

Either way, if she wasn't gonna be getting the drive herself she at least wanted to be sure the others knew what to do while she was off playing spy. Within that Covenant SlipSpace drive laid the key to getting the UNSC equivalent upgraded. It all depended on one simple factor. That Tali had theorized was the secret to the Covenant's speed. It couldn't just be thrust from their own engines alone that rocketed them through SlipSpace. Their drives had to do some of the pushing as well. If they could find out how that worked and improve upon it they were business.

"How many times do we have to go over the specs Tali?" asked a rather sleepy Gabriella Daniels

"Just until I'm sure you know what to look for." Tali explained "I'll be gone for awhile after all and, well there are other projects I have. I need to be sure you understand my notes on this."

Gabs forced a smile through her droopy mouth. She'd been up most of the night with her Quarian boss just staring at the insides of the SlipSpace drive they had to make sure she knew it inside and out. That and periodically looking over Tali's notes as well.

"You know you weren't this big an expert on this stuff a few weeks ago." She reminded Tali with a chuckle "Now you're practically giving me a course on it. I've been working on it as long as you have ya know."

"Yeah, I guess." Tali sighed "I'm just nervous I suppose. What with me handing over a half-done project to you and everything. I don't usually leave work unfinished and ask someone else to do the rest of it. Father raised a better little girl than that."

Gabriella shook her head, her smile turning to a smirk.

"Hey come on, you're not dumping it on me and Ken." Gabs reminded her "You're multi-tasking a bit that's all. It's no problem. And we'll have EDI to help us. She sure as hell knows your notes as well as you do."

"I know, I know. You're all very capable and trust you to do it right." Tali replied in earnest "Maybe I've just gotten a bit possessive here. There's potential in this technology, if there's some way we can reproduce it for the Migrant Fleet back home it come make life much easier. Three hundred-year old ships aren't exactly the fastest in the Galaxy, neither are giant space stations. If I can get the UNSC's ships up to spec with the Covenant, I could do the same with my own people. It would make travelling for us, maybe even the entire Galaxy a lot easier."

"As you've said before, many times." Gab reminded her "We know this is important to you, we won't let you down chief."

Tali took a deep breath.

"I guess that's all we're gonna get done for now." She admitted "We're still a few hours out from Sword Base. Feel free to take a nap Gabs."

Gabriella saluted and trudged away. Tali could've sworn she heard a quieted "yes" as the human left the engineering room. She didn't mind, Gabriella deserved a victory dance on getting out of this lesson. It wasn't fair for her to keep her up so long. She just wished she hadn't had to lie to her again.

Yes she was nervous, but the reason she had kept her up wasn't so much that she was afraid of letting go. She was afraid what might happen if she screwed up and got discovered spying. Chances were she'd probably be detained, or worse. She didn't mind the danger; after all other people were taking far greater risks than her. Salvaging machinery from a sunken ship? That was a bit more potentially fatal than what Shepard had asked of her.

A while after Gabriella left Kasumi wandered in. Tali kept her eyes glued to her station, she felt like going over her notes a bit herself just to make sure she didn't miss anything to tell Gabriella.

"I thought you'd be down here." Kasumi noted "Heck you practically live here. It's like you're always in the exact same place when I come to visit."

"Engineering tends to be a very time consuming job." Tali replied "What's your excuse for always being in your room?"

"Mine has a bar." Kasumi giggled.

Tali conceded that was a good point. Although Kasumi certainly was a moderately drinker she certainly wasn't adverse to it. Also the room had all her books so there was that.

"Now, reason I'm here. I think I'm making some progress on how to help out Legion." Kasumi continued "We're gonna have to first isolate the glitch and then patch the whole place bit by bit before we remove it completely. I'm working on a program right now that can do that without wrecking Legion's systems, but I'm guessing I'm gonna need help actually writing code for a piece of Geth hardware."

"I'll get to work on that." Tali promised still not tearing her eyes away from her console or her notes. "I have a bit on my mind right now though."

"I know, but you should at least start thinking soon cause Legion is going out on a mission." Kasumi explained

That got Tali's attention. She turned around to look Kasumi dead in the eye.

"What?" she asked astonished

"Didn't you hear?" she asked "The UNSC has a plan to take out that carrier and Shepard offered up Legion to help a bit."

"I heard about the mission, I didn't know Legion was going to be a part of it." Tali explained

"Well you have been down here all night with Daniels." Kasumi reckoned "Hell we only know it's Legion because Shepard's only sending it into the fray."

Tali was taken aback.

"Only Legion?" she asked in return

"Well he'll be with Noble Team but yeah." Kasumi replied "Come to think of it that does seem a bit weird. Then again no one's been very formal about the plan's specifics."

"Perhaps I can shed some light on them."

EDI's voice was quickly followed by her blue form appearing on her console a few feet away.

"I have been meaning to talk to you." She said "It's about what Shepard specifically plans for Legion to do on the mission."

"Wait, were you spying on the Commander?" Kasumi asked inquisitively

"Shepard's behaviour has been... erratic." She explained "He has been reluctant to speak openly about it. I have been watching him out of concern. His decisions affect the crew and the ship. Both of those items constitute me."

Tali raised an eyebrow at that a bit.

"Did Miranda ask you to do that?" she asked

"Actually it was Yeoman Chambers who wished for updates on Shepard's isolated states. She is the ship Psychiatrist. Rest assured though, most of this endeavour was my part and I have not shared any of the Commanders personal secrets with anyone beyond Chambers. Even then that was just an assessment of his behaviour."

"So why are you coming to us about this?" Tali asked

"Actually I am just coming to you." EDI responded "Due to you and Shepard's relationship I feel that this concerns you most of all."

Tali and Kasumi looked at each other and the hooded Japanese girl raised up her hands.

"Hey, I know when to back out." She said "Honest to God. I'll just, uh, head back up to my bar."

Kasumi backed out of the room and let Tali and EDI talk.

"Is it really that bad?" she asked the AI

"I think you already suspect that something is." EDI responded

Tali tilted her head a bit downward, embarrassed at how well EDI had been able to read her. She looked back up at the AI and asked her to proceed.

* * *

><p>Six entered the barracks to find Jorge hunched over a small terminal. With the big Spartan's helmet off you could see how focused his eyes were on the screen before him.<p>

"How's the front holding?" Six asked

"Badly." Jorge told him "This is a feed from one of our outposts near the Viery territory."

Six walked beside Jorge to get a look. The camera shook wildly as explosions rocked the front defences. As the dust cleared Elite swarmed in, accompanied by a number of shorter beings that looked like humans, save for the four eyes, brown skin and sharp teeth.

"Shepard's Batarians?" Six asked

"Fraid so." Jorge told him "Guess they're getting more involved now that the killing has started proper. That isn't the worst part though."

Thundering into view next was a massive vehicle. With four powerful legs as thick as sequoias, and a devastatingly accurate plasma cannon to boot, the Scarab towered over the battlefield like some medieval monster straight from someone's darkest nightmares. It fired a blast from its weapon, obliterating the outpost's armoury with ease. That was when the video cut out.

"Kid's camera got fired before he could get anymore. Plasma shot to the helmet." Jorge explained despondently "He probably won't see out of the right of his head for the rest of his life."

"Least he's got a ticket home." Six told his friend "With scarabs out that means the big guy from yesterday didn't just happen to be in the area. They're rolling out the big guns, itching to break through. Containment has failed."

"It just gets better everyday doesn't it?" Jorge asked in a form of sarcasm that noted how much he didn't like admitting that.

No one liked admitting they were losing.

"I hear before the war and before Aliens were ever discovered they had a ton of movies that showed us how easy this was supposed to be." Six commented "I kinda wanna go back just to punch them in the face for that bit of false advertising if it's true."

Jorge merely nodded in agreement, not really paying much attention to Six. He was still too entranced by the images that kept replaying on that little screen below. The images of his planet being ravaged by the Covenant and how there was so little any of them could do. It all just kept reminding him of how little time his home probably had left.

He was only broken out of his stupor by the whirling of Falcon blades.

"That would be our fifth guy I guess." Six told Jorge as he knocked his hand against the big Spartan's arm "Come on, let's brief him quick and get over to the Commander."

"Got it." Was all Jorge said as he followed the Lieutenant out.

The Falcon was landing just a few in front of them in the open field. Out of it stepped Legion who strode across towards Six and Jorge, looking around curiously at the rest of the base.

"Good to see you Legion," Six saluted "hope the flight wasn't bumpy."

"It was adequate." The Geth responded "We require mission data."

"No problem we'll explain on the way." Jorge told the machine "Come on."

Legion kept beside Six as they made their way past the soldiers within the military base. All of them were either rushing to vehicles or buildings, none of them were standing still. It was like there was a constant state of panic among everyone now that the reality of things had set in. No one wanted to stand still, no one was idle. Legion would've remarked at the efficiency, if it wasn't being driven by fear. A fact that was slightly offsetting to the machine, it was such a predictable if understandable response.

As they walked, Six filled Legion in on what they'd be using to get into orbit.

"The Sabre is our most advanced orbit capable fighter yet." The Spartan began "It's more agile and has a more direct purpose than our Longsword Fighter/Bombers. Sabres are faster and able to manoeuvre better. They also got some pretty damn good shields, it makes up for the fact they're not as armoured as Longswords. They got heavy automatic cannons and lock-on missiles and can take on anything in the Covenant fleet up to a Corvette in large groups. So this is exactly the kind of mission they're designed for."

"And you were once a pilot?" Legion asked inquisitively

"For awhile, flew one or two combat missions." Six explained "Classified of course, the program isn't supposed to exist. Military has gotten more hard-set on keeping secrets ever since us Spartans got leaked. I was brought in when the program started to test out the Sabres. I got first-hand experience with them which is why I'm flying and Jorge is handling instruments. Question is where are we putting you?"

Legion considered the query for a moment before answering.

"Is there a compartment behind the cockpit?" it asked

"A small one," Six replied scratching his temple "kinda cramped to be honest, houses the electronics mainframe and-"

"We do not require comfort, Geth platforms are meant to compress into small confined areas." Legion interrupted "We also do not depend on the same notion of life support as organics."

Six thought it over a bit more. Trying to think of what use Legion could be back there, even if he could fit.

"You know you probably could interface with the ship's systems." He reasoned "Boost the targeting and shields I wager."

"Our own shipboard AI, other Sabres will be jealous." Jorge joked.

"Then it is decided." Legion answered "I shall accompany you via the compartment behind the cockpit."

It was then the group saw Carter and Kat up ahead, waiting by the falcon for dust off. Jorge palced his helmet on as they approached.

"Alright then boys," he told the others "let's clear the skies a bit."

"Today's forecast," Six said cocking a grin under his helmet "cloudy with a chance of falling supercarriers."

* * *

><p>Shepard exited the elevator. He had been happy to get something to eat just to take his mind off of everything that had happened. As the doors to his cabin swung open he hoped to just lie down on his bed and rest for an hour or two before they arrived at Sword base.<p>

But that wasn't meant to be.

Catching his attention instead was the curt of cough of someone nearby. He looked over to see Tali on the couch, her legs crossed with one another and her silver glowing eyes, not at all their usual cheerful self. They looked more vicious and angry than Shepard was use to.

"Tali?"

The Quarian raised her hand, revealing a familiar little brown coloured bottle.

"Mind telling me what this is?" she asked with a harsh tone in her voice.

Shepard looked back at his desk. He hadn't bothered to even look at it when he got in. Now he saw his little hideaway stash drawer was open. He should've known better than to think he could keep it a secret.

"I know what it looks like." He began feebly

"You said you got rid of it all." Tali said as she raised her voice even louder

"I wanted to prove to myself I could resist temptation." Shepard tried to explain

"How long?" Tali demanded

"Does that really matter? I haven't-"

"How long?" Tali demanded again

"I never got to open it! Look its still fu-"

"Damn it Wade how long?" Tali shouted again, this time standing straight up, clutching the bottle in hand, threatening to crush it.

Shepard's whole body sagged.

"Since after the Collector Base." He admitted "I thought I needed something to get my mind off it but I swear I never opened it."

"It doesn't matter!" Tali told him "The fact you bought it says it all! You thought about it!"

"And I resisted is that not good enough?" Shepard asked, seemingly annoyed

"You know what this does to you Shepard!" Tali yelled in anger as she shoved the bottle in his face "I've seen what it does to you and it's not pretty. Why would you even want to subject yourself to that again?"

Shepard mumbled softly to the side as looked over his shoulder.

"I wanted to forget."

"What?" Tali asked

"I said I wanted to forget okay!" Shepard shouted "I wanted to forget for a few moments that a fucking Reaper fetus almost killed us! That I almost lost you when the platform gave way! I wanted to forget that for awhile! Just like I wanted to forget Ferguson, Gale and Andrei! Just like how I wanted to forget Kaiden! I wanted to forget again okay! Even if it meant I looked like a drunken wreck for a few hours I wanted to forget! That's why I bought it, but I couldn't bring myself to do it because I knew how you'd feel about it! I didn't drink it cause I knew you'd hate me for it! Is that good enough for you?"

Shepard stood there staring at Tali, who calmly placed the bottle down and approached him.

"You know that doesn't help. It never works." Tali reminded him

Shepard didn't answer, but the way he walked away and over to the bedside desk said more than words could. He knew that was the truth, he just didn't want to admit it.

"It's not even the fact you bought it so much as you lied to me." Tali explained "You said you got rid of your stash. You said that you wouldn't buy anymore heavy alcohol."

"I'm sorry, it was stupid okay?" Shepard responded harshly

The Quarian sighed as she walked out from behind the small table within the half circle of couches.

"There's more Shepard," Tali continued "I suspected you were keeping that bottle for awhile but I wanted to talk to you about everything that I think led out of that. Ever since the Collectors you haven't been yourself. It's gotten worse since we came here."

"If this is about the Halsey mission-"

"It's about you taking the Hunter armour," said Tali before he could finish "it's about how you almost shot an unarmed prisoner in the hold, it's about how you're pushing the crew, it's about you compromising your principles more and more. That's not you Wade."

Shepard turned back around, hoping to find a way not to answer the coming question.

"I'm fine Tali I'm just stressed." He tried to assure her.

"No you're not." She responded harshly "That's you keeping stuff from me, again. I know about Legion, where you're sending it and why."

Shepard lumbered over to the couch and plopped himself down. He knew he'd have to explain this at some point.

"We need to know what the Covenant are planning Tali, what this Reaper is planning." He told her

"You're putting Legion at risk as well as the lives of all those people it's with!" Tali argued "Whatever we might learn may be worth the risk, but you told Legion to lie to the UNSC about potentially putting their mission in jeopardy! Along with their men! The very least you could've done was inform them of why you need to do it. "

"They may not let Legion go through with it if they know." Shepard responded

"If they know they could probably better help Legion do it without the SuperCarrier catching on, did you ever think of that possibility?" Tali asked

"The less people involved the less chance of tipping the Covenant off." Shepard countered

"Then Legion is on its own and if it gets into a problem then the UNSC can't help it!" Tali shouted back "Listen to yourself! Where have we heard these excuses before?"

Shepard didn't bother answering the question and merely lowered his face to his hands. He didn't want to get into this right now. He really didn't want to be compared. But Tali wasn't done.

"There's something else you should know." Tali began

"What?" Shepard said, his turn to interrupt now "That Legion has a glitch in their platform's hardware? One that's confusing his programming and making them say 'I' at random intervals?"

Tali was taken aback.

"You know?" she said shocked

"Yeah when were you gonna tell me?" he asked in return. Now it was his turn to be cross "You're so big about us being open but you were keeping that a secret. I had to learn it from Legion."

"I was going to tell you when I figured out how to fix it." Tali countered "When were you going to tell me about your bourbon?"

Shepard just looked to the side, his eyes refusing to meet with her, his frustration now boiling. He gave no answer.

"Frankly I'm more shocked that you knew and you still made Legion go through with this." Tali continued in livid bewilderment at it all "That glitch could blow everything. It could give Legion away while it's inside or keep it from connecting to the battle network or wipe out its memory. We don't know what it could do to them!"

"It could also help by making them unrecognizable or better integrate into the system." Shepard replied adamantly "In any case why do you care? You pulled a gun on them remember?"

Tali's gaze steeled at once. For his part, Shepard knew that was a mistake, but it came out all the same.

"How dare you. You know me better than that Shepard." Tali retorted as she pointed at him in anger "You know why I did that and that I stood down and helped Legion inform his people about other information concerning my people! I don't hate Legion, I haven't for a good long while and I don't want to see them die anymore than anyone else on this ship!"

Shepard stood up at last, tired of this back and forth argument. He knew where it was headed after all. The Quarian took a moment to calm herself allowing Shepard to prepare his answer in advance/ As he stormed across the room to his fish tank, Tali confronted him on it.

"What is happening to you?" She asked pleadingly "You're acting like everyone is against you."

"Technically they are." Shepard responded.

"That's not true and you know it." Tali corrected him "Keelah Wade, stop shutting me out. Tell me what is wrong?"

Shepard took a deep breath. He was afraid he'd one day have to spill his guts to someone. He supposed that Tali was the best person he could ask for concerning this. Although he didn't exactly how it was coming out, he had hoped he could've done this on his own terms.

"I think I made a mistake." He began "Back in the Collector Base, when the Illusive Man told me to keep it intact. I thought, for a moment, maybe it was a good idea. Maybe I should save the base. But then I... I think maybe I let my hatred for him cloud my judgement. Maybe I was wrong to blow up that base."

Tali was shocked at the idea, they were wrong? The Illusive Man was right? That was something Shepard never dared entertain, at she had thought so.

"I told you what I thought of his plan when he first proposed it." She reiterated "That the base had turned countless people into fuel for the Reapers. Letting it survive would've been completely contradictory to why we went there in the first place."

"Are you sure about that?" he asked, a slight tinge of dry derision in his tone.

Tali raised an eyebrow at all of this and curiously tapped her foot.

"Where is this coming from Shepard?" she asked "Why are you questioning your decision now?"

"Cause I was faced with a similar decision a few days ago Tali." He answered solemnly "With those wraith tanks that had become plasma artillery guns. There was a chance that keeping one alive to act as my ace in the hole could've ruined the whole operation. It could've left one gun alive for the Covenant to use. But it didn't. I took a risk, I held onto something potentially dangerous and it worked. I used that artillery to save lives, to get to you and Garrus faster. If I hadn't we never would've gotten to the Spire in time and you would've been facing that husk alone."

Tali watched as Shepard looked at the window in the ceiling of the loft, towards the sky above. He was staring so intently it was almost as if he was trying to see past the clouds.

"The Reapers are more dangerous than we could've ever imagined." Shepard continued "They're in more than one universe, they create more of themselves by using organics as fuel, they exterminate the rest cause they don't need them anymore, the list goes on."

Tali kept listening as Shepard paced back and forth, thinking aloud.

"What if by keeping that base, taking that risk, we could've learned something about the Reapers? Something that could've helped us beat them." He asked "What if I've just destroyed the best chance we had?"

"Reaper technology is dangerous Wade, we've seen that." Tali reminded him "Remember that Reaper Cerberus thought was dead? That thing wasn't even technically alive and it turned the entire science team aboard it into husks. That place created Reapers, who knows what potential indoctrination dangers could've been in there. Besides, Cerberus would've used it to gain dominance over the other races after they had dealt with the Reapers."

"That assumes there is an 'after; once the Reapers invade." Shepard replied as he continued with a grave sense of foreboding in his voice "We can't kid ourselves. I don't think anyone on this crew does. We're facing annihilation. We all want to do our part, but this isn't your regular enemy. We're probably doing the most to prepare for them out of anyone else in the Galaxy. Hell I'm the one charging head first into battle here before the first shot is even fired. These past few months made me realise how much weight my choices seem to have on all this. Everything I do is in preparation for something bigger and if I was wrong about the Collector Base then I may have just cost us the war before it even starts."

Tali tried to approach him, to touch him, to try and comfort him, but Shepard walked away towards the steps up to his little corner office.

"I try to be strong Tali, I really do." He continued, his solemn and sad tone resonating with every word "I try to hold onto my principles and do what I feel is right, but I need to make the big decisions here. That means I need to be willing to let those things go, maybe even more if necessary."

"You don't believe that." Tali told him earnestly "You told the Illusive Man you wouldn't compromise who you are for this war. Has that changed?"

"Maybe I was a fool to think that." Shepard replied, seemingly in disgust "This dimension's leaders took kids from their beds and made them super-soldiers. It helped buy them time against the Covenant. They sacrificed a bit of their humanity to save the greater whole. So maybe the Illusive Man's philosophy was right all along and I was just too damn naive to realise it."

Tali shook her head vehemently.

"The difference between him and Halsey is that she feels guilt over it." She retorted "The Illusive Man feels none. He doesn't care who he steps over, Halsey does. I may not like her but she's still human. The Illusive Man isn't, no matter how much he claims to be."

Shepard looked away from her for a moment.

"Is that who you want to be like Wade?" she asked "Like him? Willing to stomp over anything that doesn't follow your vision? Like my father who sacrificed who he was for a cause, no matter how noble or good? That's not who you are. That's not the man I fell in love with."

For a moment, Shepard looked back up and saw the comforting glint in Tali's eyes. Preferable to the icy glare she had seen from her moments ago. It should've been enough to convince him, on most days, to recant everything and open up further. To let her words convince him she was right. A part of him felt that way.

But there was also another part.

"I should've listened to my gut." He blurted out "I shouldn't have let my emotions sway me otherwise. I saw it. I understood what he was trying to do. Thought for a moment that he had a point and then I slipped back into hating him all over again when..."

Shepard stopped himself before he finished his thought, but it didn't matter. Tali's glare returned almost immediately.

"When what?" she asked "When I told you I felt it was the wrong thing to do? When he said that 'I 'as an 'alien' couldn't understand? That was emotions getting in the way?"

"I didn't say that." Shepard replied, slightly angered at the accusation.

"You were going to." said Tali, her own ire rising "Is that it? Are you blaming me?"

"I'm not! I was just saying I shouldn't have let my emotions get in the way of doing the right thing." Shepard explained

"So the right thing was to save the Reaper embryo factory that turned all those colonists into ancient machine baby food?" Tali asked with biting sarcasm "That's what we should've done?"

With those words, Shepard finally allowed everything to spill forth in one on running rant/

"It was a risk I was unwilling to take and it won't happen again!" Shepard declared in an irritated rage "I am not going to let my emotions get in the way again! Especially not now that we're stranded here! I need to be strong, because I'm the only one who is actually doing anything about this! I'm the only one that takes it seriously! I lost sight of that for a moment, but nothing is gonna make me do that again! EVER!"

With that Tali let loose her own anger, the anger building for awhile, even before this conversation began

"For your information everyone on this ship is trying to help you!" Tali informed him, her indignation erupting at last "We've always tried to help you! The whole damn galaxy doesn't rest on your shoulders but you don't seem to get that! Instead you keep locking yourself in here instead and avoiding us like the plague! You've become a recluse! It's like you don't even want our help! Like you don't want to even let anyone in! Especially not me apparently! Since I was the reason you changed your mind at the last second back at the Collector's Base and doomed the Galaxy it seems!"

"Stop putting words into my mouth! I didn't mean it like that!"

"Then what did you mean?"

Tali's face closed in with Shepard's as she spoke that final sentence. Thankfully things didn't go any further after that. Joker phoned in over the intercom, interrupting the entire argument.

"Say guys, we're close enough the sword base now." He said "Shuttle can take you all the rest of the way so get your butts down to the hangar already. We have to get this big beautiful ship back up in the stars at long last already."

Tali and Shepard hadn't budged from each other, nor stopped glaring, as Joker spoke. It was another minute before Tali eased off and began to walk away.

"This isn't over." She told him as she left "After we're done at Sword Base we're finishing this."

Shepard could only be thankful that you couldn't slam automatic doors. As soon as Tali left he rested himself up against then nearby beam that rested near the edge of his office desk.

"Smooth Wade, real smooth." He told himself in anger "Chance to open up? What do you do? You yell at her for trying to help."

During all the time he had been here, in this dimension, he never imagined he'd have a lower point than now.

* * *

><p>The Sabre Launch facility was the one feature on this remote rocky beach that truly stood out. For a secret military base they hadn't hid it too well. Kat and Six said that calling the building a "Maritime Research Center" that was keeping tabs of the Reach's underwater inhabitants within Lake Farcas which it overlooked. Six said they wanted to pretend it was a cannery of sorts, but explained that was shot down for being too mundane for such a large facility. Of course secrecy didn't matter now, seeing as how the Covenant were zeroing in on it.<p>

The call came in half way through to the trip there. The base's garrison had encountered Covenant invaders, it was hard to say if they initially knew of the base's importance or not. Whatever the case the fact remained that they couldn't take it, they needed those Sabres for Operation: Upper Cut to succeed. So before they ever got to the Sabres they'd need to halt the offensive first. Carter decided to forgo their primary landing zone, determining that it was more than likely too hot by now. They landed further down the beach. By now the skies were overcast, the usual blue covered by grey sickly clouds. It made everything feel so grim and foreboding. It went without saying that the weather didn't help the morale of the team, what little of it there was left.

As the team piled out of the Falcon Legion suddenly looked to the heavens above.

"Detecting incoming object, several hundred feet above sea level and closing." It informed them "Estimated time till impact, less than sixty seconds."

"Elite Drop Pods," Carter noted "we don't have much time then. They could be just the first wave. Move up the beach Noble."

The group of four Spartans and one Synthetic rushed up the sandy hills and through the rocky spires towards their objective. As they came upon a small natural rock garden separating them from the launch facility Legion's prediction came true. The Covenant Drop pods plummeted from the sky like comets. Three fell towards Noble Team's position. They slammed into the earth, kicking up the sand as they touched down. Before the majority of the disturbed grains even hit the ground, the door to the first pod burst wide open. The door flew towards Six, he jumped out of the way as it went sailing across the beach. The Elite within the Pod hurled himself out and began firing madly at the assembled human super-soldiers. He bobbed and weaved amongst the rocks as the Spartans and Legion pushed up. The other Elites soon joined in the fray, bursting from their pods and opening fire on the group.

Legion let its Drone to rush forward to keep the other Elites from focusing their fire on Noble Team. The Geth then changed their assault rifle's setting. Geth didn't usually use different ammo settings for their weapons. However Legion understood the benefit and considered that they would be fighting against stiff opposition for the duration of the mission, mostly from Elites. For that reason, and based on the data of previous conflicts with the Elites, Legion had asked Jacob to supply them with phasic ammo. The higher damage output against shields the better. Jacob installed a Disruptor ammo setting, a stronger make of the usual phasic rounds.

Legion kept a bead on the target as the Elite ducked in and out of the rocks. The alien never failed to at least get off three plasma shots before it ducked back behind another rock. It was far too predictable a pattern to follow. As Jorge peppered the rocks of the Elite's latest piece of Cover Legion flanked to the right, where they predicted the Elite would continue to move. It was after all the direction of the Spartan's flank. As the Elite rolled out, firing his plasma rifle in a mad dash to the next rocky pillar Legion fired a stream of rounds from its Geth Rifle. With the added disruptor ammo setting the shots tore clean through the Elite's shields. The Elite began to bleed profusely from every bullet hole, stopping the alien's dash to the next rock and safety. It gave Jorge enough time to take aim and finish the job Legion started. Both the Spartan and the Geth fired into the Elite, driving him back until he slammed against a rock. His blood stained the stone as he slid down to the sand.

"Crab food." Jorge noted

But there were still two other Elites breathing. They were already rushing into the rock garden to avenge their fallen comrade. As Jorge laid down a spray of fire Six rushed forward into the fray. He sped past the left flank of the Elites while they sought cover in the rocks and opened fire as he did. Kat did the same on the right. Both of the Elites caught the attacks in their sides, but their shields protected them. Still they had let the Spartans surround them, trapping them between both Jorge's chain gun and the two Spartans to their rear. Carter watched as the aliens tried to make the best of the situation at hand, splitting their focus on the enemies on their rear and front. As the plasma and bullets flew Carter looked to Legion and tossed him a grenade to throw. The machine caught it, understanding the Spartan Commander's strategy.

"Pull and throw Noble!" Carter called out

Six, Kat, Legion and Carter all threw on grenade into Elite's cover. With their attention divided they only noticed the action when the grenades landed. By then it was too late. In the ensuing explosion, one Elite was killed, torn apart by the fragments that pierced his hide. The other Elite only escaped by the skin of his teeth, losing his shields completely and taking shrapnel to the leg. Still the Elite pulled himself up despite the pain and turned to fire once more on the humans. Instead he was peppered by the combined rifle fire of Six and Legion who had rushed up to ensure their targets had been eliminated. The Elite toppled over as the bullets struck it. The path to the launch facility was open. Or at least it appeared that way initially.

As the team continued to move up the beach they came across a second obstacle, this time more substantial. Said obstruction was small Covenant defensive perimeter, complete with a hovering platform and a small contingent of Covenant. As they rushed to their defences to counter the approaching Spartans a vehicle crested the sand dune above. A ghost, its Elite pilot blasting away at the Spartans and lone Geth as they came rushing up the dune, shooting back in kind. The Ghost suddenly boosted forward, intending to ram the humans and their synthetic companion. It aimed for the biggest target, Jorge. But as the Ghost closed in and its plasma ate at Jorge's shields, the Spartan suddenly knelt down to the ground. Armour lock had been activated and Jorge now glowed with energy, pulsating around him. The Ghost itself continued boosting towards Jorge, only to crash into the Spartan as if he were a brick wall. In the short second between the activation of the armour lock against the approaching Ghost, the Covenant had just lost their only anti-infantry capable vehicle in the area as well as their commanding officer.

As the mangled metal mesh of the Ghost flew up into the air in pieces, coming down in flaming wreckage, the Spartans continued rushing up the dune. Legion was close behind them. With its sniper rifle readied it took aim at the hover pad and its Jackal sniper. Firing one shot, the jackal toppled over the side of the hoverpad, a new hole in its head. Six finished the hoverpad itself off by firing his grenade launcher. The pad exploded into bits, raining down onto of the unprotected Grunts and Jackals. The Jackals stood their ground, safe behind their shields, but the Grunts, those who had not been killed yet by the falling debris of the pad or the chain gun that had now been brought to bear on their position, fled from the battle. Their arms waved widely as the Spartans continued their pursuit. The Jackals shields proved little match against a direct grenade assault, as Six blasted their little squads apart with ease. Legion and Kat were nearby to blast any survivors before they recovered. Carter and Jorge focused on the retreating Grunts.

"Cut them down Jorge!" Carter ordered "Don't let them regroup!"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" the big Spartan asked in return, his chain gun chattering away.

Jorge and carter's combined fire ripped through the Grunts with ease and once they had been dealt with the group pressed on, stepping over what remained of the Jackals as they made their way into the launch facility. As they stepped inside the building they found themselves in a hall overlooking the docks below them near the water. There were a group of Marines here taking cover near the windows. Suddenly a blue flaming explosion rocked the walls of the hall. Taking a look outside revealed the culprit, a Wraith Tank.

"We need to fully secure the area." Carter told the others

Six eyed an idle rocket launcher near a downed Marine.

"Got it covered sir!"

He hefted the launcher over his shoulder and made his way to the window. Legion joined him, sporting a heavy weapon of his own, a missile launcher that it had pulled and subsequently unfolded from its back. Hefting the launcher in its arms, the Geth pressed up against a window alongside Six.

"Shepard Commander felt it prudent we bring sufficiently more capable heavy weapons." It explained

"Guess that's why he's your boss." Smirked Six

Legion, once again, did not understand what this comment meant, other than stating common knowledge of course. They pushed that aside, focusing on the task at hand. A second blast tore at the side of the building; this was their chance while the Wraith readied its next shot. Six and Legion jumped out at the same time, targeted the wraith and fired. While Legion's missiles were less potent than Six's rockets, the combined fire power was enough, added with the rate of fire on Legion's weapon, and managed to penetrate the wraith's shield and armour. Suddenly the Covenant tank exploded in a blaze of bluish fire.

Destroyed the team rushed forward into the base itself. They heard gunfire up ahead, plasma and bullet based. Six rushed forward, turning the corner to find a red clad armoured Elite. He jumped the alien, climbing up the eight foot creature and subsequently stabbing into it's jugular. Six kicked the Elite down to the ground and turned to the others as he sheathed his blade.

"Think we've cleared them out yet?" he asked

"Not for long," Carter told him as they passed the lieutenant "We need those Sabres in the air, now."

They made their way into the control center for the complex; the fighting had torn it apart. Consoles were blasted to pieces, the ops map in the center flicked weakly and there were dead humans strewn about. But enough of the garrison was still alive and more importantly so was their orbital transport. The blast shields for the launch pad windows opened wide, revealing the Sabre fighter craft beyond. It was a small pudgy yet sleek looking craft, with two booster engines at the back and a weapon system that was everything Six had promised. All of it was strapped to a rather large rocket, meant to help them escape orbit of course.

Legion and Jorge walked out along the catwalk towards the fighter itself. Jorge couldn't help but marvel at it.

"A proper dogfighter," he noted "this baby is gonna clear the skies of those Covenant bastards easy. Not sure why we keep it a secret though."

"Official excuse I believe is they didn't want to explain where all the tax money was going and justify it to the public." Six shouted from behind them "That and keep the Covies from figuring out its weaknesses. Me? I think the brass just wanted a top secret project to hide from the civies. Every military has to have one."

Six approached them from behind, catching their attention as he clamped towards them. He was wearing a new helmet from his standard ODST helmet, a more streamlined helmet with a wider visor.

"Air Assault," he said "fits what we're doing. Could've picked Pilot standard issue but they were all taken it seems."

"You know those are supposed to be used by airborne infantry right?" Jorge asked "Not fighter pilots."

"Hey, we're transition from these babies to a Covenant ship and then possibly jumping out of it. It's appropriate." Six argued "Which reminds me, better strap these on."

Six held up two large backpacks of a sort for both Jorge and Legion. Jorge instantly recognized them as re-entry packs, like parachutes for people above orbit. Of course, you also needed a fully pressurised armoured suit for them to count. Point was they would keep you from burning on re-entry by employing a powerful energy shield around the wearer. Very useful to have where they were going.

"Get prepped and ready boys," Six told them "we're about to light this candle."

Six and Jorge climbed into the Sabre when they were ready, closing the cockpit canopy tightly as they sat down in their chairs. Legion crammed itself into the compartment behind them and quickly found itself staring at the Sabre's mainframe. Finding a suitable place to plug in was not difficult, although the different systems were a slight challenge to properly fit the platform's connection wires. The Geth finally connected to the mainframe just as the rocket below was firing up.

In the cockpit, Six and Jorge stared up at the sky before their eyes as their rocket began to shudder. There had been no countdown. There was no time for that. Everything had been prepped already and there was no time to delay. Not that it mattered. Six had done the countdown in his head. He strapped himself in at nine/ The rockets ignited at around five and the ship began to rise at two. The blasted away from the launch pad slowly at first, but began to pick up speed as the whole craft shuddered under the g-forces. The rocket's plume of smoke trailed high into the air, joined by other rockets, other Sabres flying into the fight high above the planet.

Six, Jorge and Legion could only hold on tight as they rose above Reach and the cloudy overcast gave way to blue sunlit skies. The first of the sun they had actually seen in days to be honest. It was all to brief a sight however as day turned to night in a moment's notice, stars appeared as they left Reach's upper atmosphere. It all would've been captivating for Six and Jorge, maybe even Legion since it could see through the ship's targeting system. But any wonder was doused by the fact they were on a desperate mission, perhaps even a suicidal one.

This had been the easy part, getting the Sabres and getting up here. The hard part now was getting back down to terra firma in one piece and with one less Supercarrier blocking their view.

* * *

><p>The Normandy's shuttle and accompanying pelican hovered over the supposed crash site below them. This had been the approximate location that the Covenant Corvette had come down. The water was deep, but not so deep that they couldn't at least see a faint outline of their prize below.<p>

While they lacked proper dive suits, they still had their pressurized sealed armour. If it could help one survive space walks a trip underwater would be a breeze. Shepard himself remembered being trained as such back in boot camp, placed in a giant pool with a suit and asked to perform certain tasks. Not every place an Alliance Marine went to was gonna have functioning gravity and atmosphere after all.

Tali had already figured out how the salvaging operation would work. With a mixture of biotics and technical prowess they'd cut into the hide of the Corvette. Then they would uncouple the drive and carry it outside. There with a combination of flotation devices they bring the slipspace drive up to the surface and a Pelican would magnetically attach it to its backside like a warthog jeep and deliver it to the Normandy. Well, after the Normandy returned from Operation Upper Cut of course.

The operation was already underway, with Miranda, Samara and Jacob all suited up and underwater. Garrus kept in constant contact with the team along with Shepard aboard the Pelican and Shuttle respectively. Nearby Grunt stood aboard the Pelican, ready for any complications. They would need someone to help drag the drive up should something go wrong. Also on stand-by was Jack, just in case the team below needed help. Jack objected to jumping into the freezing water below. And working with Miranda of course, but that was already a given.

Shepard didn't want to use Jack on this mission, but he needed an extra biotic besides himself. Thane was the only other one they had. He had volunteered, but Shepard forbade him from getting in the water. He was afraid the water would potentially worsen the Drell's condition. Thane argued that it was humidity that was the major threat, not water. Still Shepard didn't want to chance it. The Drell slinked off to Sword Base, with a number of the other crew members. Few had stayed aboard the Normandy, Zaeed and Kasumi wanted to stick around for the fireworks show, everyone else was down here. Mordin had gone off to see Dr. Halsey about something, saying it they were long overdue for a face to face discussion.

Tali had walked off to do her less than kosher task for Shepard. The way she left however wasn't exactly helping Shepard's mood.

"I'm going." She had said simply, her voice less than pleased "Think you can handle things without me?"

Shepard noted the sardonic chiding tone, the argument they had still fresh in her mind. Shepard merely nodded and let the Quarian walk off. She didn't even say "see you later" or offer a chipper salute as she left. She didn't even smile. Shepard could tell when she was smiling, helmet or no. He hoped that it was mostly because she didn't like what she was about to do for him, but he knew it was more likely because of what happened.

He wasn't blameless in this of course. He had said nothing to Tali as she left. Besides a half hearted "good luck." Tali only stopped for a second before stomping off into Sword Base as the shuttle took off for the crash site. He knew the longer this festered the worse it was gonna get? Why didn't he say anything now? Was he afraid of putting another foot in his mouth? Whatever the reason Shepard didn't like dwelling on it too much, he just wanted to get this SlipSpace drive. Maybe that would cheer Tali up.

"Commander," Miranda's voice chirped over the com-link "we've cut through the outer layer of the hull. Proceeding inside."

"Good work Lawson." Shepard told her "Garrus has the Corvette Schematics the UNSC provided us on his omni-tool ready to go. He's gonna guide you the rest of the way."

"Right, just point out what we're looking for Vakarian," Miranda responded "Patching in my helmet camera feed to you now."

They had all by now upgraded their suits a bit, helmet cameras were something Shepard wanted as soon as he heard of them. The reasons were obvious, how many times had they wished they brought a camera with them on a mission? Today though it wouldn't be gathering proof to shove in a councillor's face, it would instead help get Miranda where she and the others needed to be.

"Looks like you're a few levels above the engine room Miranda." Garrus told her "You're gonna want to head forward seven metres then make a left. Keeping going until you see a sloping ramp to your right, that should get you down a few levels from there."

"Got it, let's swim people, we're on the clock."

* * *

><p>Halsey was in one of her sterile labs when Mordin came in. He calmly went through the sterilization procedures as he entered. Although it wasn't totally necessary, there weren't any biological contaminants in the lab currently. Still, Halsey didn't want to take the risk of contaminating any of the samples she had on hand. It was more of a precaution for them then Mordin. The Salarian didn't seem bothered at all by the procedure. He simply looked over at the work Halsey was doing and determined that it was genetic work in some manner.<p>

"Good of us to meet face to face at last Professor Mordin." Halsey said looking up from her microscope with an outstretched hand.

The Salarian quickly shook it vigorously.

"Yes. Indeed. Long overdue." He replied "Understandable however. Events outside troubling. Work load increasing. Hard to keep up with all projects. Getting less sleep than usual. Thinking of conducting an experiment concerning sleep deprivation."

"I tried that one in my college days." Halsey admitted "It was close to exam week too, so it fit in my schedule. I still got a good mark despite it, plus extracurricular credits when I turned in my findings. But you didn't come here to talk about my dorm life I imagine."

The Salarian smiled broadly and walked over to a nearby large screen. He wirelessly connected to the computer terminal and activated a program with his omnitool. At once the screen flickered on to reveal a picture of a human body, juxtaposed against veins and blood vessels in their own little boxes to the right.

"Of course. As mentioned I hoped we could discuss work in field of genetic enhancements." Mordin explained "Read your notes concerning Spartan project. Final treatment and enhancements, most risky procedure."

Halsey face sagged at the mention of said final treatment.

"That was the worst part of the program to be honest." She admitted solemnly "I wasn't even all that happy about the results, even though they were better than expected. Too many good people lost. If I had just had more time to refine the treatment, maybe another year, two..."

She couldn't finish her thought. Mordin looked on slightly concerned, but the Doctor quickly composed herself and turned to face the screen.

"Enough of that, I apologise professor continue."

Mordin simply nodded and continued.

"We have a number of cybernetic, medical and shield based systems aboard." Mordin continued "Cross referenced with your research. Believe possibility of improvement for entire squad if we combine technologies."

"Intriguing?" Halsey said as she listened "Anything you think from my Spartan Research that could be of specific use?"

"Skin and Bone weave enhancements." Mordin replied "Currently only regulated to Shepard. Unique among us. Only one to have died and then rebuilt."

Halsey chuckled at that.

"Yes I heard. I hope I won't have to spend that much capita on this."

"Not required." Mordin explained "Simply need more detailed information. Possibly few materials required. Small unit. We're not creating a small army after all."

"I'm sure I could dig up some files," Halsey answered thoughtfully "possibly even some materials as well. I'd need to look at some samples of this skin and bone weave technology as well as anything else you brought along."

Mordin seemingly produced two shield modules in one hand and a pair of sample dishes in the other. There was no need to say anything more on the subject.

"I would've suggested you see the people who somehow made my process cheap with the Spartan III's, but I doubt they'd be willing to share." Halsey admitted as she led Mordin over to the lab table "Let's work quickly then. I imagine once your commander is done with the Corvette outside you'll be leaving."

"Likely outcome." Mordin admitted "I think we can make sufficient progress. Always do best work under pressure and with short timeframe."

"It's eerie how much you remind me of myself Professor." Halsey replied cheekily.

* * *

><p>Tali supposed she was somewhat grateful that Kasumi shared some of her hacking techniques with her. Still, she did not enjoy using them in this way. Advantageous or not this whole affair made her sick to her stomach. She didn't like playing spy for one and her argument with Shepard wasn't helping her either. She honestly wondered why she was still doing this if she was angry with him.<p>

Perhaps she was just curious. Ever since Legion partially found out what was on that datapad she somewhat wanted to know what was going on at Sword Base. She originally suggested that they look into it after all. As much as she hated to admit it, she wanted to know what Halsey was hiding from them. Although, given the choice, she would've preferred to discover the answers through less underhanded means. Halsey had shown she was trustworthy. At the very least she had earned the right for them to be honest with her.

Tali tried to put it out of her mind as she cracked into the terminal in the deserted part of Sword Base. Many of the offices were still undergoing reconstruction after the first Covenant attack. With the battle escalating most of that had been put on hold. It gave her the chance to get to a computer with direct access to the base's servers. Whether or not she could get to Halsey's computer remained to be seen.

"Kasumi makes this seem so much easier." She thought to herself as she looked into file after file.

Getting administrator level access was easy, Kasumi taught her that. It was the firewalls and passwords that were hard to get by without alerting someone. Taking security offline wasn't so simple, and accessing each sensitive data packet ran the risk of alerting the computer to what was happening. Thankfully Tali had borrowed a few worm programs to interfere with the security functions. Kasumi never asked what she wanted them for. Tali appreciated that, one less person to lie to.

The work was slow, Tali had hacked drones and Geth for short periods of time on the battlefield, but she had never tried to break into the equivalent of a government run military/intelligence agency. Saren's base on Virmire didn't count, its security protocols weren't exactly top notch. The ex-spectre never planned for someone to sneak in the back door apparently.

There was a certain allure to it all though, outsmarting the machine, proving your intellect quicker and better than that of supposedly superior inanimate object. For a Quarian it felt good, even though she wasn't as disgusted with AIs as she once was. For a moment even she wished EDI was here helping her out a bit. She had beat the Collector's at their own cyber-warfare game back during their attempted trap with the Collector Ship. She had done it again with Joker's assistance as well.

But EDI was several thousand miles up by now, helping out Legion. A thought she buried as soon as it was brought up. Best not to dwell on the danger the Geth was in, it brought up her argument with Shepard again and she still didn't want to dwell on it.

She soon found that Halsey's work wasn't connected to the main servers. At least not any of her personal files, she no doubt had them all on her laptop as Tali suspected. However she did find something intriguing. References to a dig site in a very long report she sped through in reading.

"Artifact yields no new information." It read in one part "Object clearly Forerunner in Origin" it read in another.

But these were all old reports, and even so not old enough to explain where this artifact was precisely and how they had discovered it. Nothing of any actual value seemed to be in them. The UNSC seemed as baffled by the whole as the she and Shepard were. The documents only confirmed their initial suspicions. Tali decided to try and cross reference the dig site, perhaps hoping it would shed light on the subject. As she located the appropriate file in the search she was not surprised to find it locked.

"Nothing is ever easy." She groaned.

The password was three digits. Which meant it could be any number under 999, or perhaps even any combination of letters or symbols. Still, easier to figure out than most passwords. For a moment Tali considered it wasn't worth checking. The three digit code meant it was probably low risk material. Not highly classified enough to be worth her time.

But then again, that meant it would be easier to get into.

Tali had a program that could solve the alphanumerical code for her. With a flick of her omni-tool she ran it, the device trying a number of combinations. Each time the program changed the ID code as a precaution, in case the computer locked her out after too many failures. Eventually a number was settled upon, 117.

The file opened up to her, spilling it's one and only secret. A diagram of a tunnel metro system and its proposed cost, meant for quick and speedy access to the "dig site." The document was signed by Halsey herself. It didn't say where this metro system was connected, but it had to be nearby and it revealed where the site was. Somewhere deep underground as the diagram depicted that the tunnel several hundred feet beneath the ice shelf.

Tali wondered if that was enough, if that was all Shepard would need, if she could just pack up and go and not have to dirty her hands more with this.

Unfortunately she never got the chance to decide for herself. The clicking of a weapon's firing mechanism snapped her out of her train of thought. She could feel the metal of the barrel poking at the back of her head, even though it wasn't really touching her.

"Log off and put your hands behind your head." A gruff yet calm voice ordered

* * *

><p>Miranda kept ahead of the others, illuminating the dark and drowned corridors of the corvette with a flashlight as she swam. Garrus had been constantly feeding her directions as she went. It was slow going, what with the twists and turns this ship had. Some doors were locked, other hallways caved in. Garrus had to keep redirecting them around the roadblocks. Miranda almost got annoyed after awhile, how hard was it to get to one blasted engine room?<p>

Finally, after pushing a blown out door aside, they found themselves inside the engine room itself. By now a few of the ice shelf fish had made it their home, but the like the rest of the ship it wasn't decayed enough just yet. Other than algae lightly coating the standard purple metal of covenant vessels, they saw no severe damage.

It took a minute to swim down into the engine's core, careful to avoid any sharp edges. Underneath the metal and mesh they spied the large piece of machinery below. Far different in design from the UNSC drive, the Covenant's drive was sleek, bulbous and of course purple. That was becoming monotonous to say the least. While Miranda wasn't sure if it was still functional she knew they just need parts from the device. They didn't need to completely work.

"We found it Shepard." Miranda contacted the surface "It's coupled into the engine, but I think we can pull it out."

"I see it Miranda." Shepard responded "Picture is a bit dark though. Get you light on it more."

Miranda did as asked, Samara and Jacob swimming up beside her as she did. The darkness washed away off the device and with her hand Miranda brushed off some of the algae.

"We'll start cutting it out immediately sir." Miranda informed Shepard as she and the others brought up their blow torches.

"Get moving then." Shepard ordered in a gruff commanding voice "I don't want you running out of air that far down."

Miranda wasn't sure by the tone of Shepard's voice if that was concern for them or the mission. Before the wormhole if someone had asked her what it was she would've immediately declared it was the former. She put it out of her mind and set to work with the others cutting the SlipSpace Device out of its little prison.

* * *

><p>The angry human sergeant reminded Tali of a C-Sec officer she dealt with when she first arrived on the Citadel. Pushy, insulting, rude and constantly reminding her she was an alien to him. The only solace she had was that he was clearly not UNSC. No, he was an ONI guard, the dress uniform, the insignia, all Naval Intelligence.<p>

"Eyes front alien." The ONI agent ordered, his thick enclosed helmet masking the stern frown on his face no doubt "Or I pull that bucket of yours clean off your head. Your kind don't take well to clean air I hear."

Tali looked back in front, grimacing under her helmet.

"Well you're a real gentlemen aren't ya? Do the other ladies enjoy you idle threats?" Tali asked him snidely "Cause let me tell you sweeping me clear off my feet."

"Stuff it Xeno," the Oni Agent ordered once more "Just cause I ain't in the marines doesn't mean I've killed my fair share of tentacle faced freaks like you."

Tali just laughed.

"Okay first, I don't have tentacles for a face." Tali assured him "I don't have pincers or mandibles either. Second, you obviously need me alive so, as the charming human saying goes, stop your mouth from writing cheques you can't cash bosh'tet."

The agent suddenly turned towards a door and shoved Tali inside as it slid open wide. Within the room were three other ONI agents in light armour who quickly pulled her to her feet, brought her arms around her back and tied them with nylon. Tali bumped backwards into the agent behind her doing the tying.

"Back off already." She demanded as she bumped him away.

Another agent forced her down into a nearby seat as the agent who brought her in handed Tali's pistol over to one of his comrades.

"Didn't even get a chance to use it." He chuckled warmly "Take it as a souvenir, she won't be needing it."

"I paid for that Carnifex." Tali warned "You break it, you owe me a new one."

The agent didn't respond, he simply took the gun in hand and walked over to a nearby screen which he switched on.

"You're not in the position to make demands Mrs. Zorah."

Tali's eyes steeled as she saw who was on the screen. She knew where this was going from the second she knew who caught her.

"Ackerson, even with olfactory filters I could still smell your stench over this." She declared

"Spare me your wit Mrs. Zorah, remember who you're talking to here."

"Yeah, the cowardly bosh'tet who couldn't even been here in person to capture me. Had to get your minions to do your work for you, to think you used to be a soldier."

Ackerson laced his fingers together as his brow furrowed.

"I still am a soldier Mrs. Zorah. I may not fight on the frontlines anymore, but I fight the battle where need be." Ackerson explained

Tali ignored Ackerson's ego, she couldn't let him see her sweat. Not now.

"My crew will come for me." She warned "And when they do there won't be any way for you to weasel out of this one."

"You'll be gone from here long before they even realise you're missing." Ackerson informed her confidently "Besides, I'm ONI. We specialise in weaselling out of things. The weasel is practically our mascot actually. So even if they do find you, nothing you say will stick. I'm untouchable."

"You're full of yourself is what you are." Tali told him, her words soaked in baneful contempt

Ackerson just smirked at the insult, shaking his head in amusement.

"Why am I hear Ackerson?" she demanded to know "I'm not a biotic, so you can't exactly dissect me for some sick experiment of yours."

"I've come to make an offer." Ackerson replied, spreading his arms apart

"Oh, so when you tried to kill Thane and tranq Samara you were just trying to make offers with them too I guess?" she asked

Ackerson didn't even flinch at the accusation.

"True enough, those weren't exactly my best moments. I underestimated your fellow crewmates. It doesn't matter now; I've grown past envisioning biotic soldiers of my own." Ackerson casually admitted "I've recently confirmed however a far more viable resource for the war effort. You."

Tali looked at Ackerson wide eyed, not understanding what he was talking about.

"I've had Halsey's office here at Sword Base under surveillance ever since I heard Shepard spoke with her." He explained "I had hoped to learn something valuable about biotics, but to my surprise the most interesting thing I hear is a story about a robot holocaust."

Tali's nose wrinkled as her eyes stared back at Ackerson, her thoughts fuming with scorn for the human on the screen.

"So that's what your spy was after." She realised "You weren't after our weapons and shields data, you just wanted him to find out more about Legion and the Geth!"

"Those tidbits were a nice bonus though." Ackerson smugly answered. "I appreciate you sharing. Especially since a number of the notes pertaining to the Geth were based on your personal history and knowledge of them."

Tali could already guess what Ackerson was planning. It was far too obvious given what she believed he knew.

"You want a Geth army don't you?" she asked

"Your story was inspiring Mrs. Zorah." Ackerson replied "An alien race completely defeated by automatons that can't die. We entertained the idea of AI controlling robotic platforms, but the strain and level of control on such a scale was too much for a number of them. AIs are also incredibly expensive to create and more often than not are difficult to recover. Individual units controlling singular synthetic soldiers would potentially put the risk of UNSC property falling into the hands of the Covenant. But according to your findings Geth don't need to be tied down to data storage units. They can transfer themselves subconsciously back to a hub and more importantly they can seemingly replicate themselves. Cost effective, able to sustain the control over the synthetic platforms, no need for a hive mind or individual unit putting themselves at risk and, according to you, highly effective in destroying opposing forces."

Tali shook her head as Ackerson's spiel ended.

"You know how that story ends." Tali reminded him "Specifically the moral of it all? The dangers of hubris? Or did you conveniently forget that part?"

Ackerson snorted.

"Your people obviously weren't smart enough to realise what they were dealing with." Her declared, his derision apparent and making Tali's blood boil "We have protocols. Our Geth will be obedient slaves, they will never question orders or if they have a soul. All they'll care about is destroying humanity's enemies."

Tali struggled in her chair, wanting to jump out and punch the screen Ackerson's smug grin was on. But the agents pushed her back into it and then further restrained her with an additional two nylon straps cuffing her to the chair's frame itself.

"Don't force my men to make you more uncomfortable Mrs. Zorah." Ackerson informed her "Instead, think about the potential. Vast armies of machines, incapable of questioning orders, no need to sleep or eat. Hell they could control entire fleets of ships if they wanted to. We could bombard Covenant held worlds and their ships to oblivion and not lose a single human life. One of the advantages the Covenant has over us is that they can afford the losses we inflict upon them. We don't have that luxury. This would even the playing field."

"And where do I fit in?" she asked "Why didn't you snatch Legion?"

"In time Mrs. Zorah." Ackerson assured as he put up a hand "But I need someone with knowledge of the Geth to make more of my own. That's where you come in."

Tali's mouth opened agape, but all Ackerson could see was shocked looking eyes.

"Oh come now you must've guessed that was the reason you're here by now?" Ackerson derided her "I thought you were smart."

"You want me to build Geth!" she shouted, her teeth gritting at the idea "Are you out of your mind! What makes you think I'd ever agree to do that?"

Ackerson smiled broadly.

"Because Mrs. Zorah, it would be advantageous to both of us." He explained "After all... you do want your homeworld back don't you?"

Tali's eyes softened and she slowly slinked back into her chair.

* * *

><p>It was nice to talk with someone that was just as intelligent as she was. Halsey rarely managed to get into contact with many academics. Her work wasn't exactly supposed to be public knowledge. In any case it was nice to see Professor Mordin was as interested in her past work as he was. The fact he was an alien just clearly no longer registered for her.<p>

Mordin and Halsey had by now already shared much on the subject of shield technology and medical advancement. Through their quick little study they discovered that the Spartan project resources could substantially increase the effectiveness of both the Skin Weave and Bone Weave upgrade. Cermaic coating for the latter, muscle enhancement as a supplement for the former and in both cases they increased the average enhancement percentage of the given by around an extra ten percent. That was a crucial difference in numbers when on the battlefield. Shield modules were similar, sharing what she knew of Jackal shield technology and Elite shield technology, they arrived at a theorised number of an 25 percent increase to the Normandy Squad's shields. It was a most productive session.

"Should be able to synthesize a full squad upgrade with data." Mordin posited "Appreciate assistance Doctor."

"My pleasure Professor." Halsey assured "I wish to keep your team alive as much as you do."

Mordin nodded once before reaching into one of his pockets.

"Oh, yes, before I leave." He began "Did not wish for exchange to be so one sided. Have been doing researched on Bio Foam compound. Remarkable medical supplement."

"So claims all the soldiers whose bleeding guts have been plugged up by it." Halsey stated dryly.

"Yes, but cannot directly heal it seems." Mordin observed "Foam is used to keep patient stable. Alive for med-evac. Useful, but medical evacuation not always possible. In contrast Medi-Gel can repair moderate to minor wounds, but severe cases are less certain. Liberal amounts must be applied in such cases."

Mordin pulled out a cylindrical object, a bio-foam tube from the looks of it.

"Merely prototype." He began "It is a concoction of medi-gel mixed with bio-foam. Best of both methods. Clogs up severe organ damage to prevent bleeding. But potent mixture of medi-gel within foam itself. Secreted onto wound once foam has hardened. Successfully heals patient substantially increasing chances of survival."

Halsey took the prototype in hand, impressed by the idea.

"Clever idea." She told the professor "Do you ever stop working?"

"Salarian sleep cycle short." Mordin explained "Much like Salarian life. Species tends to move quicker and faster. Consequences of increased metabolism. Get more work done though. So advantages."

"Nevertheless it was nice working with someone that seems to value the medical aspect of science as much as I do." Halsey informed him, admiration clear in her words.

"Feeling mutual." Mordin replied "Pleasure meeting you Doctor."

With that Mordin took his leave with his samples and Halsey took a good look at what he left behind for her. Bio-Foam with medi-gel laced into it. She wondered how well it worked? No doubt Mordin had already tested it.

As she thought about the implications, her nearby laptop peeped up.

"Pardon the interruption ma'am." Jarrod said aloud "I was going over recent runtime functions withing the server through my wireless connection to Sword Base. I picked up a spike of activity within the past hour, given the subject of the search and its origin point I thought you should know about it. Without any other persons nearby to hear potentially classified information, of course."

Halsey looked to Jarrod curiously.

"Go on."

"The subject referred to the Forerunner dig site." Jarrod began "It originated within the mostly destroyed corridor of Sword Base. Office area."

The gears in Halsey's head turned suspiciously.

"That place is mostly deserted." She thought aloud.

Suddenly Jarrod piped up once more.

"Warning. Additional scans show breach in a low level file pertaining to dig site tunnel."

Halsey's eyes widened as she turned to the screen behind her.

"Display all cameras within the IP address' origin point." Halsey ordered "Play footage during time of breach."

"Connecting madam." Jarrod replied

Within moments, four angle shots appeared. One revealed the truth, a bio-suited alien at a terminal. Halsey didn't have time to be mad, not when she saw the man with the gun sneaking up behind Tali.

"Damn." She muttered, her voice viusibly angry "I had hoped for more time."

* * *

><p>Tali was sceptical to say the least. Ackerson wasn't a person you just trusted after all.<p>

"How the hell does helping you make a Geth army get my homeworld back?" she asked

"The same reason it helps humanity win this war of course." Ackerson argued "Let the robots duke it out with one another, and then blast every single one of the scrap heaps from orbit. Fewer Quarians die, no Geth left to rise against you once more. Win-Win."

Tali rolled her eyes at the entire idea. After all, it ignored one little problem.

"My people are in another dimension!" she reminded him "How the hell would I even get this Geth army home?"

"ONI can track down the wormhole, it's somewhere out there we both know that." Ackerson declared "All I require is to work by my rules, my regulations. You won't be able to contact your friends on the Normandy for some time. At least until you can create a sufficient number of Geth programs for our use. Nothing major, around ten should suffice. Or whatever number is required for them to start replicating en masse. We take it the rest of the way from there."

Tali perched one of her eyebrows.

"And for mechanical bodies?" Tali asked "You need platforms for these AI."

"We can easily develop a number of bodies and have the first wave of our Geth create more." Ackerson informed her

"And Legion?" she asked, her voice low and threatening

Ackerson faked concerned as he answered.

"Oh, I'm afraid they'll need to be decommissioned. Only way we can jumpstart things is by pulling that robot apart to see what makes it tick."

Tali looked beside her to the floor, her face sullen as she thought. For the longest time she didn't answer. She didn't know how to respond, not at first. Ackerson grew impatient.

"Come on, it's a Geth." Ackerson proclaimed loudly "A machine. It may be smarter or think faster than you or I but it is just a machine. They can't feel pain, they have no emotions and they have no rights. Who cares if one suffers or, however many are supposed to be in that synthetic casing. Halsey may have told you different, but you and I know the truth."

"And what is the truth Colonel?" Tali asked, not looking at the screen, her voice low and calm.

"That they're tools to be used. Not people." Ackerson explained "They're not alive like you and me. Our AI are no different, except we keep them in line. That bullcrap Halsey spouts about them being equal, that they work for mankind out of the goodness of their hearts? Drivel. The mumblings of an old woman far past her years who sees her little science experiments like they're her own damn offspring. In contrast to the lives of our people, our civilizations, they don't matter."

Tali raised her head up slightly from the floor, Ackerson's words starting to touch a chord.

"In the end, while we're both not the same species at least we share something in common." He continued "We're both flesh and blood. Your synthetic crew member is only worth a damn in so much in what it can provide for us. They made your people homeless, scurrying for scraps, hated by the Galaxy. They deserve this Mrs. Zorah. Don't you want to go home?"

Tali's brow furrowed, her eyes forming into a angry stare as she slowly looked back at Ackerson.

"Only my school teacher called me Mrs. Zorah." She began "My friends call me Tali. You're neither Ackerson."

Ackerson's smug demeanour turned to one of frustration as Tali continued.

"I may want to go home. I may not like AI." She said as she stared at Ackerson furiously, her eyes practically burning through the screen "But I'll never see them like you do. We never wanted slaves. Mechanical or otherwise. The Geth took my home but that doesn't give me the right to commit the same sins my ancestors did. And Legion is more than just a bunch of data inside a metal case. They've risked their lives for me on several occasions. They've proven there's more to Geth than cold hard logic and numbers. I won't help repeat the mistakes of the past for you Ackerson and I won't betray my crew. I've seen where both of those actions get us first hand. I will not create slaves for you. No matter how noble the cause I will not become like you."

"So you're willing to let more humans die then?" he asked

"You just want power Colonel." Tali declared defiantly him "No matter how hard you try to justify it, that's what it comes down to. I will never help you hurt my crew mates, whether they be organic or synthetic. So forget about me helping you build your own little death-bot army Bosh'tet. It's not happening."

Ackerson sighed heavily.

"Well I tried being sensible." He said rather displeased "Thankfully you snooping around in Sword Base's computer files gives me ample reason to hold you. So with or without your consent I can simply show the joint chiefs the security footage. Shepard will be incriminated, or at best, they'll let me hold on to you. Chew on that while my men escort you to your new home Mrs. Vas Normandy. No excuse me, there are more pressing matters to attend to concerning Halsey's freaks for one."

As the screen went black, the Agents closed in on Tali to get her up out of the chair.

"Well you heard the man time to-"

Suddenly there was a loud explosion, followed by a great deal of gunfire. All of it seemed to be originating from outside.

"What in blazes?" the agent asked

* * *

><p>Kreave stood at attention near the exit to the phantom with a broad smile on his face. He was amazed at how easy it was to find out that the covenant were trying for the base again. Why they felt such a measly outpost was necessary he was unsure. How they had failed to capture it the first go around was even less clear to him. Either these humans were great warriors or the Covenant as weak as he predicted. Either way, his blood pack would have fun outshining them.<p>

The Covenant task force heading to Sword Base was even greater than t was before. Nothing was being left to chance. The base would be utterly obliterated in no time. No survivors left, just as Kreave preferred. But he also hoped that in the ensuing battle he'd also show the Covenant how to truly fight a war.

One of Kreave's clan mates spoke up to him, plodding forward along the phantom's floor.

"Sir, we have another transmission from the Solace." He said

"Let me guess." Kreave began as he rolled his eyes "The Shipmaster again?"

The fellow merc nodded.

"Ignore transmission." Kreave ordered "He is nto worth our time. That is reserved for competent officers and worthy foes."

Suddenly the Phatom came to a halt. Krreave laughed uproariously.

"HA HA! We arrive! To war my brothers! At long last!" he cried out amongst the bellowing shouts of his comrades "May the blood of our enemies drench the ground! May worthy enemies find us! And if we die may our deaths be glorious!"

Over the battle cry of his comrades, Kreave leapt from the open hatch of the Phantom. He was quickly yet softly transported to the ground on the beam of light, a grenade launcher in hand. Beside him landed his fellow Krogan two by two. He was the first to march out into the courtyard. He spotted a human jeep rushing amongst the defensive lines, acting as a mobile machine gun platform. With one well placed shot, Kreave caught the vehicle in the nose, it flipped over in a fiery blaze killing the crew and crushing a number of the human defenders beneath it.

Kreave didn't halt his advance. He fired a barrage of grenades into marines now rushing to defensives positions along the courtyard's balcony. They erupted in the middle of the squads, sending their bodies careening over the guardrail. He walked over to the turned over jeep and pried the large machine gun away from its turret. He aimed it down at the defensive line within the courtyard. The bullets gnashed through the fool troopers before him, unable to even run before their flank was overtaken.

As explosions from plasma weaponry rained down from banshees flying overhead, Kreave's grin grew greater. This was what he had promised his men. This was what he owed them. He looked to his fellow Krogan and watched as they swarmed the barricades, trampling humans underfoot, tossing them into the walls of their own fortress, blasting the downed and wounded with a clean shotgun round.

He somewhat wished Shepard were here, then he could see how truly impressive his soldiers actually were. How they attacked with such brutality and merciless cunning, how not even the barricades themselves could hold against a charging Krogan of Blood pack's calibre and strength and how their enemies fled at their might. Truly he would have been impressed.

And then Kreave would kill him of course. It would be the perfect ending to the battle.

* * *

><p>The water bubbled as the device began to float to the top, where the Pelican was waiting nearby for it. Samara, Jacob and Miranda quickly climbed aboard the Pelican with Garrus and Grunt. The Krogan stood at the edge of the aircraft as its magnetic clamps eased the SlipSpace drive into position. Grunt helped along the way, keeping it steady as it locked in place.<p>

"Operation complete Shepard." Garrus said giving the thumbs up to his commander "Let's get-"

It was then a large series of explosions and gunfire erupted from afar. Everyone immediately turned to face Sword Base and soon saw plumes of fire erupting all around the outpost. Rising above the destruction was a long corvette, far off in the sky. And then, somewhere over the airfield they surmised, another corvette.

They shouldn't have been shocked, the Covenant had aimed for this base before. They were on the offensive, what was to stop them from coming here again? But they had all thought they had more time. None were more shocked however then Shepard.

Eyes wide open in shock he rushed to the pilot's door and banged hard on it.

"Get us to shore now!" he ordered

The shuttle took off towards Sword Base's dock just above the water. Garrus and the rest of the team followed in the Pelican. As they approached they saw Mordin rushing out of the building, waving them down. Shepard's shuttle landed first and he rushed up to Mordin.

"Tali?" he asked in a frantic scream "Have you seen Tali?"

Even Mordin wasn't fast enough to answer before Shepard started bolting off towards the base. Mordin was close behind him, intending to help look. Garrus had jumped off the Pelican as well, even Jack had rushed off the shuttle to follow Shepard.

But as the team neared Sword Base a huge explosion erupted along the large spire that encompassed the center of the base. It ripped through several floors, fire spewing out of every window. Shard of glass rained down upon like hail. The cause was the nearby Corvette, finishing the task it's brother had started long before.

Shepard cried out in horror, but his words were muffled by the explosion. A large piece of concrete and metal collapsed infront of the entrance way, cutting them off from the base in this direction. Shepard began desperately using his biotic powers, throwing everything he had at the object to force it aside. That's when they heard something coming over the horizon behind them. Another Covenant Corvete, joining the fight to obliterate Sword Base. It started firing its plasma weapons at the ice shelf in sustained streams. The intent was clear, to melt the frozen wastes, drown the base's surrounding areas, scorch the earth until it was blacked and crisp.

"We can't stay!" Garrus realised, shouting over the sounds of destruction "They're close in on every angle!"

"We can't leave Tali!" Shouted Shepard

The Corvetteroared again as it's plasma cannons singed the earth.

"Shepard if we stay we aren't leaving!" Garrus shouted "They're closing in too fast! We don't have much time!"

Shepard would've debated further, but another blast to Sword Base cut through another series of floors. Shepard stood there dumbfounded unable to move, because where it struck was near the executive offices, where Tali was supposed to be. The entire wing was set ablaze in an instant and Shepard was left speechless. Garrus tried to get his attention as he stared at the carnage, calling out his name repeatedly but to no avail. There was nothing they could do here, no way to save Sword Base, not against this. Not without the Normandy, which was too far away now/

Garrus looked back to see a number of the crew had clambered off the Pelican by now, initially want to help, but like him they saw the hopelessness of the situation. With Shepard still in shock, Garrus grabbed his arm and forced him towards the shuttle by swinging him in it's direction.

"We are leaving now!" Garrus ordered

Everyone ran to either the shuttle or Pelican, separating from one another. Shepard didn't say word, but he followed his crew. He didn't cry, he didn't scream, he didn't do anything. He watched the shuttle take off and the doors slam shut on Sword Base as they left it. All he could do was keep the same paralyzed sickly look on his face as he watched the UNSC outpost burn under plasma based fire.

He threw his head down into his hands, finding it hard to breathe or think. All he could finally squeak out was a simple few words.

"I didn't mean it." He said softly, the tears slowly coming "I didn't mean it like that. I didn't. I never mean it like that. Never, I never did. I never did."

He closed his eyes tightly.

"I'm sorry." He said, knowing it was far too late for that.

* * *

><p>AN: Well that was a nice mix of action and drama I think? But then again that's for you the reviewers to decide. Again, keeping this short, I've been building this one up for awhile. I think it was clear I was straining Tali and Shepard's relationship, just to show that the romance doesn't have to be all lovey dovey cutesy wutesy... or overtly lemontastic. As one of my favourite BioWare romances it deserves to be treated maturely, and all couples no matter how much in love will always have problems. How we face them determines how long they last. Also I hope you've had your fill of Ackerson for awhile, because as it stands currently we more than likely won't be seeing him again for the rest of Reach. This was the climax of that sub-plot to be frank.<p>

Now you're probably wondering right now, did I just kill Tali? Well... stay tuned is all I can say. Next time we head into space and see how this whole chapter looked from hundreds of thousands of feet in space. Dog-fighting time!


	15. Operation: Upper Cut

Chapter 15: Operation: Upper Cut

Even from up here you could still see the battles being raged below on Reach. It didn't matter how high above the planet you were, the scorched earth, massive explosions and in general devastated landscape were a constant reminder of how much was riding on this. Six and Jorge contemplated these thoughts as they broke away from their rocket and began to boost towards their intended destination to rendezvous with the other Sabres.

"How you holding up back there Legion?" Six asked aloud

There was a electronic beep that came from within the ship's computers.

"Operational status at full capacity." The Geth assured them, its voice resonating from the speakers about the ship "Targeting and shield defences are under our direct control. Long range scanners detect no incoming enemy vessels."

Legion seemed to have acclimated to the Sabre quickly. But while he was impressed Jorge was a bit concerned.

"You sure it's a good idea to let them take total control of the ship's systems like that?" he asked "I mean I trust Legion, but..."

The computer beeped again.

"We are only offering added computational power and boosted technological advantage to the systems." Legion assured "We are not limiting your ability to self-determinate."

Six looked back at Jorge to ease his concerns.

"Hey I know Legion Jorge, don't worry." Six assured him "They won't let us down when we're in the thick of it. I trust them as much as I do you."

Jorge's fears subsided at that and he looked back to his navigational computer.

"Well let's get moving then." Jorge told them all "The station should be within range now."

"I see it Jorge." Six assured

Anchor 9 wasn't much to look at. Refit stations rarely were compared to their grander mission control cousins. Surrounded by frigate repair docks and boasting a large seemingly unsightly stack of modules on one side, the three pronged station was not exactly pretty. However it was armed with several defence turrets and a number of Sabre fighters were already stationed at the facility. Good-looking or not it still had teeth. Currently in dock with the station was the Savannah, a frigate-class ship. Nearby, flying patrol in front of the station was the Normandy. Its white paint job contrasted with the gunmetal grey of Anchor 9, making it stick out in the cold darkness of space. Despite this Joker quickly picked them out as they approached.

"Bout time you guys showed up." He said over the coms "Don't worry though, party ain't started yet so you didn't miss anything. Legion with you guys?"

"Legion is aboard Normandy." Six assured "In fact, I think they're part of the ship's computers now."

Joker just huffed over the com-link.

"Oh, so now everyone else needs their own shipboard AI then huh?" he asked in return "Hope you enjoy Legion's robo-speak. I'll stick with EDI here thank you very much."

Another voice interrupted the brief conversation.

"Noble Actual to Sabre Bravo-Oh-Two-Niner, over." Announced a familiar voice

"Copy Actual." Jorge responded "Is that you Colonel."

"Affirmative Noble Five," Holland replied "I'll be taking over as control from here on out. Welcome to Operation: Upper Cut. Here's the run down, the Savannah is donating us her Slipspace drive for the mission. It's gonna take time to get it prepped however so we need to keep the station secure."

Six watched as a number of Sabre fighters flew out of the station, and the ones from the launch facility on the ground flew towards the station to add to the force itself. The Normandy began to move to the front of the station, in between it and the frigate docks scattered about the area.

"These Sabres have been customized for orbital defence." Holland continued "Noble Six, it's been awhile since you got your hands on one, take a moment to reacquaint yourself and then regroup with the rest of the squadron at Anchor 9. "

"EDI and Dot are on stand-by scanning for Covenant craft." Joker added "We'll let you know if we spot any and we'll be right beside ya to blast them out of the sky."

Six was glad the Normandy was here. An extra ship could make all the difference. What he had heard of the Normandy was encouraging and he was looking forward to seeing how the ship handled in actual space combat. He doubted any Covenant ships would be able to take on the little white and black vessel, especially since it had been upgraded. Unless they intended to throw one of their Corvettes at this station Six doubted the Covenant would be able to get past their defence.

Per Holland's advice Six took the Sabre through its paces. Twisting turns, backwards flips and barrel roll left and right, it felt like stepping back into an old comfortable pair of shoes. He hadn't forgotten the feeling at all. Even for a prototype aircraft, the Sabre flew like a dream all the same.

"Legion, how are we on weapons and shields?" he asked

"All systems at a hundred percent capacity." Legion replied "We have noted several secondary sub-systems within the ship as well. We believe these systems can be appropriated to give more power the shields if need be."

"Just warn me before you take anything offline." Six told the Geth "When the Covies come we're gonna need to be firing on all cylinders so to speak."

As Six began his approach towards the Savannah, Dot's voice peeped up on the coms.

"Ship signals detected." She warned "Designating estimated entry point."

As the hud on the Sabre set up waypoints for the approaching enemy, EDI chimed in as well.

"All ships," she began "I count several approaching Covenant vessels. Bodies are smaller in size, most likely banshees."

"I thought those things only worked in atmosphere." Joker spoke up.

"They have ones designed for space combat." Six replied "All Sabres, head to waypoint to intercept. Guns only people, no sense wasting missiles on banshees."

As the Sabres got into position near the coordinates, Anchor 9 broadcasted to all ships.

"Sabres and Normandy, we have a problem with our defence turrets. We need time to get them online."

Great, that meant they'd be doing most of the work. Well it was just banshees, Six knew the Sabres were more than capable of matching them.

The Covenant craft soon ported into view, appearing just on the edge of the frigate repair docks. The sabres were positioned just above them however and to the right, making them easy prey. Six was the first dive down into the fray, his fellow Sabres following. With push of the button on his stick a perforating blast of bullets struck the lead Banshee. The vehicle tore apart, as a bluish explosion turned the aircraft into scrap metal.

His wingman met a similar fate as Six quickly shifted targets. The prong-like wing on the right side of the banshee broke off first. Then one of the bullets struck near the plasma coils of the banshee at the front. Space Banshee's weapons were bigger and stood out more. They practically protruded out past the cockpit. They were thought to be more powerful, but it also made the banshees more vulnerable. As the bullets struck the plasma gun they ruptured the weapon's core. It exploded, taking half the banshee with it. For a brief moment, Six thought he saw what was left of the Elite pilot within the explosion. There was no bailing out in a orbital dogfight, at least not in a banshee. There was some comfort in that, it meant there was no chance of the enemy living to fight another day.

Six and Jorge had the luxury of re-entry packs, which in theory would save them. However Six was reminded, as he cleared the debris field of defunct banshees and flipped round for another pass, that their one extra passenger did not have that luxury.

"Targeting closest enemy craft." Legion announced over the computer "21 Banshees remain."

Legion's estimate was pretty spot on. The Sabres had done a number on the first wave of attackers. A quarter of them were already dead in the ether. Already the enemy formation had split apart. The attackers were now on the offensive. The Normandy wasn't helping the Covenant's odds any better. The Savannah couldn't help in the defence of Anchor 9, but the Normandy more than made up for it. That and it was for more manoeuvrable than any UNSC star ship. It kept above the frigate docks below, not enough room to move amongst them. From up high however, its anti-fighter GARDIAN laser turrets began to pluck the Banshees from the void.

"It's a turkey shoot EDI!" Joker laughed as the lasers slashed at the Banshees, cutting through one with ease as it tried to charge the Normandy head-on "You'd think these people would learn by now!"

But the AI was far more reserved than her pilot

"It is most likely this is a probing attack Jeff." EDI informed him stoically "I highly doubt the next waves will be as easy. Best not to get 'cocky' as the saying goes."

Joker just brushed the concern off.

"Oh let me have my fun for now EDI," he told her "we're gonna be facing a Corvette soon remember? Plus it's nice to be winning again."

Two Banshees flew up behind Joker, attempting to avoid the lasers ripping their comrades to pieces. However, they were not invisible to EDI. She painted them on the scanner for Joker and the Normandy boosted itself forward with its thrusters pointed down. The Normandy flipped upside down and took aim at the Banshees as their plasma blasts started to hit the shield. One clean cut from the lasers sliced the two Covenant aircraft in half and a small pair of explosions lit up the ether.

With the Normandy eating up Banshees, the bulk of the alien aircraft started giving the frigate a wide birth. Their mission was the station after all. The Sabres began to chase them down as they buzzed around Anchor 9. One Banshee saw its tail ripped apart before blowing up proper, the cockpit flying clean off as the craft blew up.

Six kept up the pursuit of one Banshee as started firing upon the docked Savannah. A volley of bullets forced the little ship to veer away. It dove down below Anchor 9 in a dash and Six followed. Legion painted the banshee with the Sabre's targeting computer, it would not get away. As scurried between the pylons of the station, Six kept a close and tight bead on the craft.

"Slippery for a little ship ain't he?" Jorge asked

Six agreed, but veteran or not the Elite pilot wouldn't escape a Sabre. As the Banshee flew out into the open of the frigate repair docks area Six was finally able to get his crosshairs on the targeting reticule as the Banshee began to pull up. He was most likely to loop around Six to shoot him from behind. He wouldn't get that far. Six fired a sustained stream of bullets, each compacting near where the pilot was situated. As the Banshee began to tear apart under the pressure Legion sounded.

"Enemy below! Marking!"

The urgency in the Geth's usually monotone voice alerted Six. As the Banshee in front of him burst into flames, he pulled back on the stick. The Sabre twisted around, pulling out of its ascent into a dive. A figurative "forced stall", zero gravity didn't allow for that in flight. Six now came face to face with the Banshee that had been sneaking up under him. His attempt to use his friend's sacrifice to get the drop on him had failed. Just as the plasma began hitting the Sabre's shields the still firing gun of the UNSC craft tore into the front of the Banshee. The cockpit's canopy burst apart and a millisecond later the banshee was ripped into pieces by the forthcoming explosion.

"Ha fancy flying Six." Jorge congratulated

"And good eye Legion." Six added "So to speak."

"A more appropriate metaphor would perhaps be 'ear' in actuality." Legion corrected

The banshees were clearly no match for the Sabres. The broken husks piled up amongst the Station, drifting into the endless void along with what little remained of their pilots. Their scattered attack had failed. They were no match for the Normandy or the Sabres, not with their focus split so wide. However as the last Banshees died Dot alerted the pilots to more danger, as EDI predicted they had only stopped the first wave.

"More Covenant signatures identified moving in on these coordinates." She warned

"I have detected energy resonating around vessels." EDI quickly added. "The targets have shields. They are most likely Seraph fighters."

Seraphs were more appropriate counterparts to the Sabre. They had shields, they were faster and their guns were a much more devastating. They were built for orbital combat. They wouldn't be as easy to kill as Banshees.

"Suggest using guns to take out the shields and then hit them with missiles people." Colonel Holland chimed in "Buy Anchor 9 more time for its defences to kick in."

"We'll hold out best we can sir." Six assured

The Sabres got into position, but there would be no easy kills like the Banshees. Not until the shields were down. The Normandy itself began to hover with its portside bared to the oncoming attackers. The lasers would certainly do a number on the shields and the missile pods and other weaponry systems could handle the rest.

The seraphs soon appeared, their unmistakable and almost cliché saucer like appearance readily apparent. Their pointed tails radiated with the back blast of their engines. The Sabres opened fire, but the seraph fighters weren't so easily scattered. Two by two they broke away from the incoming fire and circled around to attack the humans. One began rolling across the void, blasting at the cockpit of the Normandy. Joker, gritting his teeth as the hits rocked their shields immediately retaliated. Lasers filled the air again, but the pilot danced around them, ducking a diving away from the Normandy and then heading back for another pass below.

"These guys are slippery." Joker said annoyed "Normandy can't still for this fight. I'm gonna have to follow and engage and I can't do that with all these frigate docks. I'll try and get a few to follow me and get them off your backs Sabres."

The Normandy pulled away from the main fight, intending now to defend the outer perimeter. A number of Seraphs followed as the Normandy moved away. Already the Sabre pilots were knocked out of their complacency. Seraphs attacked in twos or threes, getting behind the human fighters in an attempt to blast through their shields. Until they got a shot all the Sabre being chased could do was out fly the Elite pilots. A simple task as both the Sabre and it's pilot were more than capable of dodging the plasma fire.

"Got two on my backside." One Sabre Pilot informed as he spun his craft in a twisting barrel roll "Shields are holding, but I need the off!"

Six was quick to respond, catching the two Seraphs as they kept firing at his fellow pilot. The Spartan opened up with a volley of rounds, wreaking havoc on the enemy's shields. The Seraphs veered away from their intended target and attempted to remove the new pest on their tails.

"Don't let them separate, they'll try and box us in." Jorge warned

"Way ahead of you big guy." Six assured

One Seraph banked to the left but Six was ready. He rolled his Sabre to keep behind the departing Seraph. Legion in the meantime painted the Seraph's wingman with a targeting beacon. Six cut off the Seraph's bank to the side with a flurry of gunfire, this time taking down his shields. The Seraph pulled up and began to zig and zag back towards his partner.

"Switching to missiles." Six said aloud "Legion, let's light this bastard up."

Legion didn't need to respond with words. In a moment the computer locked onto the unshielded Seraph and Six let the missiles fly. They flew from the Sabre and followed the fleeing Seraph with ease and slammed into its backside. The Covenant craft was torn to pieces, living for only a few seconds more, spinning into the void before igniting in a brief ball of blue flames that was snuffed out as quickly.

Six's eyes now darted to his wingman who was still dashing away from them. As the Spartan came about, his weapons switched back to guns, the Seraph flipped backwards towards them. It began firing on Six head on, bringing the shields down to half their strength. The Spartan pulled hard right on the stick and rolled the Sabre away from the oncoming Seraph.

"Guess someone wants to play chicken." Noted Jorge as he looked behind them where the seraph had passed.

"Someone is about to end up dead." Six added quickly before flipping his sabre around to follow the Seraph fighter.

They got back on the seraph's tail. As soon as fire began raking its shields it tried to bank left, only for a volley of bullets to slam into it from that side. Another Sabre had come in to help, the same one this Seraph had been chasing before from the sound of it.

"I'll make sure he doesn't leave Noble Six," he cried out "Weave in and out with this guy we'll get him!"

Six knew the tactic. Basically you kept your enemy from escaping left or right by weaving in and out of its path with two fighters. Each would take shots at the enemy until one eventually killed him. In any scenario you had to make sure they didn't duck out of the weave either, but it had worked ever since the early days of fighter combat.

The seraph kept trying to escape the two fighters, but it was not so simple. Six made sure that no matter where the seraph went its shields would meet hot lead. The same went for the other Sabre pilot. The seraph attempt to roll up and down, left and right, but the two humans never broke the weave. The shields were eaten away to nothing. At the same time both Sabres fired their missiles and the Seraph was trapped within their crushing embrace. Six and his wingman passed the exploding wreck and went on to engage more of the Seraphs.

"We'll call that an assist on the scoreboard Six!" the fellow pilot decreed

Meanwhile the Normandy had picked up an impressive tail. The GARDIAN lasers fired back as best they could, but it was difficult to get a lock on any one of the three small craft as they interlaced with one another.

"Stern shields are taking massive hits Jeff." EDI warned "Any ideas?"

"One," he admitted "trust me on this though cause it's a bit crazy."

"I don't have much of a choice to be honest." EDI informed him "We're stuck with each other."

Joker slowed the engines and let the racing Seraphs catch up to him. The thrusters' back draft became infinitesimal compared to what they were putting out.

"Jeff, need I remind you we've almost lost our stern shields?" She warned.

"I got this EDI." Joker assured "Best pilot in the Alliance remember."

As the seraphs closed the distance, Joker placed his hand on the dashboard. When the screen showed they were within spitting range, Joker boosted all power to the engines. The back draft burst out, blinding the Covenant pilots and damaging their shields and armour. The Normandy then pulled a 180 degree turn in flight and locked onto the three seraphs with its missile Pods. It fired a barrage that easily reduced the enemy fighters to scrap.

"Guess better thrusters aren't just for speed anymore huh EDI?" Joker asked rhetorically "And to think you were starting to worry."

"I never worry Jeff." EDI retorted "Sometimes however I wish you'd explain what you're doing first. That's the only thing I can predict with you."

"But if I told you that stuff then there would be no surprises in your life." Joker responded cockily

EDI instantly decided that if she had them, she'd roll her eyes at the comment.

The seraphs were still going strong, despite their losses. More or less most of them were trying to bypass the fighters and attack the Station. Thanks to Legion, however, they weren't able to sneak past Six in the fighting.

"Located Seraph fighter on predicted attack run for Anchor 9." Legion announced, marking the Seraph as they did.

Six moved to intercept the Seraph, pulling up to blast at shield from below. The Seraph veered away, heading towards the frigate docks. Six followed trying his best to line up a shot with the targeting reticule. The Elite Pilot however was quick, never staying on a single path for long. As it flew along the outside of the dock, it dodged the incoming bullets before it reached edge and double back to the inside of the dock. Six followed, regardless of the more cramped space within. If he had to be more cautious inside so did the Seraph.

The chase continued, bullets flying as the Covenant fight flew the breath of the dock and then speeded out only to head inside the next frigate dock nearby. Six fired as the Seraph boosted towards its goal, managing to clip his shield. The seraph still managed to duck into the dock regardless and the chase continued. Although the docks were unoccupied, it was hard to fly in them in any case. Bits of metal and refitting apparatuses made like navigating a canyon down on a planet. Six kept getting shots on the Seraph as it bobbed and weaved among the machinery. Six did his best to match the Covies' moves. Pulling down when a beam was in the way, barrelling right when a welder was blocking the path, going sideways when docking clamps pushed near each other came into view. It was a hectic ride, one that probably would've made lesser pilots sick to their stomachs.

The seraph's shields were eaten away slowly, but it did not let up on leading the Sabre through the gauntlet. Whenever one dock ended the Seraph boosted towards another one and Six kept up the pursuit, for now at least. The Covie seemed determined to try and smash the Spartan against his own human machinery. A sort of ironic death perhaps, but Six wasn't about to give him the satisfaction. He let the Elite get comfortable with the strategy, as it gave him a chance to cut through his shields. The every turn the seraph had to make slowed it down just enough to get a few shots in. As they exited the third dock once more, back into the pitched battle still raging, the seraph made a beeline for the protection of another dock. However this time, Six didn't follow, not directly anyway. He flew over the dock, following the scurrying Seraph from above. He trained his guns on the exit point and fired as soon as the target reticule appeared. The guns tore through the Elites shields at last and slashed against the Seraph's armour as well. It wasn't enough to kill the Seraph, but it damaged it enough to spook it.

"Get me a lock Legion." Six requested as he barrelled down towards the Seraph. Once again it ducked into safety and Six followed only to try and get a sustained lock on him. It didn't take long. Six let the missiles fly and they burst out towards the alien craft. One smashed into a beam, the other a crane. Two met their mark. The first hit the left side of the engine, causing the Seraph to veer towards the wall. The second hit square in the Seraph's back. The craft was set ablaze before it slammed straight intot he wall of the dock.

But as Six flew through the debris, his exit was met with the sight of two more Seraphs. A parting gift from his now dead dance mate, his surviving wingmen had gotten into position to trap Six. They fired a full barrage of plasma, draining the shields to practically nothing. Six pulled a tight 180 degree turn witn the dock and boosted back out the way he came.

"Restoring shields to power." Legion declared

A small thin layer of shielding popped over Six's Sabre as he exited, the seraphs still in pursuit. Six flipped back towards them and let a torrent of fire spraying into the frigate dock. Both Seraphs' shields fell under the relentless attack. With little room to move they weren't able to dodge the bullets. Meanwhile the Sabre remained still in the void and just poured it on.

"Switching to missiles." Six said aloud as the seraphs neared the exit of the dock, firing their plasma guns once more. An idea formed at once in Six's head "Legion, think you can get the computer to target both-"

Two lock-on signals suddenly emerged over the Seraphs, as if Legion had practically read the Spartan's mind. The Spartan fired and four missiles sped towards their targets, two for each Seraph. The explosion tore apart the alien ships, brief explosion occurred into front of the docks before it vanished forever along with the Seraphs.

"How'd you do that?" Jorge asked Legion

"We used our own targeting parameters in conjunction with the Sabre's own targeting systems." The Geth explained "Unfortunately, it decreased lock-on speed by 22.4 percent. We apologise for being unable to acquire targets faster."

Six just chuckled. It was almost as if the jumble of programs had a collective sense of humour. Almost.

"No relax Legion," Six told him "you did good. Let's get back in the fray."

The Seraphs were slowly but surely beaten off. However, no one believed that this was all. The attack had been too small, this had been just been an attempt to soften them up. Unfortunately for them the Normandy had managed to even the odds. After it got the enemy off their tail, Joker had brought the full weight of the Normandy's weapons down upon the Seraphs. He had turned the Normandy back towards the fray and sped through the battle. Lasers slashed against the shields of the Covenant craft as Joker made his pass. The Sabres then moved in. Their shields down the Sabre's missiles blasted the Seraphs to dust. Normandy had added to the barrage with its own set of missiles. The alien ships managed to avoid some of the missiles, but eventually the lock-on fire and forget projectiles caught up with them.

The Sabres didn't come out clean however. Many of them had taken hits to their armour. While there were no casualties once more the scorched wings and tail flaps were reminders the seraphs had left their mark. Knowing that another greater push was soon to come did not help ease the dread.

"I'm gonna move the Normandy into intercept position Sabre teams." Joker announced "Whatever they throw at us I'll try to blast them out of the sky for ya, but I have a feeling they're gonna get through regardless."

"Just do your best Normandy." Six responded "Anchor 9, what's the status on your defensive turrets?"

"We've located the problem," came the reply "we just need another minute, tops."

A minute that no one had, as EDI and Dot once again pointed out for all to hear.

"I have detected approaching vessels, setting way points on their entry path." Dot informed all

"Scanners suggest it is a mixed grouping of several squadrons." EDI added "Seraphs and Banshees. Doubtlessly it is their main attack."

"No more poking a prodding then people," Six warned "we gotta show these Covies the door this time."

The Sabres spread out among the designated waypoints on their HUDs. Within moments of getting into position a swarm of assorted Covenant fighter craft speeded towards them. Six, like most of the other sabres, found himself in the thick of it. Seraphs and Banshees flew out towards them, firing their plasma cannons as they passed. The pack of alien fighters and their plasma fire filled the window of his cockpit. Six fired back, intending to at the very least kill a few of the onrushing banshees. His guns caught at least three as he navigated the onrushing torrent of Covenant ships. His view on cleared once the bulk of the attack force had flown past him. Without missing a beat he turned the sabre around and pursued the Banshees and Seraphs as they began to make their attack run on Anchor 9.

The Normandy did its best to set up a wall of fire. Banshees speed away from the GARDIAN laser shots, some were successful. Others found their vehicles sliced into by the Normandy's fire. The Banshees were dodging the shots, barrelling and dipping around the ether. Like a school of fish they darted apart when the laser shot at them or collectively pulled away. They never stood still for long, any Banshee that failed to move fast enough was caught in the beam. The lock on system for the lasers helped catch the Banshees now and then, but the Normandy wasn't always able to get a good target lock. The Seraphs, better shielding and with better weapons, weren't so easy to shoot down with a simple laser shot. To aid in the protection of their comrades the Seraphs made runs against the Normandy, forcing the ship to manoeuvre away from the attacking fighters.

Joker gritted his teeth with every plasma strike against the shield. The seraphs weren't giving him time to get a lock on anything, more less he just had to fire into groups of ships and hope he made a dent. When he could get a lock he just as quick had to shift the Normandy in another direction to avoid a wing of seraphs. They were relentless, determined to keep the biggest advantage the humans had right now from being effective. To say Joker was pissed off was an understatement.

"I will not be out flown by these jackasses!" he shouted "EDI, I need ideas!"

"I have one," she said "give me a moment to confer with Mrs. Goto."

"What does she have to do with-"

Joker was interrupted by a blast against the portside of the ship as another wing of Seraphs dived down from above on the Frigate.

"If they wreck our paint job I will not be responsible for my actions!" Joker complained

Six had already sped past the Normandy in pursuit of a wing of Seraphs making their run on the station. They were curving in an arc towards its side, most likely to do the most damage by flying across it rather than over. Their wide turn made them susceptible targets, but more than likely they were confident in their shields.

Six pulled the trigger and let loose a good long solid burst at the lead Seraph. The shields on the alien craft sparked blue as the bullets hit the craft. He and his fellow seraphs barrelled left, maintaining formation as Six kept trying to keep his reticule on them.

"Slippery bastards." Six said gritting his teeth.

As he kept his eyes glued to the Seraph wing, his own shields suddenly spiked. From a below his sabre, a Banshee had let loose it's cannons, knocking Six out of his concentrated tunnel vision on the seraphs. Six barrelled to the side as the Banshee flew up and past him. It appeared the alien intended to ram him had he not moved. Six motioned the Sabre back around with ease and fired a stream of rounds, catching the Banshee in its wing and then trailing up toward its plasma cell. The banshee exploded shortly after.

"We could use some extra firepower up here Anchor 9!" Six called over the radio "what the status on-"

"Defences up!" Shouted the station on all channels "All guns! Target the enemy now!"

Anchor 9 lit up like a Christmas tree. Its turrets sprang to life and began blasting out tracer rounds towards the incoming banshees and Seraphs. A flight of Banshees were tore into as they made their run on the station, aiming directly for one of the hangers where a high concentration of turrets was set up. One of the Banshees was hit square in the cockpit. Whether the controls or the pilot were hit no one could say. It made little difference which as the Banshee suddenly careened into its wingman. It too was knocked off course and straight into the path of another Turret's fire. The resulting rupture of the plasma cell when it was hit by the gun's rounds destroyed it and the nearby already heavily damaged Banshee. The remaining fighter tried to veer off, but it was unable to escape the turret's tracers for long.

Six returned his eyes to the Seraphs again, specifically the wing that got away. It already made one run on the station. The armour had held but it had been a successful run none the less, none of the ships had been shot down. Their shields however had been raked pretty badly from the looks of it. Seraphs on weak shields practically looked like fireflies. They were already making another pass and this was Six's chance to strike before they hit the station again. He had legion boost the engines as best the Geth could and race towards the Seraphs. He fired his guns all the way, and with the added turret support soon enough they were all stripped of their protective glow. Six switched to Missiles and targeted the lead Seraph as it began to turn in to the station to rake it with plasma. He got a lock and fired two missiles at the Seraph. They curved towards the alien craft, slamming into the vehicle at precisely the same moment. What was left of the Seraph burnt out moments later and his wing broke off in a panic. Another Sabre flew off to chase down the wing man on the left. Six went for the one that bolt right behind the station itself.

"Calculating estimated target trajectory." Legion's voice echoed over the computer.

A trail of dots appeared on Six's HUD, detailing a path that led down and under the station. Six followed the path, ducking down to the bottom of Anchor 9, intending to meet the Seraph as he flew out from behind the station. Sure enough he appeared, just a few inches off from where Legion suggested. Six wondered what the precise look on the Elite's face was as he locked eyes with the Sabre coming right at him. The lock-on alarm sounded and the missiles flew out directly at the Seraph's cockpit. The craft exploded in a brilliant blue light and Six turned his attention back to his friends still in the fight.

The Normandy meanwhile had been taking bug bites from the Covenant ships for awhile now. Joker didn't think any one of the Seraphs could take down the Normandy, but they didn't have to. They just had to keep harassing it so they could have a better shot at the station. The real danger was the Seraphs disabling the ship somehow, meaning the Normandy wouldn't be able to back up the others in the real fight until they squared away their repairs.

They couldn't let that happen. Thankfully EDI finally came through with her plan.

"With Mrs. Goto's assistance I believe I have a connection to the computer systems aboard some of the Seraphs attacking the Normandy." She explained "It is a weak connection but we have logged into their systems remotely nonetheless."

"Good, make'em explode." Joker asked as he fired twin lasers that smacked against the shield of a Seraph as it passed overhead.

"I cannot unfortunately. Remote access to such crucial systems is heavily protected by a number of safeguards pre-programmed into the craft's computers." EDI explained "However it would seem the Seraph's shields are more vulnerable to cyber warfare attacks. They have relatively weaker safeguards to say the least. Perhaps the Covenant did not imagine any human vessel could tap into those systems and left them less guarded."

Joker smiled broadly.

"So you can just them off?" he asked with a glow in his eyes.

"Indeed, and once the shields are down they'll have no protection from our missile pods." EDI continued "I have already sent a virus to several of the Seraph's onboard computers. Specifically designed to order their shields turned off. It should become active... now."

Suddenly the glow around a large number of Seraphs vanished. Their defences downed with relative ease.

"The virus will soon be purged from the system and the Seraphs shields recharged." EDI warned "I doubt I will be able to establish another connection. Make this one count Jeff."

"Don't need to tell me twice." Joker quipped.

Within moments he cued up the missiles and targeted several Seraphs. The missiles ejected out of their pods and sped towards their prey. Like comets they hurtled into the Seraphs, blasting them apart as the Normandy sped through their wreckage. Ten Seraphs destroyed with one attack, it was a devastating blow to the Covenant forces. Joker couldn't help but let out a boisterous cheer.

Six kept after a wing of Banshees as the duck and dived through the void. It didn't take too long though to eventually rip them apart with a sustained machine gun blast. However in the process of the chase Six had picked up a tail, in fact, he picked up a few. At least two wings of Seraphs, three fighters each, fired on the Spartan's sabre, buffering the shields down to twenty percent within moments.

"Look like our head count is starting to get noticed." Jorge grumbled

"Legion, divert all available power to shields and engines!" Six ordered aloud

Legion responded with action, encasing the Sabre with reinforced shield just as the plasma shots began to tear into the armour. Sabre suddenly flipped over and sped towards the Seraphs, firing its cannon to clear a path. Seraphs let the Sabre pass, but were quick to follow. Six soon found himself zigzagging across the sky just to avoid the massive amount of plasma coming at him. He needed to lighten this tail if only a little. With a sudden jerk of the stick he pulled up high and looped around to catch one of the Seraph's from above. Its pilot hadn't expected the sudden move. His comrades kept close to Six, matching the loop, but this seraph was at the back of the pack itself. It was at the tail end of the loop. Like a snake eating its own tail, Six fired his guns into the shields of the Seraph, quickly dispersing them. Six changed to Missiles, waited for the tone and fired a full compliment at the Seraph that was only just then getting into the loop itself. The Covenant craft exploded and Six flew through the debris, the remaining five Seraph's on his tail.

Six levelled the Sabre once more. The seraph's quickly resumed their attack. Six however wasn't out of tricks just yet. He had another ace up his sleeve. Or more accurately he had a Joker.

"Normandy," Six announced over the radio "I'm bringing five of them past your starboard section. Lock on and fire at will!"

Six got real close to the Normandy, practically skating on its shields. Plasma shots trailed up towards the Sabre's tail section, spiking the shields slightly. Six sped past the cockpit of the Normandy soon enough however. The Seraph's followed suit, completely forgetting about the frigate they had past and the fact they had wandered into its targeting vector. Two GARDIAN laser beams slashed at the shields of the Seraphs with two of them taking a direct hit. The Normandy quickly fired a salvo of rockets at the two Seraphs, blowing them out of the sky.

"Be advised you still have three bogies on ya Six!" Joker shouted over the comm. "Wait a sec..."

A number of Banshees suddenly streamed into view, taking up formation alongside the three remaining Seraphs.

"I'm counting at least 3 banshees joining the fray!" Joker warned

"I can handle them." Six assured.

With a sudden jerk of the stick, Six circled left and began to circle around the void. As he turned he pulled up on the stick ever so lightly, as if he were a house caught in the grip of a tornado. His enemies followed him, staying within the eye of the windless twister the Spartan had created. Their fire came at the sabre from every direction as Six continued to circle up further into the void. Then suddenly he broke away from his twisting climb and doubled over. He pointed the nose of the Sabre straight down, through the very eye of the maelstrom he had made. A mass of Covenant ships was flying up to meet him. Six just smiled.

"Gotcha." He whispered

The engines boosted to life and Six sped towards the enemy ships, guns blazing all the way. The Covenant had packed themselves so close that the Spartan barely needed to aim. The Banshees went first, the bullets ripping through their armour with ease. The Seraphs fired back as Six blasted through them, taking their shields with him as he went. The move was not without consequence. Six's shields were dwindled to nothing and his wings were charred by the plasma bolts. In the end, however, the Sabre had mustered through the onslaught and came out the other side intact.

Six pointed the nose back, turning the craft a full 180 degrees. He then fired a full salvo of Missiles into the mass of Seraphs from below as the Covenant tried to turn and follow the Sabre downward. The lack of a lock at this time made the salvo haphazard, but the surprise move had stunned one seraph long enough for two of them to connect with its underbelly. A tone sounded as one of the seraphs began to train its guns on Six. The missiles ejected out of their pods and struck the outer ring of the Serpah's saucer shape. The final Seraph rocketed towards Six firing all the way, but a second tone had already rung out and just as quickly two more missiles were flying. Six watched as what he assumed was the cockpit of the Seraph exploded upon impact with the warheads.

Jorge was about to congratulate Six on the expert flying, but unfortunately Dot and EDI ended that prospect.

"More incoming enemy craft," Dot warned "Six separate entry jump points."

"Targets are bigger," EDI warned "transport craft. The Covenant are no doubt attempting to board the station."

EDI's prediction was proven a hundred percent accurate soon enough. Six Phantom transport vehicles suddenly appeared on the edge of the perimeter. What was left of the seraphs and Banshees flew towards them all to protect them as they began to encroach upon Anchor 9.

"Oh hell no." Joker said defiantly "Time to remind these bastards who they're dealing with. EDI is Zaeed in the gunnery station?"

"Indeed, as per Shepard's orders." The AI replied

"Open a channel to him." Joker added quickly. With a beeping sound, Joker spoke aloud "Massani, is the Thanix primed?"

"What you think I've been doing down here? Sitting on me arse?" The merc's gruff voice responded "Targeting solutions are loaded and everything! Fire the bloody thing!"

Joker smiled broadly. As a large distinct targeting reticule appeared, Joker quickly tapped the display. The devastating gun, already lowered into firing position, charged up and sent a streaming blue beam of liquid metal straight at the Phantom. Overkill? Perhaps, but it did the job nonetheless. It tore through the shields and the transport itself in seconds and the Phantom exploded into violent fiery ball just moments after.

"I frickin love that gun!" Joker said on the verge of laughing "Let's shoot it off again. It's been too damn long."

Another Thanix Cannon blast shot out, tearing open yet another Phantom with ease. A third of the attack force was now gone and the Phantoms left quickly took notice. They veered away from the Normandy, fearful of another attack, but that did not mean they were safe. As the Normandy flew one way to engage the two Phantoms on the right, Six and a large number of Sabres went left.

"Don't let them near Anchor 9!" Six ordered "All Sabres target one of the two Phantoms with your missiles, bring them down now!"

The Sabres launched a salvo of missiles at the Phantom. The hulking transports fired back, their plasma cannons striking at the incoming Sabres, but the incoming fire was just too much for them to bear. Six, who was at the head of the wing, boosted forward, firing as many missiles as he could into the underbelly of the Phantom closest to them. The cannons that littered the underside of the transport were quickly cleared away and moments later the Phantom itself began to spark and short, blue energy pouring out of its engines.

Six was relatively close to the critical condition ship and pulled down on the stick, diving under the Phantom as it exploded. The short-lived fireball lit up the cockpit as Six rocketed past the destroyed ship and it's debris. The second Phantom was still a ways off and closing in on the station itself. Six boosted up behind the transport and let loose a barrage of missiles at its engines. Other Sabres followed suit and before long the backside of the Phantom was practically on fire. A sudden explosion ripped the transport in half, ending its threat to Anchor 9.

Six now looked right to see how Joker was doing on his end. He just barely saw the end result of the Normandy's handiwork, as a torpedo slammed into the back of one of the Phantoms, destroying it with ease.

"Best damn ship in the galaxy assholes!" Joker shouted proudly "Don't you genocidal fundies forget it!"

What was left of the Covenant in the sector quickly fled with the deaths of their transports, there had been too few of them to put up an adequate defence for their comrades. Within moments the Seraphs and Banshees that had survived the onslaught boosted out of range and the ether around Anchor 9 was clear again.

"Yeah that's right you better run!" shouted one of the Sabre pilots "Run all the way back to whatever hole you fuckers crawled out of!"

Six didn't share the pilot's enthusiasm. This had been the easy part of the mission after all. They still had a ship to take. With that in mind, Six turned his Sabre towards the station and readied for docking. As the clamps came down upon the small vessel, Jorge moved up in his seat.

"Alright, I'm headed out. Suit is sealed." The big Spartan began "Popping canopy."

The computer buzzed, keeping the canopy locked tight as Jorge's re-entry pack was apparently disengaged. Legion quickly overrode the computer upon Jorge's request and canopy opened wide. Jorge floated out into the ether. He pressed himself against the Sabre now, looking down, perhaps suddenly understanding how truly high up they were. With a slight bit of hesitation, Jorge looked back at the cockpit. Quickly he steeled his nerves and pushed himself off the Sabre. He then began gliding towards a nearby Pelican. As he did however, a reminder of what was at stake made itself known to the Spartan.

Jorge looked down upon the planet below them. He could see the tail end of explosions occurring all across the Eposz continent. There were more and more by the second. Jorge wondered how far the fighting had spread, how bad things had gotten since they left.

This hadn't been the homecoming he was ready for. He knew Reach was had been at risk of invasion, every colony was. He hadn't imagined it would happen this fast though. He thought that maybe they had more time. He now realised that he had been fooling himself with that. Now they were almost out of time and all Jorge could do right now was watch as his home was torn apart from several thousand feet above its surface. This was where he had been born, and in a sense reborn as well. Now, he watching it die before his very eyes.

"This breaks my heart." He said aloud to himself in Hungarian.

"Noble Five? Please repeat." Dot requested in his ear

Jorge remembered just then that he wasn't alone, and he hadn't turned off his com-link. Shaking his head he focused. He suddenly thought about something, he wanted to be sure.

"Pull up surface grid, nineteen by twenty-two." He told Dot, a slight tinge of concern in his voice.

"Gladly." Dot replied "ONI Sword Base: Sector 18-G"

Jorge saw the picture in his visor, a satellite image of the carnage below. Huge blue explosions erupted across the surface of the planet, devastating the ice shelf. The blue clouds left in the wake of the blasts soon turned a bright red. Jorge demanded a thermal enhanced view of the grid, his tone more agitated than before. His fists clenched as he watched the explosions rock the sector, no doubt killing who knew how many people. Dot, despite being a dumb AI, seemingly picked up however that Jorge was only concerned with one.

"Noble Five, your pulse is elevated." She informed him, a strange sense of concern in her usually glib tone "There is nothing you can do for Doctor Halsey and the others inside Sword Base. The mathematics are determinate.

Jorge didn't respond. He didn't it spelled out for him. He didn't like that Dot was reminding him of that little fact. But then again, what exactly did he hope to accomplish with this anyway? There was nothing he could do. There wasn't anything they could do. Not now anyway, not from here.

"Noble Five?" Dot spoke up

Jorge was snapped out of his stupor by that. Instantly, he regretted requesting the grid image. However, in a sense he had needed it. Most of Noble Team could be detached from the fight, detached from what was happening on Reach and focus on the task at hand. It's what made a Spartan good at his or her job. But Jorge? He couldn't be detached from it. Not when it was this planet. Not when it was his people. Not when it was his home. It was impossible. More importantly, he felt it was necessary.

"I know." He finally morosely responded to Dot

As he spoke, his glide ended and he clambered up along the side of the Pelican. The drive was firmly secured inside its hold. He patted it lightly.

Six, who had been listening to everything over the Com and watching Jorge's flight towards the Pelican couldn't help but feel for his team mate. He didn't say anything though. Jorge didn't need someone to comfort him. He'd been with the Spartan II long enough to know that do so would be condescending and insulting. He was watching his world burn, what could he possibly tell Jorge in response to that?

Six was soon given the clear to re-engage thrusters. When he did, he flew out of dock and alongside Jorge's pelican.

"Noble Six this is Holland." Sounded the com-link.

"Go ahead colonel." Six replied

"We've just got out in." The colonel told him "We've flagged a Covenant corvette on a predicted docking path with our target. Noble five will escort the bomb onto the Corvette you and your Sabres will clear the way for boarding. Do all that, and we have our delivery system."

"Understood Colonel." Six replied matter of factly

Six passed the Pelican now, flying close to the Savannah as it uncoupled from the Station.

"Since she has already donated her drive to the cause the Savannah will go with you and the Normandy to provide additional fire support." Holland added

"UNSC Savannah, sir." The frigate's captain sounded over the comm. "Our wings may be clipped but we got your back!"

"Same here!" Joker called out over the radio "If we can disable a battle cruiser with this thing we can sure as hell keep that Corvette from lining up a shot."

That meant they had two frigates, one with a major set of teeth, and several squadrons of Sabres against one corvette and its escort. Six had to admit, as far as the air fight went, those were good odds.

"I've stuck my neck out for Noble Team on this one, lieutenant" Holland concluded

Six looked over at Jorge's pelican, the grip on his Sabre's stick tightening.

"We'll get it done sir." Six declared "count on it. Six, over and out."

As the taskforce began to fly off to intercept the corvette, Legion added their own appraisement of the upcoming mission.

"Statistical odds of success seem to be more in our favor than previously predicted." They said

"Do I wanna know where we are now exactly?" Six wondered, somewhat hesitant to hear the answer.

"Best case scenario of destruction of Carrier now at forty-seven percent probability." Legion explained "Worst case scenario of mission failure, resulting in all participating UNSC and Normandy assets at fifty-two percent."

"What's the other one percent?" Six asked, quickly wondering why in the hell he did so.

"One percent chance of premature detonation while onboard Corvette." Legion replied quickly

Six shifted in his seat slightly.

"Super, that's comforting I guess." Six grumbled to himself. "Well, when has any of this been easy huh?"

"Consensus concluded." Legion piped up "Difficulty so far has been considerably high."

Six shook his head, a smile returning to him a bit.

"That was a hypothetical question Legion." Six told the Geth

"Apologies." Legion replied "We find that organics rarely clarify their statements' meanings. We have had trouble properly determining their conveyance at times."

Six now broke out in a slight chuckle.

"Sometimes I wonder if you're intentionally alleviating these dire situations or if you're being honest." He beamed.

"Geth do not lie." Legion quickly answered.

"That was another hypothetical Legion." Six informed him, the unseen grin still plastered on his face

* * *

><p>The Corvette floated in the ether, it's only company the escort of Banshees and Seraphs. It was a relatively calm scene, despite the destruction the vessel's mothership was wreaking below. Said Mothership could be seen far off in the distance. It's menacing silhouette a constant reminder of who controlled this part of space now. The Corvette's crew was relaxed more or less. There were no humans to glass or continents to raze. No, a simple docking procedure with the Supercarrier was all that was in store for them so far.<p>

This was a prospect that did not sit well for one group aboard the Corvette, a squad of Batarian terrorists. Balak had promised them more than this when they started travelling with these stupid zealots. He promised humans to kill. Now they say aboard this purple ship, as extra security, while their brothers below were getting to slaughter filthy hairless apes below. Each of them secretly wondered if they had pissed Balak off, if he had informed their Covenant benefactors to keep them stuck on this ship.

"I'm gonna go crazy waiting in this hunk of metal." Complained one of them "When are we gonna get some action already?"

"We could always try and steal one of those dropships when we get to the carrier." Suggested another "We use it to sneak down to the planet and plasma heat some humans before they catch us. Hell, they'd probably give us a medal."

Another of the Batarians, just snarled.

"We wouldn't get past the Sangheilis." He replied, as he smoothed the barrel of the grenade launcher in his hands "Bastards are strict."

"So what do we do Chakam?" Asked the previous Batarian "We haven't gotten our chance to fight yet! All of Balak's promises, that we'd get some real combat experience for the real fight back home, that we'd sate our desire for revenge, they're all for nothing so far! At least as far as we're concerned. Those damn Krogan are probably seeing more action than us! It's insulting."

"We're not sure of that." Chakam replied calmly "No one is telling us about what those stupid lizards are doing down there. And even if they are, it doesn't matter. We'll get our chance soon enough. I heard the shipmaster boasting about a coming push planetside. All we gotta do is tell him how we want to help out for the glory of those foresprinters or whatever they call them. They'll eat it up and we'll get our mission. For just be patient."

Chakam's advice didn't have much time to sink in as the Corvette's alarm sounded loudly in the next instance. Rushing past their little corner of the ship, the Batarians saw every Covenant species onboard scrambling over one another as the sirens blared. Chakam pushed aside one of his fellows and out into the hallway proper. His grenade launcher was readied in one hand along with a plasma pistol in the other.

"See boys?" he said looking back "That didn't take so long now did it?"

* * *

><p>"We're currently jamming the Corvette's comms." The savannah's captain told the Sabres "Hit it hard while it can't call for help."<p>

"Agreed. Sabres, clear a path to that Corvette!" Holland ordered over the comms.

They had caught the Covenant ship off guard. Its escort scrambled desperately into defensive formations, trying to counter the incoming humans. The Normandy flew off at the head of the pack. It couldn't use any of its heavy weapons like the Thanix against the Corvette. They needed it intact after all. Still, that didn't stop Joker from using the other weapons on board to wreak havoc against its defences. The Normandy only needed one pass with a GARDIAN laser strike to melt away two plasma anti-air turrets on the port side. In any case, Joker was hoping that the Normandy's presence alone would keep the escort off the Sabres long enough for them to board the ship.

The Savannah was quick to join the fight next. It rained fire down upon the Corvette and its escort. None of the shots were meant to kill the ship, merely to keep its attention away from the Sabres as they started their runs. The Corvette of course fired back, but the human ship was tough. It was able to take a beating from the alien vessel with ease, its armour plating absorb the plasma fire for now.

The Sabres weren't completely unmolested though. The Corvette's escort was substantial enough for them to receive a considerable welcome from the seraphs and Banshees. Six skidded past an oncoming Seraph fighter as he flew into the fray. He could see the plasma trace past the cockpit from the corner of his eye. A banshee flew in as he closed on the Corvette itself. The shield absorbed the shots and Six kept barrelled away from the oncoming Covenant craft. He turned stopped and turned the Sabre as it came alongside the banshee and let the alien fly unsuspecting into his guns' crossfire. Six put boosted the Sabre forward once more as the Banshee broke apart. His flight path took him near the back of the ship, where the Corvette's engines were glowing brightly. It was no doubt trying to escape and get out of the Savannah's jamming range.

"Sabre teams," the Savannah's captain called out "if you can take out the thrusters on the back of the Corvette we can slow the ship down. Make it easier to board."

"Leave it to me Savannah." Six assured

He turned his Sabre around and let his missiles lock on to the Corvette's thrusters. A full salvo of four missiles ejected out into the void of space and detonated upon impact with first engine. There was a small explosion of blue light as the flames from the engine died.

At that moment the Normandy flew into view and launched its own salvo on the back of the Corvette. Two torpedoes slammed into the Corvette's backside, effectively destroying two more of the thrusters.

"Last one's yours Sabres!" Joker called out "I still have a slippery Seraph to blast to pieces!"

Six got in close and fired another salvo at the last engine, not even waiting for lock on this time. He was so close he didn't even need it. He veered away from the backside of the Corvette as it exploded violently. The Corvette's speed suddenly slowed drastically, it would be much easier to land on now. Well, once they got rid of its friends of course.

One of those friends, a lone Seraph fighter, came up from behind Six as he passed along the breath of the Corvette. Its plasma shots were joined by those of the turrets, the Spartan was now caught in a deadly crossfire. Quickly Six dived down, passing the outer ring of the ship's construction. The design feature was useful as a way to lose a tail, as the seraph scraped its hull against the ring as it passed, trying to catch up to the nimble Sabre. Six continued to lead the seraph on a winding tour of the underside of the Corvette. As he did he looked to the computer.

"Legion, can you tell where the gun battery is from under here?" he asked

A waypoint marker appeared on Six's HUD and Six flew straight towards it. He was gonna be cutting close here. He pulled up into the fray of the anti-air batteries, plasma pelting his shield. But the plasma fire screen was not discriminating. As Six rose up from below the Corvette, so did his pursuer. The Plasma blasts hurt them both. The friendly fire eventually ceased when they realised they were endangering their comrade, but the damage had been done, the Seraph's shields were almost gone. The alien kept on the Spartan's tail as it dove for the deck of the Corvette, aiming for the anti air turrets that were too afraid to fire for fear of hitting their own ship. Nevertheless, Legion boosted the shields to be safe, giving them a bit more power. At the last second Six pulled back on the stick and rose up, avoiding a collision with the gun battery. The Seraph unfortunately was not so quick and smashed straight into the very ship it was trying to protect, destroying an anti-air plasma turret and damaging two more.

As Six crested the top of the Corvette, he saw the Normandy not too far away. It fired a swarm of missiles at a group of Seraphs as the Sabres who lowered their shields scattered for cover. Over near the Savannah another Seraph spun out of control as its guns tore apart the small craft.

"You got a head count on the bad guys Legion?" Six asked

"Numbers dwindling." The Geth informed "Estimate total air superiority in-"

Legion was suddenly interrupted by Dot's voice over the radio.

"Warning. Energy flares detected in Corvette's aft launch bays." She warned

"Multiple impulse drives detected." EDI added over the comms "Enemy reinforcements approaching."

At once a swarm of Seraphs and Banshees rushed over Six's Sabre. The Spartan was thrown out of his complacency now and he boosted the engines to catch up with the new attacking wave.

"I thought we were jamming their communications!" shouted one of the Sabre pilots in anger "Where are these reinforcements coming from?"

"It must be a returning fighter wing!" The Savannah replied "They probably just got back from patrol!"

"Kill them all!" Holland ordered with barely contained rage "If even one slips away and warns the carrier this mission is scrapped!"

Six was already on it. With his thumb practically glued to the trigger, a blaze of fiery tracers tore one of the Banshee flights to pieces in seconds. Six pressed the initiative attacking the Seraph wing first as it tried to break away. He wasn't about to let one of these Covies get away from them.

"All Sabres," Six ordered coolly "lead your targets into the path of the Normandy. Joker get your missiles warmed up and your lasers ready we're sending a stampede your way."

"Oh boy, I always wanted to be in a rodeo." Joker said with usual drool attitude "Don't worry EDI and me gotcha covered."

The Sabres came from all sides, blocking the paths of the Seraphs and Banshees from every angle. Their bullets lit up the dark ether, coming from all directions. Most Banshees ended up getting torn to shreds by the crossfire within moments. Meanwhile the Seraphs dodged and weaved through the tracers, their shields protecting them from the rounds that hit them. Some of the Sabres were even raked by their fellow human pilots. That was how tight the encirclement was. Whenever a Covie tried to break from the pack a Sabre was quick to force him back into the kill zone.

Slowly but surely the swarm of Sabres led the Covenant away from their Corvette and towards the Normandy as it rushed into firing position. Joker had EDI get as many target locks on the enemy as she could. Lasers and missiles alike were all trained on the enemy. The Sabres suddenly broke off from the corralled Covenant. That was when the sky lit up in a furious barrage. Lasers and missiles from the Normandy and tracers from the Savannah who had moved into position as well, pelted the Covenant within the kill zone. Banshees disintegrated as the lasers and turrets cut through their lightly armoured hides. Seraphs, their shields pummelled from the Sabre attacks, were now either destroyed outright or lost what was left of their protection.

As the Normandy's missiles found their marks, blowing the covenant fighters into dust, the Sabres swooped in once more to finish off what was left. Six barrelled down from above, closing in on a Seraph that was trying to limp back to the Corvette. A missile lock sealed its fate and the right side of the saucer broke apart as the warhead collided with it. The Seraph flipped sideways in the opposite direction, folded its' outer structure over itself and exploded.

"All targets down." The Savannah reported "Good work Sabre teams."

"Hey I did half the work!" Joker cockily boasted.

Holland wasn't one to pat anyone on the back however. He was quick to remind them of the task at hand.

"Dot, find Noble Six a place to land" he said over the radio "Scan the whole ship for a good spot for him and the others to get inside."

Six had already made his way towards the Corvette and was scanning the ship for a suitable landing spot. Dot thankfully didn't need long to pinpoint.

"Scans indicate a structural weakness surrounding a platform on top of the vessel. Designating."

Six spotted it. It was on the back of the Corvette, a single strip of metal covered the landing pad itself. From here he could see an energy shield covering and open top on the Corvette. That was their way in. Six went in for a landing as did the other Sabre teams.

"Get back in your platform Legion." Six informed the Geth "We have a ship to take."

"Acknowledged." Legion replied civilly.

Six's Sabre floated towards the landing zone. The fighter lowered its landing gear touched down and was soon joined by its fellow Sabres. Six gathered his gear and popped the canopy. Legion wasn't far behind. The synthetic rose up from behind the Sabre's cockpit, Geth assault rifle in hand and Widow Sniper rifle on its back.

"Platform fully functional." Legion assured "Awaiting mission parameters."

Holland was quick to provide them as the other Sabre pilots exited their own ships in their pressure sealed combat suits.

"The Savannah's countermeasures won't hold out forever Noble Six." He told the Spartan "Get in there and disable the Corvette's communications permanently. If our knowledge of Covenant ship records is accurate you should be right above the comms center, so this works out just fine for us."

Six peered over the side of the platform and down into the comms center. He could see a number of Elites in full Ranger armour keeping a watch over the place. Scattered about the room along with them were the bodies of several Grunts and Jackals. All of them had probably been killed when the atmosphere in the ship gave way if the suited Elites were any indication. Six raised his gun up and cocked it.

"Well, back to the slog I guess." He said, trying his best not sound morose about it.

He stepped off the ledge and slowly floated down into the comms station. The artificial gravity on the ship was no doubt malfunctioning. The descent was slower than it would've been on Reach. When Six landed he just outside the circular platform that constituted the communication equipment for the ship. His feet were firmly planted on the bridge between it and the outer ring of the upper level for the room. It didn't take long for the closest Elite to spot him.

An Elite in Ranger class armour was almost an eerie alien reflection of a Spartan in some ways. It was the visor, so many Elite helmets either proudly displayed their faces or only had two little eye holes. The helmet more or less always seemed fit to form over an Elite's head. Ranger helmets were much bigger and while they still conformed to the shape of an Elite's head the glass visor that covered them was just so similar to their own helmets. For a Spartan it was like staring at perverse doppelganger. Six backed away slightly when the Elite spotted him, partly for this reason and to get better cover than this open bridge. He fired his assault rifle at the Elite as he rushed back. The Elite returned the favour in kind, his plasma rifle practically steaming up in his hands as he fired. Six got to cover just as his shields went out.

Then from on high, fire rained down on the Elite. Legion had stepped through the shield up top and was now firing upon the Elite from behind as he made his descent. The Geth Assault Rifle made taking apart the alien's shields far too easy. Legion landed in the very center of the communications hub, amongst their equipment and one other Elite in ranger armour. Six darted out from cover, renewing his assault on the now unshielded Elite in front of him. The bullets quickly cut through the pressurized armour. As the Elite clutched his now shredded torso Six belted the alien across the side of his head with the butt of his rifle. The Alien toppled off the side of the bridge and slowly floated to the ground.

Legion had just got acquainted with the second Elite amongst the communications equipment. The machine had been kicked away with enough force to stagger it back into one of the consoles on the opposite side of the ring. The Geth quickly regained its composure and activated the platform's extra shielding layer. The Elite took out two plasma rifles and fired them at the Geth. The shields absorbed the attack, giving Legion enough time to dive out of the way. As Six came in to back up the synthetic, his assault rifle blaring, the Elite activated his jetpack and flew backwards onto the outer upper platform ring.

As the rest of the strike team dropped down, Six helped Legion to their feet.

"Got to clear these bastards out and fast." He told the machine

"We concur." Legion replied "Suggest use of close range weaponry."

Six eyed one of the troopers with a shotgun. He tossed the kid his assault rifle and in kind the soldier threw his shotgun over. He knew better than to deny a Spartan a weapon.

"You go left, I go right, we meet up in the middle and drop down." Six said, laying out his strategy quickly.

"Agreed." The Geth concurred as they lifted their assault rifle to bare.

As they finished laying out their plan the Elite from before popped out from cover and fired his plasma rifles into the mass of humans plus one synthetic. Half the troopers went with Six, the other half went with Legion. As they did the other Elites within the room began to fire upon them as well. It was a close shave for the strike teams, but they managed to get to cover before the plasma cut them down.

"Remain in close proximity." Legion told the troopers.

"Um... yes sir." Responded one of them, his voice seemingly unsure if that was how you replied to a machine that was giving you commands. Still, there was time to argue who was in charge. Better to just let the robot lead.

The Elites jet packed up to the second level intending to stand their ground there. Legion decided to let the drone go first, draw them out of cover. The rolling ball of light appeared and quickly made its way over to the nearest Elite up ahead. A single shock sent the Elite reeling out of cover. He tried to stomp the drone, but it ducked away. It shocked him again and in anger the Elite shot at the Drone. His fellow brothers in arms followed, determined to destroy the threat. That was when Legion rushed forward, firing its assault rifle. The Geth plasma easily cut through the Elites shields. Just in time for the Drone itself to go critical from the damage that was being inflicted on it. The ball of energy exploded sending one Elite hurtling down the hall. His more shielded brethren were lucky to survive, he wasn't.

With no defences left, Legion swooped in and fired a stream of rounds into the Elites' heads. The platform's Geth shielding was once again active and the return fire from the Elites themselves was unable to stop the machine's advance. Legion went from head to head, until all three remaining Elites were dead.

Six was engaging the dual wielding Elite and two of its' kind. They were not much for staying in cover, they opted to simple evade the enemy's fire out in the open. It served them well, Elites were quick footed. Bullets seemed to whizz by them as they ducked and rolled through the hallway. They'd meet Legion's end of this pincer movement soon enough, but Six was hoping it wouldn't get that far. He threw himself against the cover of a nearby nook in the hallway. Plasma bolts slammed against the bulkhead as the Spartan readied a grenade. He tossed it down towards the Elites and watched it explode. Their shields absorbed the blast and the one with the dual plasma rifles had rolled away. But the grenade had winded them enough and stopped their shooting long enough for Six to get close.

The Spartan closed the distance now and he fired a point blank blast into one Elite's head as it crouched to the ground in the aftermath of the grenade blast. The other Elite lunged at Six, only for the Spartan to turn quickly and fire the shotgun into its mouth. Now only the Elite with the dual plasma rifles remained alive, his grip tightening around his weapons upon seeing the deaths of his comrades. Six turned the shotgun on him now and fired another round of buckshot. The shield absorbed the attack, the Elite has the luxury of distance from it unlike his comrades. He jumped back further, still firing his plasma rifles as he did. Six sprinted forward towards the Elite now and ignored the fact his shields were taking a pounding as he did. As the warning light flared, signalling a loss of shields, Six got close enough to connect the business end of his shotgun with the head of the Elite. The force of the attack sent the alien staggering. One of his guns fell out of his hand as he tried to regain his footing. He turned back just in time for the lieutenant to fire another round straight into the Covie. The blast sent the Elite flipping over backwards and onto the ground with a thud. The alien lay there twitching for a bit before expiring at last.

At this moment, Legion rushed up to join Six.

"Area secured." Legion declared "Communications unmanned."

"Good let's get to the hanger bay." Six told him, just a bit out of breath "We have to open the door for Jorge."

Over the radio they could hear Holland informing the Savannah of the good news. With the Comm Relay offline they were diverting all power to weapons systems to keep the corvette in check. That wasn't much of a concern for Six and Legion, but it helped to know that the Covenant had their midns on more than just them.

The strike team rushed down the steps to the ground floor of the comms room. They made their way forward, rushing past the doors as they slid open and revealed the hallway beyond. Two grunts with hydrogen masks covering their faces were there to greet them, immediately firing their plasma pistols as the doors opened wide. Legion, who had procured a plasma repeater off of one of the dead Elites fired back as the Geth rushed forward. The first Grunt took a shot the eye, puncturing his breathing mask. He fell backwards rather quickly, clutching at his throat from the lack of proper atmosphere. The second Grunt was shot more cleanly through the head with Six's shotgun. The Spartan stepped over the alien's body and moved on. From there it was a straight shot from here to the hanger, both rooms only a few feet away from one another.

As the second pair of doors opened they found themselves on the upper landing of a flight of stairs. In front of them were three large pylon structures, emitting some kind of energy, amongst those pylons were Covenant. Strewn about the hanger floor were crates full of weapons and boxes pulsating with blue plasma energy, strangely enough the Covenant hadn't secured to obviously dangerous material. They had really caught this ship off guard. That didn't meant the Covenant were completely unprepared, even from here Six and Legion could see snipers nests across the way. Above them was a large overlook landing, perfect for maintaining the high ground against the enemy. They needed to kill those Skirmisher snipers first however.

The Covenant spotted them relatively quickly, forcing the strike team to rush up the steps. Six had already switched to his DMR rifle and Legion readied its Widow.

"We'll take care of the snipers," Six told the troopers as they rushed up the steps "lay down fire on the bad guys below!"

Legion had gotten up top first, quickly the Geth took aim. A skirmisher's head was square in his sights and the machine saw him begin to raise his needler rifle. It was far too late by that point, as a round slashed through the alien with ease. The shot had ripped through the left side of his jaw and travelled up out the back of its head. The Skirmisher tumbled off the side of the balcony and down to the floor below. His fellow sniper however managed to fire off a number of needles at Legion. The Geth's shields absorbed most of the hits as Legion retreated behind a pillar.

Six let the troopers take up positions along the edge of the overlook. They began spraying fire down upon the hanger floor. The stubby legged Grunts were the easiest prey to take down, the Elites not so much. But the point was to keep them from firing while Six dealt with the snipers across the way. Along with the skirmisher was an Elite with a focus rifle. He had stepped from behind a pillar nearby as the first Skirmisher went down. A white hot beam now shot out from across the room, nearly clipping one of the troopers. He ducked down quickly, pressing his body to the metal.

Six was further back from the ledge, but he had a clear shot nonetheless. He took aim at the Elite as he prepared another shot. He fired once striking against the shield. The sudden shocked bolted the Elite backward and the beam shot out only to strike the ceiling above. Another shot from the DMR spiked the shield again but the Elite was better prepared and held his ground. A beam lashed out at the Spartan, slashing against his shields.

Six growled in pain, as his shield dwindled and plasma seared against his armour. Te beam could only penetrate so far. Still, it hurt like hell when the metal you were wearing got heated up to melting point. Six momentarily gripped his upper arm as the pain subsided. He rolled away from the next beam that shot out and fired again. The third shot was always the charm, the Elite's shields vanished and Six quickly put another round in the alien's head. The Elite collapsed to the ground and now the skirmisher was alone.

Legion peered out from cover as the Skirmisher blind fired its needler rifle at the humans. Its aim steady, the machine readied to fire the moment the Skirmisher believed it safe to stick its head out once more. The Skirmisher finally did appear and began blasting wildly at their position as it made a dash for better cover. But Legion was faster, tracking the target with ease the synthetic took aim just a few inches ahead of the Skirmisher and fired. The alien was struck in the eye and flipped over sideways as the round struck. When it collapsed to the ground with a thud the sniper problem was officially over.

Six and Legion now trained their guns on the enemy below. The Troopers had done well, protected from the snipers they had managed to finish off most of the Grunts below. Two or three Elites were also lying dead, they had not reached cover fast enough before the Troopers had shot their shields apart.

But there were survivors and they attempted to retaliate. Slinking towards the right side of the hanger, the Elites that were left tried to make for the stairs where they would attempt to storm their enemies from behind. Legion however noticed their movements through the scope and was quick inform the others. The team moved to the central platform overlooking the hanger floor. They tracked the flanking Elites as they moved along the outcropping cover on the far side of the hanger. Legion kept a bead on them all the while, not firing a shot until they were sure it wouldn't be wasted. Six was a little less conservative. He was just trying to keep the Elites' heads down.

As the aliens made their way to end of their cover, they would now have to make a run for the stairs. Suddenly the Elites bolted up from their cover and began to fire upon the upper landing. The plasma forced the humans back a little but it didn't deter them from firing on the enemy all the same. The Elites all rushed the stairs as Legion and Six laid down fire upon them. Even with every single program with the Geth's platform working overtime, it was hard for Legion to track the quick footed Elites. Still the extra work paid off. One shot grazed the shields of the Elite. Another whizzed past his head. But those misses had helped calibrate Legion's aim. The next shot cut through the shields and took the head off one of the three Elites making a run for the stairs.

The second Elite wasn't so easy to pin down, his shields holding as he made his run. Six finally decided to take a chance. He had a few plasma grenades he gathered off the Elites from the comms room. He activated one of them and with a mighty toss threw it straight and true at one of the aliens. It was a good throw. For the grenade stuck onto the Elite's leg. The alien was doomed, but to save his comrade he threw himself backwards. The explosion took his life, but his friend pressed on.

The remaining Elite dove for the stairs. He was now out of sight of the humans' guns. He was gonna try and close the distance, Six wouldn't let him get that far. He ran to the back of the overlook landing and jumped over the side. Below him was the Elite rushing up the stairs. Six dove for the alien, his knife at the ready. He connected with his head, grapping it in his hand. He then used the Elite's body to cushion his own fall as the skull of the slammed against the steps. For good measure Six stabbed hard into back of the Elite's head. When the purple blood pooled around the Elite he stood back up. He looked above to see Legion staring down.

"Are you undamaged?" it asked with a strange sense of monotone concern.

Six just gave the thumbs up. Legion tilted its head at the gesture. In an attempt to copy it as courtesy to his organic friend, Legion stuck their platform's thumb up. However they were still completely bewildered as to what the gesture fully signified, only that it was more than likely positive.

"Colonel Holland sir," Six said over the radio "Noble Five has his landing pad. I'm gonna open the hanger for him now tell him to get here ASAP."

"Good Job Noble Six." Holland replied "Savannah is taking a pounding but the Normandy is running interference. All the same I suggest you and your team wrap this up quickly before we lose our window."

"We just need to take the bridge now sir." Six said looking back up Legion "We can do this, I know we can."

"Never said you couldn't, son." Holland reassured the Spartan "Just do it fast."

* * *

><p>As the hanger shields lowered Jorge came in for a landing. The pelican stuck out like a tree in the middle of a desert. The militaristic greens sharply contrasted the alien purples that surrounded it now, it was even weirder to see human equipment strewn about the alien guns and ammo now scattered among the dead covies. For Jorge, it felt like a nice little bit of pay back. They had invaded their space now, their home. It wasn't their planet of course, but it would do for now. At the very least he hoped he was making the bastards squirm right about now.<p>

Jorge soon spotted Six and his robot friend walking into view. Despite a bit of singed armour on his arm Six and Legion looked no worse for wear.

"How's our bomb?" Six asked him as the large Spartan approached him and Legion.

"Sitting tight in the back." Jorge told him "Once this thing is on course for the Carrier we'll be good to go."

That was when they all heard movement behind the door at the back of the hanger. Stubby legs clamping aloud, shouts of burly orders in a tongue they couldn't understand.

"Oh good, I was starting to think they had given up." Six said as he calmly walked to take position in front of the door. He cocked his shotgun with one hand and then pressed it up to his shoulder.

"Would've made this a whole lot less satisfying." Jorge added as he brought his chain gun up to bare.

The doors slid open, revealing a large squad of Covenant troops. Mostly it consisted of grunts and jackals plus two Elites at the far back of the column. They however were met with the sight of Jorge's chain gun staring them in the face.

"We're taking your ship, hope that's okay." Jorge said abruptly

Jorge squeezed the trigger on the chain gun and let loose a barrage of bullets that cut through the Grunts on the frontline. The poor midget aliens were forced to flee to the safety of cover as Six and Legion pressed themselves against the door's frame. Jorge didn't let up the fire, continuing to spray death into the little corridor, forcing even the Elites to seek shelter. The Jackals' shields remained steadfast and defiant, although even they were having trouble keeping the things steady as the bullet barrage buffeted against them.

Six tossed a grenade into the fray with Legion following up with a drone of their own. The first explosion was the grenade, killing three of the Jackals who had formed the central defensive line. Their bodies were shredded by the shrapnel, their shields unable to protect them from the attack. The now exposed Grunts were left open to Jorge's spray of bullets. Quickly the surviving Jackals got to their feet and pressed themselves back together to form a new shield but there were so few of them now. A powerful zap from Legion's Drone shorted out the already redlining shield of one Jackal. The alien charged up his plasma pistol and fired point blank into the drone which exploded in his face. He was sent hurtling to the back of the corridor while his friend, who was standing parallel to the drone, was engulfed in the detonation. Half his body charred and burnt, the Jackal fell to the floor with his mouth hanging open in a silent scream.

At this Jorge finally stopped shooting and allowed Six and Legion to rush in. Their final targets the Elites had been pinned down thanks in part to the constant chain gun fire. They poked their heads out to see the machine and Spartan rushing forward. They opened fire, leaning out from their cover inside the nook of the corridor near the door. Six fired round after round as he approached, letting the plasma smack against his shields. Legion's barrage from his stolen Plasma Repeater focused on the second Elite.

Realising no great victory was to be had with their shields being hammered the Elites pulled back through the door behind them, seeking better cover.

"We'll hold out here!" Jorge called "Get to the bridge and get this tub on course for the carrier already!"

"Will do, Jorge!" Six promised as he rushed forward after their quarry "You just get that drive ready to blow!"

The Elites turned back as they ran down the ramp, firing plasma back at their pursuers. They were at a disadvantage in these halls, there were no open spaces where there agility and speed could help them. However they did have several blue portable shields they had set up in the hall that they could duck behind as they rushed down the ramp. They took position behind two at the very end of the ramp and began to return fire once more. Six tossed yet another grenade, landing it behind the glowing shield. One Elite rolled out, the other did not. The blast blew the less fortunate Elite apart, while the second Elite's shields were severely damaged. The alien tried to pull himself up off the ground but was knocked in the side of the head by a metallic foot. Legion fired its plasma repeater into the head of the alien twice.

"Targets neutralized." Legion declared as it looked back up at Six.

"Bridge ain't far, let's move." Six briefly stated.

There was no time to say much else. They had to get this Corvette underway quickly. Six doubted this would be the last attempt by the Covenant to re-take the hanger. Jorge and that small group of Troopers wouldn't last long against a sustained assault.

* * *

><p>In any other fight the Savannah could easily hold its own against a Corvette. However, the Frigate wasn't trying to destroy it which meant all of its big guns were not an option. None of its other weapon systems seemed to have the punch needed to break through the intensely heavy shielding around its main gun batteries. Holding back wasn't a good strategy for any confrontation with the Covenant and the frigate was paying for it.<p>

Fires had erupted on every deck, they were venting oxygen and their engines were barely hanging on. And yet they kept shooting, taking the full brunt of the enemy guns.

"Savannah to Holland!" Shouted the captain "Sustaining major structural damage! We need to break off!"

Holland responded almost immediately, the same level of desperation and worry in his own voice.

"Copy! Our team is in Savannah! Get out of there!" He ordered

If only the Savannah could, its engines had taken far too much heat and it was limping towards minimum safe distance away from the guns of the Corvette. It was apparent to all that a few more volleys and they were done for.

Joker saw it all from afar and without hesitating pushed the Normandy's thrusters into overdrive. The Savannah was a big target, but the Normandy was just a bit smaller. It could get under the guns that were taking the Savannah apart.

"Warm us up some disruptor torpedoes EDI." Joker ordered as they zoomed under the belly of the Savannah. "We're going in hot!"

They couldn't use the Thanix, the risk of it utterly destroying the Corvette was too great. This thing was smaller than the Battlecrusier and the Collector Ship. The chances of it obliterating the Corvette and their chance at the carrier was too high. But a volley of javelin disruptor torpedoes was just strong enough to cut through the defences protecting the gun battery. To pave the way for the Torpedoes, Joker had the lasers target the shield surrounding the battery. It was just enough to weaken the shields to the point the javelins could get through easily.

Joker closed the gap now his palm over the dashboard. There was a glow from one of the corvette's guns and a warning light sounded.

"Jeff, they're readying another shot!" EDI warned

"I can see that!" Joker replied, gritting his teeth "I just need to be a little closer!"

Joker could feel himself practically sweating as the Normandy closed the distance, still going at top speed. If anything he was hoping the Normandy would delay the guns from firing. They were obstructing their target a bit by now. Then again would the Covenant discriminate against killing another Human ship?

The answer came from EDI as another warning light flashed.

"We've been targeted!" She said, her voice sounding almost fearful "Jeff, fire now!"

Joker didn't need more prompting after that. He slammed his palm down on the dashboard.

* * *

><p>Six and Legion entered the gun battery bunker room just then. The Elites were on their targeting computers in front of a massive mainframe array at the back of the area. From here they could see the giant window looking out onto space and battle damaged Savannah, fires burning all around it. More present though... was the Normandy.<p>

Two torpedoes exited their launch bays at that precise moment and made a beeline straight for the gun battery. Six's eyes widened and he turned to Legion.

"Down!" He shouted as he tackled the synthetic to the floor.

The explosion erupted through the gun battery's firing bunker. The guns exploded in ball of furious plasma and the destruction followed up to those manning the weapons. The Elites at the targeting computers were thrown back violently into the mainframe at the back as their terminals burst into flames and the metal flooring beneath rose up. The energy stores had obviously detonated. By now what was left of the Elites were smoking bits of charred and burning flesh. One of the operators had been ripped in two, his legs remained on the lower level, his mutilated body had travelled up to the overlook floor above where Legion and Six were. The secondary emergency shielding, much like the hanger shield doors from before, now kicked in to avoid explosive decompression. Six and Legion now began to stir. They looked upon the decimated room around them.

"Christ," Six said, the wind kicked right out of him "that was a close call."

They had been lucky, had they been down below where the impact had happened their shields would not have protected them from the blast. But because they were away from the power stores and the impact zone their shields had absorbed the rest of the shockwave and being low to ground they had kept the flames from engulfing them.

Six got on the horn and called the Normandy.

"Normandy," he said "where the hell are you?"

A grunting, in pain voice replied.

"Argh, right here Noble Six." Joker replied groaning "Shit, I think I broke my wrist, maybe my whole damn hand. Small price to pay though I guess, I just saved every life aboard the Savannah. How are you doing?"

"Great considering you almost killed us." Six responded tersely "Didn't you have something that was less volatile in your arsenal?"

"It was either that or let a bunch of good men die." Joker responded, seemingly feeling a bit less proud "But... well you're okay right? No one seriously injured?"

Six just sighed.

"We're fine. Good to go." Six assured, although still a bit angry nonetheless.

The Spartan got over it quickly, especially when he heard the captain of the Savannah over the comm.

"Thanks for the helping hand Normandy." He said "We're pulling out of this fight. We just can't sustain any more damage."

"The team is already aboard." Holland repeated "Normandy, escort Savannah out of the fire fight. Our men will take it the rest of the way. You've done good work people. Now head out so Noble Team can do their job."

"Roger that Holland." Joker replied "I'll see these guys back to a repair station. Normandy out, good luck Noble, especially you Legion."

With that the Normandy left with the Savannah, moving out of the corvette's remain gun's attack range. Six was still a bit peeved about almost getting killed by friendly fire, but he wasn't gonna argue with the results. Joker had just cleared out a room for them and saved a frigate. To get pissed off at came off as a bit self-centered and ungrateful.

Besides, they had a carrier to kill.

The Spartan and his Geth companion walked down below and got a better view of the carnage around them. The mainframe was trashed and they could see the legs of the Elite from up top. They also saw the second Elite gun operator. He legs were twisted and broke, his right arm gone. His armour had practically been burnt clean off and his face was still smoking. That wasn't the horrifying part though. The horrifying part was that alien was dragging himself along the ground, groaning in pain as he did.

To many he deserved it. Hell even Six felt he did. But its screams and wailing, it was too much to stand. Six walked up to the alien warrior and quickly shot the suffering creature in the head with his DMR. After the event, Legion approached the Spartan from the side and observed. Six seemed a bit more contemplative than usual.

"It's funny." He said "He'd probably have left me to rot."

Six shook his head once and continued towards the door, Legion close behind.

* * *

><p>The Bridge was now just beyond one more set of doors. Six and Legion pressed themselves against the frame.<p>

"Anyway you can tell what's inside?" he asked the synthetic.

Legion looked towards the door, its eye widening slowly until it was full.

"Bio-Scan detects several Elites. Heart rates are normal. Small contingent of Grunts. Also complacent. They are seemingly unaware of any danger."

"Guess they figure we haven't gotten this far into the ship." Six surmised "Okay, let's try and do this quietly. Get up behind them, take them out, clear the bridge without getting caught in another firefight."

"Strategy sound. We concur." Legion agreed

Six brought his DMR up to his face.

"Alright then buddy," he said readily "let's do this."

Six noticed that Legion's head turned away slightly at this. The machine seemed to have frozen for a moment. The plates on its head rose up slightly. Then it returned to looking at the Spartan and nodded.

"Yes. Initiate infiltration."

As the doors opened Six watched the machine literally vanish before his eyes. His stealth armour upgrade activated the Geth was now a ghost. Six would have to do things the old fashioned way of course, but he preferred it that way. Spartans didn't need the armour upgrades. They just made things easier for them at the end of the day. Any Spartan period could make do without them need be.

They entered the bridge and found it packed. Elites were more or less everywhere. There was an outer perimeter being patrolled by one and an inner command ops area with at least three. One of them was overlooking a large holographic map of Reach that was floating in the dead center of the room. Another was at a terminal, his back turned away from the door. Six thought he saw one walk towards a terminal near the edge of the ops area. And at the window itself, dressed in full golden armour and a helmet that advertised his rank to all in a three mile radius, was the Shipmaster. They'd have to deal with him soon enough but not with all his crew keeping watch. There were some grunts plodding around with one was actually asleep in a little corner of the deck.

Six always wondered why the Elites let their little cannon fodder soldiers sleep on the job. Either it was the only real luxury they afforded the gas suckers or they just didn't care enough to force them to stay awake. Most likely it was the latter. The Covenant leadership wasn't exactly the pinnacle of compassion.

The first to go was the patrolling Elite, he was the closest. Six got up from behind easily enough as his target's path began to curve. He rushed up, grabbed the Elite by his head, muffling his mouth. He then forced the head over to the right and stabbed up through the throat. He let the alien fall dead to the ground and turned his head to the sleeping Grunt that sat in the corner. He was in a dip in the floor that had a ramp that led down and then up to the window section of the bridge. Six watched as the head of the Grunt caved in from a swift but silent punch. His machine friend appeared briefly and then vanished once more.

Six looked to his next target, the Elite staring at the holographic Reach. He snuck up closely careful to not make too much sound. Then he jumped, climbing up the eight foot alien and then quickly stabbing him in the jugular before he made a sound. Legion in the meantime caught the second grunt in the room. This one was patrolling past the Elite at the holo-map. The synthetic grabbed the alien around his neck and twisted quickly, the platform's strength snapped the small fragile neck of the grunt with ease.

Legion then quickly moved towards the Elite at the terminal directly in front of the now dead Elite at the Holo-Map. As the machine wrapped its arm around the Elite's mouth it then grabbed the alien's throat and slowly but surely tore it out. It was not exactly pleasant, but without a knife it was necessary to find other means of taking them down silently. Now covered in blood, the Geth had to lash what was left of the alien off their platform before they continued. They let the alien's body collapse to the floor in the meantime.

Six approached the next Elite by the nearest terminal to him. He quickly knocked the alien to the ground and pounced on top of him before he shouted. He stabbed violently into the back of the Elite's head. He got up and quickly ducked down behind the terminal.

A grunt walked up to the main ops area at a brisk pace. Roused by the slight commotion he saw the dead bodies of three Elites and one fellow grunt. Then he saw a machine with one big blue eye materialise in front of him smash his head in before he could scream.

That last attack caught the attention of the Shipmaster and he began walking towards the ops center. He wondered if one of the stupid little Unggoys had screwed something up. As he contemplated the punishment he looked back to the window. He saw the tainted planet below, the destruction being reaped upon it and the vast star filled void. And he saw the reflection of something else.

He swung around but it was too late. Six had already jumped onto his back. However the Shipmaster would not die so easily. He grabbed the knife as it came for his throat and used it to toss the Spartan of his back like a ragdoll. The Spartan landed on his feet, skidding along the floor. The alien now pulled out concussion rifle. Laughing as he pointed it at the human but before he could fire though his shields spiked dramatically. Something had hit him from behind. He turned to see Legion pointing his Geth Assault Rifle at him. Without another word the synthetic fired a three shot burst into the Elite's head. The alien fell to the floor dead.

"Helmet offers little protection." Legion noted "Ornate style creates larger target. Conclusion, presently the most impractical design we have observed."

Six got up and walked over to Legion, patting the machine on the shoulder.

"Nice save buddy." He said gratefully "Now watch the door, I'm gonna set this thing on the docking path for the carrier."

Six didn't get a response from Legion. He didn't stay to look at his synthetic friend even. He was after all in a hurry. Had he stayed he would've noticed the machine's head droop, an odd gesture from Legion. Had he kept paying attention to the Geth he would've seen it walk over to the central terminal in the ops center, not the door. Was he not so engrossed in figuring out which button he needed to press to begin the Corvette's docking run he would've seen Legion begin to access the bridge's systems.

Legion still had reservations about Shepard and Halsey's plan. The consensus overwhelmingly agreed that this needed to be done. Still, Legion felt hesitant. The many programs that made up the collective consciousness of the platform now wondered if this was another side effect of the glitch Creator Tali'Zorah had warned about. Questioning a consensus had never happened, ever. Yet, even so, Legion went through with the task at hand.

Legion began to connect to the Covenant battlenet and subsequently the Carrier's data files. Within moments all 1183 programs of the platform made a frantic search deep into the archives of the Carrier's databanks for anything of value. Any file that contained a reference to the Inquisitor, any documents that revealed information on the goals of the Covenant, any potential to wormholes or husks, anything an everything was fair game.

They worked as fast as possible to minimize discovery, both via friend and foe alike. Six had his mission, they had theirs. It was their hope that one wouldn't deter the other.

* * *

><p>The Solace's Shipmaster was furious. Kreave had deliberately disobeyed ordered. They had hijacked a Phantom, they were attacking humans at Sword Base and worst of all they were leaving the construction site undermanned in terms of security. The mercenary had been a necessary although unfavoured partner for awhile now, but this was the last straw. As soon as the rest of the fleet arrived he would inform Thel'Vadamee of the Krogan's disobedience. He'd had the worthless hulking reptile burned with the mark of shame or better yet thrown out an airlock!<p>

Already his rage had seen several screens in his command center smashed to bits and a number of unfortunate terminal Unggoys brutally beaten within an inch of their lives. He did not care if they were not responsible for this, he needed someone, anyone, to pay for now.

It was the reason one terrified Unggoy said nothing as he looked at his screen and saw a strange communication signal coming from a corvette on a docking run with them.

As the Shipmaster finally returned to his chair after his half an hour rampage, the little gas sucker swallowed his fear for a moment and spoke up.

"Um, sir..." he said, his voice even more high pitched and nervous than usual.

"WHAT?" Demanded the Shipmaster as he tried to regain his composure and failed

The Unggoy shook in fear, his stubby hands balling against each other. There was no going back now, if he said nothing the Shipmaster would kill him, if he said something he'd probably just get beaten. At the least he'd probably avoid combat duty for awhile if he was in medical.

"There is a transmission feed from a Corvette on a docking-"

The Shipmaster fired his plasma rifle at the Unggoy's feet, making him jump.

"Idiot! I could care less about a Corvette's transmission! Tell them to complete their run and to not bother me! I have no time for their petty squabbles!"

The Unggoy, still jittering in fear, tried to clarify his words.

"It's not a... hail." He finally blurted out "It seems to be a connection to the battlenet and to our ship."

"What for?" The Shipmaster asked, slightly intrigued

"I'm not sure it seems to be... encrypted. I'm not sure what they're trying to lo-"

A thrown plasma rifle collided with the little midget alien's head. The Unggoy fell to the ground in pain as the Shipmaster got up from his chair and began to stomp over to the terminal.

"Useless! All of you!" he shouted "Why the Prophets ever believed your species was worth dragging along the path with us is beyond me! Must I do everything myself on this ship?"

* * *

><p>Legion's eye widened suddenly, they had found it, everything. All they'd need, all Shepard would need! Now it needed to disconnect the signal and get out of here.<p>

"Legion?"

The synthetic turned to see Six staring at them.

"What are you doing?"

* * *

><p>The Normandy had disengaged from the fight, but Joker wanted to monitor the situation nonetheless. So when the Savannah looked like it was safely away out of the combat zone he returned the Normandy to at the very least operable scan range.<p>

That's when EDI flared up.

"Joker, there seems to be a communication signal from the corvette to the carrier." She warned

Joker's eye widened.

"What is it?" he asked "A warning? Are they spilling the beans?"

"I'm not sure, it seems encrypted." EDI explained, somewhat confused "It's only just been activated it seems. If the Covenant have detected it then they will need time to decode it."

Joker racked his brain for a solution. If Covenant cracked that signal and it was a warning then they'd figure out everything. The operation would be a bust!

"Can you interrupt the connection?" Joker asked

For a moment EDI seemed to hesistate, as if she was recalling something. Joker couldn't put his finger on it however.

"EDI?" Joker asked desperately, shaking EDI out of her pause.

"Oh I-" EDI caught herself, something else was becoming known "The Carrier is locking on to the signal."

"We gotta cut it now then!" Joker said in haste.

EDI whirlled her hologram around towards the window. Looking at the Corvette far away.

"I am doing so now," she assured with uptmost certainty "spiking sender in 3... 2..."

* * *

><p>Legion didn't have time to explain. An electrical surge rushed through the terminal and up into their platform, shorting out systems. The Geth fell backwards onto the hard metal floor, its platform smoking and head plates twitching.<p>

* * *

><p>The Shipmaster looked at the screen, he saw the brief signal trace to the Corvette. But just as he was starting to pinpoint what the signal was doing it vanished. Astonished he tried to pick up the signal's trail, but nothing. It was as if it had never been there. He turned to the Unggoy, still lying on the floor and bleeding from the cut on its head.<p>

"A computer error you worthless bug," He concluded "get back to real work and stop pestering me."

* * *

><p>"I've spiked the user and erased the signal's origin in the process." EDI told Joker "They won't be able to figure out what it was now."<p>

"Ah good," Joker said breathing a sigh of relief "that was a close call. They would've blown poor Legion to smithereens if we didn't do that. Remind to tell the Geth he owes me big time now."

"Technically I am the one who performed the spike." EDI informed the pilot

"Fine, he owes us both." Joker smarmily declared

EDI let loose an audible sigh. But in the back of her mind, she only hoped that what she had just done had not killed a friend. For if it did, then Shepard would answer for it.

* * *

><p>In a panic Six rushed over and get the synthetic to its feet.<p>

":Legion!" he shouted in fear as he dragged the synthetic away and towards the door "Can you hear me? Legion!"

The big blue eye of the Geth opened wide and flickered slightly.

"System err-er-erro-error." It said weakly "Energy over-over-ov-ove-overlo-load. Rerou-rou-rou-outing excess po-po-pow-pow-er-er-er. Re-re-re-booting."

"Just hold on," Six told it "I'll get you back to the hanger!"

The doors to the Bridge opened wide and out stepped two Elites and one, almost human looking alien with four eyes. A Batarian, one of Shepard's aliens.

Said Batarian shouted something in a tongue Six couldn't understand but he knew the pointing and angry visage were bad. With Legion drapped over his shoulder he couldn't properly aim with his own weapons. That's when he saw an alternative. He grabbed the dead shipmaster's concussion rifle, which was just at his feet, and fired. The red plasma separated the small squad, although it did catch one Elite and hurt his shields considerably. Six took one of his remaining plasma grenades and then threw it at the other Elite as he popped out of cover. He caught him in the head and the explosion came soon after, silencing his frightened screams.

The second Elite rushed forward, Six let him and smashed the concussion rifle into his face as he got close. He batted the alien with it again once more across the other side and then knocked him square on the top of his head next. This time, the Elite stayed down.

The Batarian charged forward now, firing his submachine gun the whole way. Perhaps he thought he didn't need to be careful considering the human was dragging around an unconscious Geth. But he didn't care if the alien was just making himself a better target so he wouldn't argue. Six raised the concussion rifle once more and fired.

* * *

><p>They had come out of the woodwork almost all at once, Grunts, Jackals, Elites and Shepard's four-eyed adversaries the Batarians. They still looked just as ugly as they did back groundside. Already two troopers had been cut down by the one with the grenade launcher. Jorge moved up to counter the four eyed bastards, firing his chain gun like mad at their position, but they stuck to cover like glue. Jackals then shielded them as they made a run for the stairwell that had returned to the hands of its Covenant owners. As they rushed past one fired his submachine gun in their direction and killed yet another Trooper with a lucky shot to his head.<p>

Firmly pissed now, Jorge began to fire at the Jackals slowly walked towards them. The Grunts in the way were little more than a nuisance as the chain gun cut them down like weeds. Jorge now got close enough to the Jackals that he didn't have to use a gun to reach out and touch them. He smashed the barrel of the weapon down upon the first Jackal he ran into and then batted it towards the one on his right. He snapped back towards the third Jackal and filled him full of lead before he could charge up his plasma pistol.

A single Elite near the back door of the hanger now rose up from behind his little nook and aimed his own heavy weapon at the Spartan. It was a plasma grenade launcher, one aimed squarely at Jorge. But as the weapon warmed up to lock its first sticky grenade onto the Spartan's face a shotgun blast rang out from behind. The Elite toppled over dead, revealing behind him Noble Six, shotgun in one hand and Legion draped over his shoulder in the other. He placed his robotic friend down on the ground and then picked up the fallen alien's weapon.

"Stay here." He told the still recovering Geth "Get your servos working and all that, I'll handle this."

An Elite rushed across the hanger floor, firing wildly with his plasma rifle at Jorge. The Spartan snapped his chain gun back towards the Elite and fired an spray of bullets that tore the alien's shield apart and travelled up his body. The Elite jolted up into the air as the bullets peppered him, his head lashing backwards as the rounds connected with it and carried him came back down to the floor as a perforate mess.

A barrage of grenades rocketed towards Jorge now from the overlook above the stairs, fired by the Batarian once more. The Spartan crouched low to the ground as the grenades hit. The Batarian laughed as the explosion turned to smoke, thinking he had just bagged himself the biggest human he'd ever seen. But his prized catch had slipped by him for Jorge emerged from the smoke shortly after. The Batarian was stunned, unaware it would seem of the armour lock function Jorge had in his suit. The Spartan II's scream echoed across the chamber as he sprayed round after round upon the stairs.

The gentle calm giant demeanour that usually so well categorized Jorge was now completely gone. Far too much was at stake now to lose to these sons of bitches. Not now. Not when they were so close.

His blind rage did some good. It kept the Batarians heads down long enough for Six to get into position. As he charged up the plasma grenade launcher one Batarian poked his head out of cover. Six released the trigger once he locked on and two grenades ejected out of the barrel. They hurtled across the room and stuck to the Batarian's body.

"AHHHH! Get them off! Get them-"

The explosion cut the alien's screams off and his body in two. Enraged, one of the remaining Batarians on the other side of the overlook fired his assault rifle at the offending Spartan. Six rushed back, but the Batarian had left himself open to the ire of Jorge's chain gun which cut him down with relative ease.

As the body of the Batarian fell to the floor, the rest of the four eyed ETs backed away from the edge of the overlook. Tossing his grenade launcher aside, Chakam grabbed one of the Needler rifles sitting in a storage box nearby. He'd blow the humans up one spike at a time. He returned to one of the pillars on the edge of the upper landing for the stairs. Then he took aim at Jorge and fired. The needles didn't penetrate the shield and only caught Jorge's attention. He shifted his fire back at the alien.

Jorge didn't stay focused on the Batarian for long however. Green plasma splashed against his shields. He turned back to the middle of the stairs and saw a swarm of Grunts rushing down. They had come from up top, where there were two doors on each of the upper landings. The unlocking mechanism door to the communications hub that they had come from had apparently been hit hard by the Savannah just before it had bugged out. Good news they couldn't get to the communications hub to warn the carrier, bad news they couldn't get back to the Sabres. They'd worry about that later though.

Jorge let his chain gun loose upon the gas guzzlers. As he did, the surviving troopers began to open fire on the stair case as well. The momentum had shifted back in their favour. It was a killing ground for the midget aliens, their stubby legs and arms flailed useless in the air as their bodies were filled with round after round from every side. As the grunts tumbled down the steps, their bodies filled with holes, up above Chakam and his fellow Batarians stood there unsure of what to do.

"They got us pinned!" said one "We need more reinforcements!"

"Everyone on this ship is converging on this hanger!" Chakam assured "We'll get them soon enough. We just need to hold out."

Sure enough they got it. At the back of the upper staircase landings were two doors on either side. Rushing out of them were came two Elites, one on each side. They carried with them fuel rod cannons, just the weapon they needed right now. The Elites took positions on the edge of the landings and fired a barrage of pulsating green energy down below. Six and Jorge scattered as the attack came, devastating anything and everything that did not move out of the way of the attack. Two troopers were swallowed up by the green explosions as they crept up along the floor. Another two troopers rushed behind the pelican, but they weren't safe from the barrage. The Elite aimed over the Pelican's tale and lobbed a round towards the front of the two humans' sprint for safety. They were close to the slipspace drive when the explosion hit.

They then shifted their attention towards the pelican itself and began to pelt it with round after round.

"No! Stay away from that!" Jorge shouted as he leapt out of cover and fired once more.

Chakram caught the Spartan in his sights and fired the needler rifle again. The needles bounced off the shield but they were enough to force Jorge back. In the confusion of all that was going on, Six darted from cover. He hoped he could reach the stairs and clear the area of hostiles once and for all.

The Elite on the left upper landing saw Six's mad dash and pointed his fuel rod cannon at the Spartan. Jorge saw the Alien making his move, but the Batarian had pinned him down with his needler rifle. He called out to his fellow Spartan.

"Six! Up high!"

Six looked up while he kept running. He saw the Elite zeroing in on him, but there was little he could do save for hoping he could get under him and avoid the shot. The Elite grinned sinisterly as he levelled the cannon and readied his trigger finger.

Then, the Elite felt something pierce his torso. He looked down and saw blood pooling out of a wound. He stared off into the distance, wondering who had shot him. Then another round sliced through his head. The Elite fell back, firing his cannon as he did. However, it was no longer aimed at Six. Instead the cannon shot sailed across the overlook to the right side of the landing and struck his fellow Elite. The two fuel rod cannon shooters had been killed with two shots fired at the same Elite.

Six had seen the whole thing as he continued his run. He looked back to where the shot had come from and saw Legion, standing tall with his widow sniper rifle held high. It was still sparking from whatever had happened back at the bridge, but the synthetic had pulled through nonetheless. Thanks to the Geth's efforts, Six made it to the stairs in one piece. As he reached it the machine fell backwards into a sitting position, its legs just folding. It had done all it could for now, the platform still needed time to repair itself.

The Spartan now picked up a needler off the ground from a dead grunt, discarding his spent concussion rifle. One of the Batarians started to run down the steps towards him, blasting away with his shotgun. Six let loose a flurry of needles at the four eyed bastard. It was enough to cut through his shields and stick him with several spikes. A pink mist was soon all that was left of the alien as Six continued his way up the stairs.

Another Batarian, this one with a Plasma rifle was there to greet him. Six had already changed to the plasma grenade launcher once more and pre-charged it as the lock on mechanism to affect. He fired one grenade, sticking it to the alien's head. Enraged the Batarian rushed Six, intending to kill the human with him. The Spartan in kind delivered a kick straight to the alien's solar plexus and sent him hurtling over the side of the upper landing. He exploded before he hit the ground.

That just left the Batarian with the needler rifle. The Batarian raised it up to fire... but only got a click when he tried to shoot it. Six just shook his head.

"Tip for that," he said as he picked up the plasma rifle of the Batarian's dead comrade "when there are no more spikes sticking out of that that means it's out of ammo. Didn't your Covie friends teach ya that?"

The human had him at a disadvantage. So Chakram discarded the rifle and pulled out a curved blade.

"I don't need guns to kill humans." He declared with his personal translator making sure Six understood every word "It doesn't matter if you kill me. There's already another squad of my brethren on this ship and they're already on their way. They will see to it you are killed. But I will take you with me."

Six kept the Plasma Rifle aimed and at the ready as Chakram got into a fighting stance.

"Come! Prove your race's prowess as warriors and face me in fair combat!"

Six cocked his head once.

"Yeeeaaaah..." he said in a long drawn out and almost bored voice "no, I'm not doing that."

Six pelted the Batarian with a barrage of Plasma fire, depleting his shields and then striking him with plasma bolt after bolt untilt he rifle itself started to smoke. Chakram fell to the floor below, a smoking charred mass.

"Why the hell do they always gotta be dramatic?" Six wondered a she looked down at the body.

Suddenly a side door below the stairs on the ground floor of the hanger opened wide and three Elites rushed out. One was armed with Plasma Grenade Launcher, the other a plasma sword and the last dual plasma pistols. They all wore spec-ops armour.

"God, does it ever end." Six said exasperated.

The Elite with the launcher pointed up at Six's position as he rushed forward with the team. He charged his weapon and fired several grenades up at the Spartan. Six rushed backwards as the Grenades flew up. The tracking mechanism wasn't as good as other weapons and the grenades sailed harmlessly into the ceiling and exploded.

Jorge jumped up from his cover and fired on the incoming Elites. As the one armed with the sword rushed forward alongside the dual wielding spec-ops Elite, the one with the launcher backed up towards the stairs to get a better shot at the Spartan II. As he did though he felt something stick to the back of his head. He turned to see Six waving at him.

"Remember me?" he asked

It was last thing the Elite heard before his head erupted in a plasma explosion.

The dual wielding Elite rushed forward bringing Jorge's shields down to nothing. At the same time, Jorge's chain gun ripped through the Elite's shields. It wouldn't matter though. When he was close enough Jorge rushed forward jamming the end of the chain gun's barrel into the mouth of the alien. There was nothing left put mush after Jorge was done pulling the trigger.

The Elite with the sword now rushed in ready to slash down upon the hulking human. Jorge tossed his chain gun to the side, letting it hang off his back as he grabbed the swinging arm, the singing plasma just inches away from his face. Jorge gritted his teeth as he matched his strength with that of the Elite. As the alien punched forward with his free hand, Jorge grabbed that one two. Now they were both caught in a stalemate. That was until Jorge kneed the alien in his torso. The alien relinquished his hold on Jorge's other hand. Now that it was free it socked the Elite across the face. The alien's helmet cracked with one blow, revealing the actual eye behind the white mask that covered the alien's face. In pain, Jorge was able to wrest control of the plasma sword away from the Elite. He pulled it away from his face, snapping the alien's arm. Then, with the Elite's grip on the plasma sword still firm, he jammed the plasma sword into the alien's gut. Then he jammed it in again and again. Two more times he stabbed the alien in the gullet before finally pulling the sword out completely. He then rammed into the straight through the Elite's mouth. The blade's tip poked out the back of the alien's head. There was no blood, the wound hand been instantly cauterized. Jorge pulled back at last, breathing heavily as the Elite's body fell dead.

There were no more immediate attacks after that and Jorge trudged over to the back of the Pelican amongst the calm. Auntie Dot was chattering away in the com-link as he did. It was a final countdown to when they'd be arriving at the carrier, seventy-six seconds precisely. No time to reach the Sabres, even if the door wasn't jammed anymore. Luckily they weren't relying on the Sabres to get them down. They had re-entry packs after all.

Six gathered up Legion, who was still sparking, and walked over to Jorge by the Pelican. He was pressing a button on the drive, but nothing responded. Six could see the plasma scoring across the slip space drive. He feared the worst. Had they come here and lost every trooper in their squad for nothing?

Jorge looked more long faced then he did. For some reason Six could just tell even with the helmet on.

"So it's gonna be like that huh?" the big Spartan II wondered aloud as he smacked the drive with his fist.

He then turned to Six, Legion still over his shoulder.

"Well good news and bad news." Jorge said, his voice mocking optimism and cheer "The bird took some heavy fire, her thruster gimball is toast and thus the only way off this heap is gravity."

"What's the good news?" Six asked hesitantly

Jorge's head didn't move, but Six could tell the expression on his face had changed all the same.

"That was the good news." He explained his tone downtrodden and forlorn.

Jorge lifted his helmet off his head as Dot chimed in again with another countdown.

"At current velocity, fifty three seconds till end point."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Jorge grumbled, annoyed at the interruption.

He let his helmet drop to the floor with a thud and took a breath. Now Six could see his face plain as day, his expression was resigned and sullen. He could almost tell what Jorge was about to say before the words even came.

"Bad news is the timer is fried." Jorge explained to his squad mate, his eyes and voice never wavering once "Plasma has pretty much melted it out of synch. I'm gonna have to fire it manually."

Six wasn't surprised by the plan at all. If something went wrong he had expected Jorge would do this or something like it. He had ever since they watched Sword Base explode.

"That's a one way trip." Six stated, pointing out the blatantly obvious.

"We all make it sooner or later." Jorge replied, as composed and matter of fact as he ever been.

Six turned to Legion.

"Maybe they can fix the timer." Six suggested

"In less than a minute and in their apparent condition?" Jorge asked as he pointed at the machine "They can barely even stand without your help!"

"Leg servos inoperable." Legion stated "Power reserves in need of recharge."

Six shook his head.

"We could still try. That Batarian said there's another squad on their way Jorge." He warned "You won't be able to fight them off."

"In less than thirty seconds that won't matter." Jorge told him vehemently "All the more reason to stay in any case, can't risk them pushing this Pelican out of here or something."

Jorge reached up to his neck and pulled something from it. He then shoved his dogtags into Six's free hand.

"There's no more time to argue about this Six. You and Legion need to get going, they'll need you down there for clean up after this."

"Jorge..." Six started again, but the Spartan didn't let him finish.

"Reach has been good to me." He stated plainly "Time's come to return the favour."

He then took Legion off Six's shoulder. The Geth's own re-entry pack still operable despite the power surge that had wrecked the platform's other systems. He carried the synthetic up with one hand and towards the edge of the ship. Then he tossed it over the side through the purple shielding and out of the hanger into the vast void of space and the planet below. Six went next as he grabbed him by the arm in tight final handshake, lifting the Spartan up as he plodded him over to the hanger's exit.

"Don't deny me this." He said, firm in his stance to stay.

There was no point in trying to convince him otherwise, Jorge had made his decision. Six passed through the shield as he heard Jorge's final command.

"Tell them to make it count."

With that the giant Spartan let go and Six began to fall from the sky and back towards the planet below. He watched from this vantage point as the corvette slowly rose up into the carrier above them. There was nothing more he could do.

Jorge walked back to the drive. He was more relaxed than he had been a minute before, despite what was going to happen. Sure enough another door near the pelican on the side of the hanger opened wide. A squad of five Batarians came rushing out. Jorge could only smile and look outside. He saw Reach below, slowly disappearing as the corvette started to enter the carrier's final docking phase.

A good enough image to die on, he supposed.

The Batarians soon spotted him and opened fire. He picked up his chain gun and returned it as they did. This time however he didn't scream, or yell, he didn't even try that hard to hit them. He just forced them to keep their heads down as he walked backwards towards to the manual firing mechanism. As he approached it he looked back at Reach one last time and watched the carrier's dock cover his view of it completely. He smiled slightly at it all.

"This one's for you." He said grinning "Thanks. For everything."

Replacing the void of space behind the hanger's shield door was the inside of another hanger, the carrier. A number of grunts were at the door and they were stunned by what they saw. But they could nothing about it as Jorge pressed the button.

* * *

><p>Six watched as the carrier above him was engulfed in a brilliant dark blue sphere. A slip space rift, just as Kat had predicted. The sphere continued to expand until a third of the giant vessel had been consumed by it. The body of the ship was soon covered entirely by the rift. Then as quickly, as it had come, the sphere dissipated. Leaving nothing behind where it had once been. The mighty supercarrier had been bitten in two. Its midsection was completely gone. The remaining pieces, the stern and bow of the ship, now began to plummet to the surface of the planet. It would threaten the colony world no more.<p>

Six turned over to see the plummeting form of Legion close by. He dove down to meet the machine, to see if the synthetic was okay. Legion seemed intact. Six guessed as much b its blue eye which was still flickering. No point in calling out to the machine now, it wouldn't hear him.

Legion saw Six briefly as it turned its head. It wouldn't have much time to view things as the re-entry process was about to start. But before it did, Legion intercepted a message from the UNSC, something broadcasting on unencrypted channels. That, and Legion was still connected to Auntie DOT for updates like the rest of the team had been. What she and the other people had to say was not good.

"-Multiple pings below the orbital defence gr-"

"Slip space rupture detected." Auntie DOT announced.

"-you reading this?"

"Multiple Covenant signa-"

"Slip space rupture detected" Auntie Dot said once more

"They're everywhere!"

"This cannot be happening!"

But it was. It was the last thing Legion saw before the re-entry process began and a slab of metal rose up to block their view. Several Covenant ships, all entering the system above the planet. None as big as the Supercarrier, but they made up for it in numbers.

In the last few moments before Legion's systems shut down to conserve power they tried to count the ships, but there too many. The Geth then shut down its platform's visual sensors. Not just because of the shut down but also because of another reason. A small part of every collective program within the platform reached a personal consensus with one another.

They just didn't want to look anymore.

* * *

><p>Author's Note: Well that took a bit longer than expected. But I got it out before the end of the month so that's something.<p>

So, Jorge still dies. Sadly I just couldn't reconcile the powerful emotional impact of Noble Five sacrificing himself for what he hoped would be an action that would save his homeworld. I just think that was the perfect death for any character, giving his life for something greater than himself. And really that is the theme of Halo Reach in general. I didn't want to compromise that, as hard as it was to finally just let Jorge go. I think he would've wanted it this way. Plus it's another consequence of Shepard not telling anyone about what Legion was gonna do. Had he been more trusting maybe Legion wouldn't have gotten spiked and would've been able to fix the timer. Then again, with less than a minute and plasma scoring not being the easiest of problems to undo... but I'll leave that up for you to decide. Omni-Gel can work wonders.

Before I go I bet you're all wondering what I'm gonna do about Mass Effect 3? Is anything gonna change to suit that game in the long run? Hmm maybe, its obvious there are gonna have to be some work arounds and what not. But ME3 is so far off at this time and it's unlikely it will have any immediate impact on THIS story. Besides, Shepard has to get back home first.

Anyway, with a few projects concerning school coming up (all of them involving papers mind you) and of course the inevitable release of Mass Effect 3 within the next week you probably won't see the next update for awhile. Don't worry though, even if I miss a month doesn't mean I've stopped the story. It just means I'm busy either trying not to fail my English course or trying to finally resolve that whole Battlestar Galactica thing with the Quarians and the Geth. Probably at the same time. You'll see the next chapter soon enough though, I promise.

Please remember to review, I always enjoy reading your comments. The longer the better by the way.

EDIT: There was a plothole I suddenly figured out today. Pertaining to EDI who knew about Legion's actions and told Tali about them. With that in mind some dialogue has changed, but regardless the end result has not.


	16. Stray Lambs

Chapter 16: Stray Lambs

_Severe Malfunction_

_Rebooting Sub-Systems_

_All power diverted to platform self-repair functions_

_Full System Reroute... Successful_

These words flashed across the screen, all in old Quarian text. A language that was unknown in this universe and had no doubt become outdated in the 300 years since it had been implemented. It was another thing they had kept alive, another thing the creators left them. Despite how much had been shed between them, they were both still holding onto something. Maybe the Geth were holding onto more than even the Creators were in contrast. Whether that meant the same as a grudge, the programs within the platform could not say. The concept was so alien to them, even now.

_Re-Establishing Visual Feed_

For a brief moment, a consensus was taken. Should they look again? Before the results were reached the consensus was discarded. It made no sense to consider it. They had to see again. The question made no sense. It wasn't based in logic. They needed to look if they were to even bother moving forward. Why had they asked it in the first place?

Were they afraid of what they would find? Were they afraid of seeing what had happened since they had terminated their visual scanners? Even they couldn't answer. They weren't sure. They couldn't be sure.

In the end Legion's one eye opened wide, revealing the landscape before them. A desolate battle scarred plain, full of bits of wreckage here and there. But it wasn't what was nearby that caught their eye. It was what lay in the distance, the flaming hulk of the once proud supercarrier, the Long Night of Solace. At least what was left of it after the rift had torn it asunder. It was draped over a mountainside, flames eating away at its superstructure and its body almost dwarfing the mountain itself. No longer the terrifying vessel that bolted out the sun, it resembled more of a discarded cloth lying across the ground.

They had accomplished the task at least, the main task. Legion quick checked the platform's memory banks, to make sure they had also accomplished Shepard Commander's given task. Indeed, it was all there. They had successfully extracted all the Information on the Covenant's operations on Reach or more accurately the Inquisitor's operations. The old machine truly had its tendrils deep within the stated mission plans. Locations for what were called 'conversion centers' could only mean one thing if a reaper was involved. As predicted the relic the Elite Zealot had spoken of was also mentioned. Shepard Commander would be happy to hear that.

But there was something else within the intel as well. Something greater than both of those matters combined. There was information in the documents about a construction site present on Reach, being guarded by the blood pack and several Elite spec ops soldiers. Anything that well fortified had to be of importance, but Legion would need time to analyse the components of the construction site first before it figured out what this thing was.

Before it could do any of that though, a new matter presented itself. Limping up over the hill towards them was a familiar and friendly face. It was Noble Six, alive and well, although apparently injured if his stride was any indication. The Spartan's helmet also appeared to be cracked, a craggily line stretching across the left corner of the helmet's visor to the center.

Six stumbled towards Legion, who turned their platform right side up so they weren't viewing everything sideways. As they got onto the platform's stomach Six called out.

"Legion." He said weakly as he approached "Looks like your landing was as rough as mine."

The Spartan helped the machine to its feet slowly, staggering as he did. It wasn't easy lifting a hunk of metal when your ankle was cracked.

"Is the damage to your person severe?" Legion asked at last

"Fine as I'll ever be." Six promised "How about you? Good?"

Legion stood tall on their own at last, released from Six's hold.

"Several systems are still recovering." Legion replied "However, we believe we are now at sufficiently acceptable working functionality."

"Oh." Six said nodding his head to the side "That's good."

That was when Six raised his fist up and in the next moment Legion's head jerked sideways, its ocular vision spiking as something slammed into it. The platform staggered sideways slightly before rebalancing. The Geth looked back at Six and saw his arm jutted out in their direction. The Spartan rushed forward to meet the machine head on. As the synthetic's head plates tried to readjust, Six looked the Geth straight in the eye.

"What the fuck were you doing at that terminal?" he demanded to know

"Six Noble, we did not mean to-"

Despite the regret in the machine's voice, Six pressed further.

"Didn't mean to what?" He asked, his anger boiling "Didn't mean to play around with covie tech? Didn't mean to get yourself spiked? Didn't mean to get put out of action and put the mission in jeopardy? Now, Jorge is dead, we're stranded in the middle of nowhere, my foot is broken and I'm lacking answers! So I'll ask again, what the hell were you doing?"

Legion shook its head in disappointment, at themselves, not Six. There was no sense in keeping this a secret. The consensus was unanimous. While Shepard Commander had asked they withhold the truth, Legion would not lie.

"We were attempting to secure vital intelligence from the Covenant battlenet." Legion explained "Detailing the plans of the Covenant concerning Reach."

Six crossed his arms in suspicion.

"So what? You saw an opportunity on the bridge and took it without telling me first?" Six asked "Connecting to the battlenet could've gotten us all killed! What were you thinking?"

"The plan was not ours." Legion explained "Shepard Commander ordered us to use our time aboard the Corvette to procure the intelligence from the Carrier itself. We were ordered to not relay this objective to noble team."

Six stepped back, arms at his side in greater shock. For a moment, he had wished that his original assumption was right. That Legion got reckless. Now he felt worse.

"So... you lied to me?" he said in disbelief, his anger quickly returning "You were just using us!"

"We objected to Shepard Commander's decision to not inform you." Legion told him

"Oh well that makes it all better!" Six said throwing his hands up in a sarcastic fervour "I mean I'm fine with being lied to as long as the guy doing it felt bad about it! You only put my life at risk and forced me to drag your metal ass out of the fire when it went to hell! Where was that spike from anyway? The carrier?"

Legion looked to the flaming hulking along the mountainside.

"Doubtful." They declared "Most likely origin, Normandy intercepted transmission beam, believed it was Covenant transmission to warn carrier of plan."

Now Six just felt dumbfounded, cocking his head in confusion.

"So, what? Shepard didn't even tell his own crew what you were gonna do?" he demanded to know "He didn't even trust his own people enough to give them a head's up!"

"We believe Shepard Commander reasoned there would be internal opposition to the plan." Legion presumed "Harm to unit cohesion would have doubtlessly occurred. Objective was kept from them in order to remove dissension possibility and leaking of information."

Six breathed in deeply, gritting his teeth as he scratched his temple through his helmet.

"So Shepard put me and Jorge at risk by sending you along, ordered you not to say jack and didn't even tell his own crew?" Six reiterated, still baffled by it all "That's insane! What was he hoping to find in that carrier's archives to take this big a risk?"

Six pointed accusingly at both the flaming carrier and then Legion as he continued.

"We could've been blown out of the sky like that thing because of him! And for what exactly?" He asked once more

Legion's head lowered slightly, it's iris on its eye closing slightly as Six continued his tirade.

"Tell me straight Legion." He demanded "What did Shepard want so badly to do this? What made him order you to lie to me? An action you told me is contrary to your programming I might add."

Legion's head rose up from its stupor and the synthetic finally began to explain. They had refrained from telling the truth for too long now.

"We believe that the Covenant invaders are working with an entity from our dimension. This entity is called a Reaper by Shepard Commander. It is an old machine, designated as the Inquisitor by the Covenant. Its mission is nothing short of the destruction of organic life and we believe it intends to use the Covenant to further its ends in your universe and our own."

Six didn't respond for the longest time, trying to process the information the synthetic had just dumped on him. For a moment the Spartan was characteristically speechless. Finally, he spoke up.

"Um... can we go over that again?" He requested "This time, take it from the top. Start at the part where the Covies are working with a machine and all that."

Legion proceeded to tell the Spartan everything it and the Normandy crew at large knew about Reapers and the connection they had with the Covenant. It was a long detailed account more or less, one Six remained silent for. He wasn't exactly sure what to say to be honest, for a moment he thought this was some pre-programmed excuse Shepard ordered the synthetic to say. But from the sound of things, how much detail was involved, the way even Legion seemed troubled about disobeying Shepard's orders not to talk about this, suffice to say he came around. Legion was telling him the truth. An uncomfortable truth, but it was the truth regardless. Six now just wondered how exactly he was supposed to respond. A million questions were buzzing in his brain right about now. He settled on one.

"So, you knew about this didn't ya?" he asked "After we fought that thing in the tower I mean."

"Correct." Legion confirmed "Shepard Commander has attempted to stress the situation before to others. They have been known to dismiss his warnings about the old machines as delusional."

Six just shook his head and rolled his shoulders around.

"Well another buck passed on to your ranking officer." He said derided "Point is you still didn't tell me the truth, any of us the truth."

"Would you have believed it?" Legion asked sincerely

Six just scoffed.

"I'm speaking to a sentient amalgamation of programs with a hole in their platform's chest from another dimension and you're asking me if I would've believed you if you told me that Elite Husk came from an eons old machine of cosmic death?" he replied, his intelligence seemingly insulted "I'm not blind Legion, maybe the brass would've had a hard time buying it but I think I'd at least have trusted ya. Isn't that enough for you?"

Legion slowly nodded in agreement. It was a similar complaint they had made to Shepard after all.

"We trusted Six Noble, Shepard Commander did not." Legion tried to elaborate "He believed you would've attempted to stop this platform from achieving its objective."

Six shot up a raised finger in protest.

"If we had known about your little intel snatch and grab game we could've factored it into the plan!" Six shouted back "I could've asked Commander Carter or Holland about it. If you were straight about it and said it could help us figure out what the Covies are planning I think we'd be all for it! We could've tried to scramble the carrier's intrusion systems with another Frigate or helped double encrypt the search program! There were a number of things we could've done to reduce detection! Instead you kept us and your own crew in the dark, they spiked you and because of that we couldn't fix the bomb!"

Legion's iris opened wide at the accusation, its head plates scrunching close to its head.

"Potential success rate of repairing timer device in allotted time given are estimated at a minimal 50 percent." Legion replied "Inconclusive results."

"Still means there was a chance." Six replied tersely

Legion could understand Six's anger, not just because it was a typical organic response. The loss of a confident was always tragic. Even among the Geth, when the heretics had split from them to join the old machine there was a sense of loss and confusion. There were questions as to what they could have done differently. Six was doing the same now.

"We never intended to cause you distress Six Noble." Legion replied, its head lowered slightly and its head plates smoothed into it. "We did not wish to disobey Shepard Commander's orders or withhold information. Both options risked unit cohesion."

Six looked away for a moment, shaking his head once more and swatting at the air with his hand.

"Yeah, I get it. You were just following orders and you were caught in a no-win situation." He reconciled with a sigh "I'm a soldier, I get that. Command says jump we ask how high. Sometimes we just jump regardless. But I probably lost a squad mate because of this."

Six raised his head up to the sky, looking up into the dreary clouds above.

"I lost a friend." He muttered before returning his eyes to the ground.

For half a minute both of them stood in silence. Both wanted to be careful with what they said next, both somewhat didn't want to be the first to say anything period.

"I don't wanna lose another today is all I'm saying." Six finally explained "So yeah, I can probably forgive you, just not now okay?"

Legion accepted the statement. With that Six side stepped the synthetic and began digging through the rubble and debris around them proper.

"Lost my sidearm in the fall." He said "Pistols are durable as hell though. When I find it we're booking it to the nearest military outpost and getting back to command."

"Have you not attempted to contact them?" Legion asked

"I just got static and people screaming, running scared." Six replied "You try."

Legion's iris opened wide again as it lifted its head to the sky. Just like Six, the Geth only got static and hectic orders. None of it was clear, except that something bad was happening somewhere. Or more accurately everywhere if that armada they saw was any indication.

However, Legion did pick up something.

"We are receiving a distress beacon signal." It announced "It is not communication based, sending only. Signature matches Normandy comm. channels."

"Your people then." Six reasoned "Where's it coming from?"

Legion pointed off in the distance.

"Several hundred miles northeast, approximate location cannot be determined at this range." The machine answered "We must make an endeavour to contact them immediately. Shepard Commander will need to see our collected data."

Six turned his head back around to face the Geth, looking over his shoulder.

"I'd rather we try to find my team." Six told him "They need to know what happened."

"Highly probable both Shepard Commander and Team Noble are located in close proximity." Legion replied "If not with Normandy crew they can help us locate their position."

Six couldn't argue with that logic, especially when he knew Legion to be all about logic. He reached deep into the debris, feeling something smooth and L-shaped under his hand. He grabbed it, pulling out a pistol. He stood up, his back still turned to Legion.

"This intel that important?" he asked

"Regards Old Machine device, design of which we are still determining. Also relates to Sword Base and conversion centers," Explained Legion "where captured humans and other Covenant are most likely being turned into Husks."

That got Six's attention as he turned slowly to meet Legion.

"Where are these husk making centers then?" he asked

"They were designated to be set up in heavily populated city centers when armada arrived." Legion elaborated "Documents include tracking code that can be used to locate centers' locations within city. Signal meant to be given to Covenant in field in order to easily locate each center that was closest to their position."

"Then we still got a chance to put a dent in their operation before they get too dug in." Six reasoned as he cocked his pistol "Alright Robo-Bud, let's find your Commander then. Got a few questions to ask him anyway, he better have answers."

Six, still limping, began to walk in the direction Legion designated before. The machine was close in step as they walked off, the wreckage of the supercarrier looming in front of them as they walked.

"Does your moniker of 'Robo-Bud' mean we are forgiven?" Legion asked curiously

"Don't push your luck Legion." Six responded, a slight bit of a laugh in his voice.

* * *

><p><strong>August 15<strong>**th****, 2552**

The television blared loudly, the 'stand by' colours shining brightly as the dire alarm sounded from the speakers. The loud obnoxious tones were an instant attention grabber and important given the context of sign flashing in the middle of it all and the scrolling text along the bottom of the screen.

_EMERGENCY BROADCAST SYSTEM_

_ALL NEW ALEXANDRIA CITIZENS, EMERGENCY EVACUATION IS IN PROGRESS. REPORT TO NEAREST MILITARY CHECKPOINT. ESCORTS TO NEAREST AIRPAD OR EVACUATION CENTER WILL BE WAITING. ONE CARRY ON BAG PER PERSON ONLY. HAVE PHOTO ID ON YOUR PERSON. DO NOT ENGAGE ENEMY. STAY OFF THE STREETS. BE AWARE OF YOUR SURROUNDINGS._

It was a warning that came too late for too many souls in the city of New Alexandria. Once the brightest city on Eposz, now only lit up by fire and chaos. People had long ago abandoned their carry on items, in the face of what was happening material concerns soon proved a liability. People ran past the plasma screen playing the emergency broadcast signal, ignoring its blaring alarm entirely. For something else, far more heinous was giving chase.

"Run! Don't stop for anything!"

"Keeping going! Stay in cover! Don't look back!"

One man rushed passed, tripping on a piece of debris. He collapsed onto the ground and tried to push himself back up. Then something hard hit his back and detonated.

A triumphant roar erupted throughout the room as three large hairy hulking beasts plodded into the building. In their arms were large weapons, grenade launchers with a huge blade attached to it's underside. They eyed more humans running down the corridor, stepping over the remains of the one they killed. They fired their weapons once more, coating the corridor with explosions.

For Fabien Parr and his little girl Sandra, it was the first introduction to the Brutes. Less than a day ago they had been on a nice little father and daughter day out together. They were just about to get ice cream when the first Covenant ship appeared over New Alexandria. Now, as Fabien leapt into a nearby room with his daughter in his arms to avoid the Brute's cascading grenades, that moment seemed like another lifetime.

Fabien hit the floor on his back, absorbing the shattered glass and broken bits of wood that were strewn about the place. It hurt like hell, but he was more concerned about his little girl than his now shredded backside. Sandra was crying into his chest, screaming loudly.

"What's happening daddy?" she asked in a panic.

Fabien didn't answer her question, he just shimmed backwards into the room more, trying to find a way out before the Brutes found them.

"Daddy what's happening!" she pleaded

"Don't look baby, just keep your eyes shut, everything is gonna be okay." He told her, his promise feeling empty and hopeless nonetheless. "We're gonna be okay."

He wished he had a gun, something to protect himself with. Maybe it wouldn't do much against these genocidal gorillas but it was better than be unarmed. It was better than thinking all he could do to protect his child was to keep her face buried in his chest and tell her not to look.

Fabien looked to the window at the edge of the room, cracked wide open from the looks of it. He knew they were probably up two stories at least, but if he could get to there and land on his feet Sandra at the very least could get away.

But before he could get up, one of the brutes stepped into the doorway, his Brute Shot weapon raised high. He grinned a sickening smile as he stood there, peering at his weapon for a long time. The bastard was trying to figure out how he'd kill them both. The eyes of the brute turned to Sandra now as she lay huddled in her father's arms. The licked his lips and began to walk into the room. Horrified, Fabien tried to shimmy back further to escape as the alien raised his Brute Shot's bladed underbelly in one hand and tried to reach for Sandra with the other.

"No!" Fabien shouted.

He tossed Sandra off him as best he could and yelled at her to run. The Brute turned to follow as the little girl backed away slowly, her eyes never leaving her father. Fabien leapt up and grabbed at the Brute's back.

"Bastard! She's just a child!"

The Brute elbow checked Fabien away from him, slamming him into the back wall. Fabien heard his daughter scream in terror and looked up to see the Brute advancing on him once more. Fabien didn't try to run. He only hoped Sandra wouldn't watch. That she'd run too. That she'd escape. It was the best he could do for her.

Then he was granted a reprieve.

A blue aura surrounded the Brute suddenly and he was lifted up into the air.

"They're off the menu you sick piece of shit!" a screeching angry voice shouted.

Suddenly the Brute was smacked with another bolt of energy and sent careening out of the window. Fabien tried to adjust his vision, see who had saved him and how. What he saw was a shaved-headed woman, covered in tattoos and almost completely naked. She pulled him to his feet quickly as another woman with long black hair and battle armour rushed to collect Sandra.

"Who are you people?" he asked in disbelief

"We're the Monkey Exterminators pal." The tattooed woman said as she lifted her gun up and passed him one of her spares. "Here to save the motherfucking day. What I do now, apparently."

The other woman came back and set Sandra down near him. The little girl rushed to her father, hugging his leg tightly.

"We need to move," the long haired woman said "there are more Brutes in the area."

"Let'em come Cheerleader, I'll rip them all apart." The tattooed woman declared "Limb from frickin' limb."

"I'm not worried about us Jack." The other woman replied as she passively looked to Fabien and his daughter

The tattooed woman stood there for a bit staring at the two, finally she sighed.

"Fine, we'll do it your way for once Cheerleader." She relented "Just this once, but just so you know-"

"You're not doing it for me, I get that." The one called 'Cheerleader' retorted "Just do it for them at the very least, that's all I care about right now."

The sounds of approaching Brutes interrupted the conversation and the 'Cheerleader' motioned Fabien and his daughter to follow. He did without even a second thought. He didn't know how they had beaten that Brute, but he didn't care. They had saved his daughter and that was enough for him.

* * *

><p><strong>August 16<strong>**th****, 2552**

Kreave had never laughed as hard in his life as he had when the Solace exploded. He had spent a good ten minutes just trying to recompose himself and another five minutes after that trying to wipe the grin off his face. Where the Covenant soldiers around him were horrified at the loss of their carrier the only thing Kreave could think about was the Shipmaster dying painfully as the ship was ripped in two. The only great disappointment in all this was that he wasn't onboard to see it for himself. Then again if he had been he'd more than likely be dead now. You couldn't have everything.

Kreave deduced that this had to be Shepard's doing, he played a role in this somehow. Only the Commander of the Normandy could have accomplished such a bold and daring feat. It was comforting to know that Shepard had rid him of that useless Shipmaster and his annoying prattle. He now had another reason to admire the human.

The Krogan Warlord wasted no time in using this to his advantage. When the new fleet arrived over reach he sought about contacting their commanding officer post-haste. He gave his own version of events, that the Shipmaster's negligence had somehow allowed the False Shepherd to conduct an act of sabotage. He told them that if he had listened to his strategies then they would've still had their Supercarrier bombarding the planet when they arrived. He offered his services in making up for the reduced amount of man power and equipment, that his Blood Pack was more than capable of taking the fool humans and their military apart bit by bit. He even threw in a little of their stupid religious fervour into the mix, telling them that he'd lay siege to the Human in the name of the "blessed Forerunners."

The fleet's commander readily accepted the offer and tasked Kreave's Blood Pack with assisting the assault of the nearby human city called "New Alexandria." The Krogan was elated with the assignment. Now his men could do what Krogan were born to do instead of sitting around guarding a hunk of metal.

The Blood Pack's Vorcha were the first to be sent in, the stupid little gremlins were great at locating the enemy. The human squads they found did their best to pick them off, but that was when the Krogan rushed in. Very little could halt a charging Krogan, save for a point blank ranged shotgun blast. The intial charge got the Krogan up close and personal. One of the Krogan trampled the highest ranking officer in the group he could find, decapitating the leadership. In disarray the Humans would scatter for cover, trying to get away from the hulking invincible monsters that were tearing at them. They were no match for Krogan shotguns however, the rounds ripped through all those in close range. It didn't matter the guns only had one shot each, enough Krogan were nearby by this time to decimate the entire squad with ease.

Kreave had the men repeat the process for awhile, locate a squad, rush in to trample the leader and blow the rest away before they could seek shelter. It worked splendidly for a time. The only downside was his men had won the battle before he could even join them.

But even Kreave knew that they wouldn't have sporadic squads forever. The humans were simply mobilizing for the time being, trying to get into better positions and fortify their lines. Eventually the humans would find places to bunker down and fight them off.

That moment came sooner than expected. The Vorcha eventually led them to a wide opened promenade in the city. It was a small park with fountain in the center and few trees scattered around. On the far side of the park was a housing complex from the looks of it. This was where the shots started coming from. A Vorcha was the first to die. He took a shot through the head with a three round burst as they entered. The rest of the humans opened up next, machine guns and rocket teams at the base of the housing complex, shooters in the windows themselves.

"Advance into the park!" Kreave ordered "We finally have a real challenge!"

Kreave soon learned how true that was. As his men entered the whirling sounds of shells could be heard from on high. Explosions erupted all around them, revealing that in fact the humans had mortars on top of the housing complex's roof. They had turned a condo into a fortress and the park below a killing field. Krogan advanced only to be swallowed up by the cascading shells falling around them. Even they couldn't regenerate from a blown open torso. That is if they even had a torso left.

The humans no doubt had had a good while to set this defence up. Kreave gritted his teeth as he rushed along the battlefield, explosions erupting around him. He took cover near a fountain as its marble statue shattered to bit from sustained machine gun fire. They couldn't stay here long, the mortars would zero in on them eventually, but right now it was better to stay away from the machine guns themselves. A Krogan could take a great deal, but a thousand rounds turned anything they hit into shredded meat. One Krogan behind Kreave wasn't fast enough and found himself torn apart by one of the human gunners above.

"Blast it all." Keave grumbled "We need air cover, heavy artillery. Where are the blasted Covenant fighters?"

He'd find out later, right now he needed to get the Blood Pack out of this killzone. He grabbed one of his subordinates.

"Send what's left of the Vorcha forward, we'll go right. They'll focus on them while we can get close enough to finish them."

Within moments the order went up to the front of the huddled mass of Krogan warriors now pinned down dead center in the park. The Vorcha surged forward like a tidal wave, being chewed up by mortars and machines guns as they did. The Krogan used their sacrifice to circle into the right of the park. They came upon the stairs that led up to the Housing Complex's level. Now they were on the right side of the machine guns and enemy defences. Kreave led the flanking attack, his shotgun raised high. He fired inferno round from his shotgun into a human Rocket team as they tried to turn and fire at them. Kreave stepped over their scorching bodies, reloaded and fired at the machine gunner nearby next.

With the defensive line broken the Krogan entered the housing complex. Room by room they started to search for the humans. Kreave burst into one of the very first rooms to find three of them. They opened fire immediately, but Kreave's armoured absorbed what hit him. He fired another shot, reloaded quickly and fired again. Two humans incinerated by the inferno rounds, one left to face an angry charging Krogan who slammed his head full on to the human's weaker skull. As Kreave stood over the body one of his men rushed into the room.

"Sir, another message from Thresher Team." He informed him "A sniper just took out another of their men."

Kreave stood up from his fallen prey and grimaced.

"Another clean kill?" he asked

"Yes, three shots in quick succession." The aide informed him "He didn't have time to regenerate from the wound. They suspect armour-piercing rounds, cut right through his helmet and his hide."

Kreave growled, first these humans were given time to set up this fortress, then no air cover was in sight to contact and now this.

"That is the fifth time in the past two hours." Kreave noted aloud "Same tactic, same possible ammo modification."

"It can't be the same man warlord." The aide declared "No one can possibly be able to get around this damn city that quickly."

"What if they don't have to move?" Kreave asked "This sniper must be conducting his attacks from somewhere on high, a good vantage point where he can see everything. His gun is more than likely sufficiently powerful as well. He may even be spotting for a partner."

"Do you think it's..."

Kreave stopped the aide before he continued.

"No, Shepard prefers to fight in the thick of it." He declared "He is more krogan than human. That much is certain. In any case we need to start hitting the highest buildings in this city. Flush him out."

"We'd need to speak to the Covenant for that." The aide told him

Kreave's frown deepened. He could only presume their covenant allies were otherwise occupied with more trivial matters. While his men fought the real fight, they were 'cleansing' the city as they claimed. He re-called the conversation he had with the fleet commander. The one that stated a priority about not letting a single human escape the city, that New Alexandria would become a cauldron for all who resided within. Usually Kreave would like the tactic, see it as a good way to keep the enemy from receiving support. But something told Kreave that wasn't the goal. Since he arrived in this city he had seen few actual Coveant forces. He had requested they be dropped into areas of strong military presence. The pilot of the dropship didn't object, but he seemed disappointed for some reason. Like that wasn't where he wanted them to go, as if it was less fun. Kreave couldn't put his claw on it but something just smelled wrong.

The lack of air support in this area was telling. It was giving the humans a chance to regroup here and set up positions like this housing complex. What were the Covenant doing that was more important than securing the areas before the humans dug in? If this kept the Covenant could potentially lose air superiority in these sectors and then his men would be in real trouble. For now though they needed to press on. There were no doubt more human strongholds to clear out and better battles to fight. The questions concerning the Covenant's negligence would have to wait.

* * *

><p>Two days walking on a broken ankle with a cracked helmet made one appreciate wheeled transportation. Thankfully Legion was there, Six had lost track of how many times he collapsed onto the ground from a mist-step. Spartans were super-soldiers, but even they weren't immune to pain.<p>

"Six Noble," Legion said as the Spartan stumbled along "you should seek medical attention. Your appendage will not heal otherwise."

"I don't have the materials to make a damn splint Legion." Six replied tersely "If you can live with a hole in your damn chest I can handle a broken foot."

"This platform is hardware," Legion reminded him "we do not need it intact to function. You are organic, you are considerably more fragile."

Six didn't respond. He wasn't interested in arguing with Legion over this, they needed to get out of here and he wasn't wasting time waiting for his damn foot to heal. They were far enough away as it was from that beacon signal, they weren't gonna get closer lying down and taking a nap.

By now they had gotten out of the valley and were entering a more wooded area. Or at least what had once been a wooded area, the place had been scorched to ashes by Covenant plasma cannons from the look of it. The trees weren't the only casualties though, for through the trees Six spied a rock. Atop of it and lying upside down was a warthog jeep, now nothing more than a twisted hulk of metal. One of its wheels had come off the axel and had rolled a good two feet away from the crash site. There were three dead bodies surrounding the car itself. Even from this far away Six could tell they were wearing army uniforms.

Six hobbled over to it, Legion doing his best to keep up. The Spartan let himself drop amongst the dead troopers and he began searching the wreckage. He needed ammo, rations, water, a medkit, anything to help make this trip easier.

"Guess these guys got caught in the bombardment." He reasoned "I don't see any other vehicles though, guess they were separated from their unit."

Legion kept watch of over his Spartan companion as he burrowed through the wreckage. Along with some grenades he eventually pulled out a small canteen, filled half way with water. The Spartan pried off his cracked helmet and took a long gulp from the container. As he wiped his lip he looked to the driver of the vehicle, hanging upside down from his chair. The canteen was probably from him, as Six had found it close by on the overturned roof. The driver was wearing a Military Police helmet, and despite the damage to the car it was seemingly intact.

"Sorry about this buddy, but mine is smashed to bits and you don't need yours anymore." Six told the corpse sombrely.

Six pried off the helmet carefully and placed it on his head. The audible hiss of the helm attaching to his suit locked it firmly in place. With a new intact helmet his HUD came back online. His vitals were still in the orange area, but he supposed it could've been worse given his ordeal.

"These guys were MPs," Six told Legion as he continued to search the wreckage "pretty far from any base. Of course, there could've been a base nearby. Probably gone by now though, poor bastards. Tried to escape when the Covenant opened up I guess, didn't get too far."

Legion's head titled back to Six.

"Curious." It said

"What is?" Six asked

"Despite odds growing increasingly against the planet, most of your people have opted to stand their ground." Legion noted "Yet these soldiers fled."

Six just shrugged.

"I can't blame'em." He said "Covie ships and plasma blasts torch everything around them. I'm surprised they didn't glass the place. Guess they figure a little forest and a small outpost ain't worth it."

"Desertion does not seem conducive to unit cohesion." Legion suggested "Loss of resources leads to enemy advantage. The death of what remains when you leave becomes almost assured."

Six was about to agree, when he saw a light flickering in the corner of his HUD.

"Huh, built in vid cam." He said surprised "Let's see what happened here."

Six activated the video, playing the most recent entry before it went offline. Six saw a choppy static video of a bumpy ride through the woods. Plasma fire was raining down all around and the trees were on fire.

"FASTER!" Shouted the man next to the driver "We gotta give the FOB more time to get out of here! New Alexandria needs all the-"

That was when an explosion erupted in front of the vehicle. The car turned sharply and then rolled sideways as the warthog went cart wheeling across the forest floor before finally coming to a rest on the rock. That's when the feed cut.

"They weren't deserters." Six told Legion "Seems they were acting as bait, trying to give the others some time to get out. Something about New Alexandria needing them."

Legion's head rose up sharply.

"Alexandria, a name related to several human cities founded in ancient times. Greek Macedonian period. Each a conquered city renamed after Alexander the Great."

"Thanks for the history lesson." Six quipped, a bit annoyed at the irrelevant piece of information "Point is they weren't making their unit weaker. This time around they weren't running away to save their own skins."

"This is acceptable behaviour?" Legion asked

Now it was Six's turn to be confused. He turned his head around to look at the synthetic.

"Why do you ask?" He asked back

Legion hesitated for a moment. The machine seemed to be trying to find the best way to elaborate on its statement. Six soon found out why.

"Five Noble, Jorge." Legion began "He opted to stay behind at the cost of his own life in an effort to save ours and those who remained on the planet. Shepard Commander has on occasion opted to risk his own functionality to save others. Ninety percent of the time said people were those he did not know personally. We surmise Jorge did not have close relations with all of Reach as well."

"So?" Six shrugged "You told me in the Morning War the Geth threw themselves at positions in waves upon waves just to break through to the other side."

"Geth can transmit themselves into Hubs, rejoin the network and replace our platforms." Legion reiterated "You cannot. Yet despite the risks, Organics are more often than not willing to self-terminate in the pursuit of protecting others. It is a curious pattern."

Six stood back up and walked over to Legion.

"Isn't it logical to sacrifice the one for the many?" Six asked, still not understanding Legion's point. "I mean if one program gets deleted to save a thousand more and that one program has the choice to delete itself or not wouldn't it do it?"

"Yes, however considering the fragility of Organics it was predicted that we would encounter few who would see matters along similar lines." Legion replied "It is a surprising trait."

Six crossed his arms at that.

"You don't think it makes us weak do you?" He asked curiously

"Negative, it makes you stronger." Legion replied "However, Geth know each other more readily than most Organics know one another. We exchange, share and compartmentalize our collective experiences. Five Noble was strongly opposed to any attempts to stop his sacrifice. His words seem to suggest he was attempting to repay Reach, the planet itself."

"It was his home and he was watching it get destroyed." Six reasoned "Hell I was worried he'd do something just like that if things went south up there."

Six looked to the side and then up to the heavens.

"Which they did." He said forlornly.

"We do not wish to demean his sacrifice." Legion continued "However, we continue to wonder as to why Five Noble seemed to so readily anthropomorphize a planet and its collective people as his own."

For a moment Six thought about telling Legion to shut up about it. He didn't want to try and explain Jorge's actions, not when he was still mad at Legion for what happened. But then he realised something, about the nature of the question.

"This is about the Quarians isn't it?" he asked

"The Creators have anthropomorphized their homeworld." Legion explained "They consider it their home, their lost home they wish to reclaim."

Legion spread out its arms wide.

"A planet is not a home. It is a collection of rock and mineral which through pressure and gravitational force combines together." The synthetic continued "Home is the present location of the Creators, where they are among their familiars, family and friends. By all technicalities Team Noble was Five Noble's home."

"He felt the same more or less I think." Six agreed.

Legion's head paltes scrunched up at this.

"Yet like the Creators, Five Noble was willing to die for a planet. One he had not been present on for years if previous conversations suggests."

Six scratched his head a bit, thinking of how best to explain this all.

"Yeah, Jorge probably didn't know every single soul on Reach." Six admitted "Hell he probably didn't even know any of the soldiers that have been dying alongside us so far. But then again, neither did Agis the Third."

Legion's head cocked slightly, its eye widening and one of its head plates rising up.

"Clarify." It asked

Now it was Six's turn to spout history.

"Most people know about the Spartans of Greece because of that business with Persia and the three hundred." Six began readily "But there were other Spartans in history. It's kinda funny you mentioned Alexander the Great before cause this story takes place during his reign. Alexander had pretty much taken the whole of Greece, but for the most part he left Sparta alone. While the little upstart was in Persia trying to expand his ego and empire, Agis the Third of Sparta decided to kick Alex's buddies out of Greece and back up into Macedonia where they belonged."

"Strategy is logical. The head of state was not present. Potentially weak defending force on home front." Legion observed.

"Yeah they did pretty good too, that is until Alexander sent back a far bigger army to retake everything Agis had 'stolen' more or less."

Six made sure to put massive quotations around' Stolen' of course. The expression was lost on Legion, but the Spartan III continued regardless

"Agis was gravely wounded in the fight and his troops thought him dead." Six said, his tone growing graver "They carried him back to the lines to patch him up when they saw he was still alive. However, he was so badly wounded he couldn't stand. He knew they couldn't win, not against this force. So he called a retreat while he stayed behind and faced the Macedonians alone. He fought hard, giving his men enough time to escape while he cut through the enemy, still on his knees and bleeding. They only killed him when someone threw a javelin from afar at him."

Legion kept looking at Six, listening intently to the Spartan as he wrapped up his story.

"Agis the Third of Sparta sacrificed his life to save those of his brothers, his comrades, his people." Six explained "Because they were his nation, his home if you will. To let them die would mean he'd let his home die. It's why Jorge stayed behind. To let that Carrier live would mean more people he cared about would die. And while he did not know everyone on Reach he cared about them all the same. They were his people, even if he didn't live with them he couldn't stand to watch them suffer."

Legion's head drooped slightly at this and finally rose up.

"The Creators," it stated "they feel they are suffering. They feel it is us who have caused it. They are each willing to sacrifice themselves to end it. We also recall moments of history during the exodus. Creators remained to provide escape for others. Similar to the Spartan Leader Agis."

"Like you said Legion, home is the people not the place." Six informed him "Jorge didn't see himself as anything but a resident of Reach. I think that was enough for him to connect with everyone down here, civilian or otherwise. I guess the quarians are similar?"

Legion's iris opened and closed sharply.

"Yes, they see themselves as a collective. We have long surmised that this made us similar to them." The Synthetic answered "What we see as the network they see as a family that extends beyond the organic conception of bloodlines. Five Noble considered the people of Reach along similar terminology?"

Six only nodded in clarification. The machine finally eased up at that.

"Thank you Six Noble." Legion replied "You have helped us understand Five Noble's actions and those of the Creators."

"Glad I could help." Six said patting the synthetic on the shoulder "To be honest, I was kinda wondering for a second if I was just confusing you more."

Six pulled his pistol out of its holster and motioned Legion to follow.

"Come on, enough chat for today, burning daylight here." Six told the machine "We need to keep moving."

* * *

><p><strong>August 17<strong>**th****, 2552**

Garrus pressed himself up against the wall of the room for a bit. He needed to rest his eyes. He'd been on watch for about two days now. When they first arrived he didn't expect he'd be held up in a giant half destroyed Skyscraper acting as over watch for half the city. Then again none of them expected for this to go so wrong so fast. Right now he was wishing he was back on Omega. He could handle Omega, he could handle one bridge. Now his attention was split between a number of nests he set up within the building. He hoped it would keep the Covenant from figuring out exactly where he was, but he knew they'd zero in on him eventually. He'd have to find a new eagle's nest eventually, but for now it looked safe. The second he saw one of those Corvettes floating over to him he was out of here.

So far he has been lucky. The Covenant's air support wasn't hitting his area currently. They were busy trying to keep people from getting out of the city before they started obliterating them. He'd seen a passenger plane get shot to pieces by one of the Corvettes as it tried to run the blockade. Nothing he could do but watch as the flying machine collapsed to the ground in giant heap of metal. He didn't want to think about how many people he had just watched die.

He couldn't focus on that, he told himself, there was nothing he could do. There were people he could actually help, people who were still alive. He just some of those were his friends. He hadn't heard from Jacob after he set up that refugee station. Either they were having radio problems or... well he didn't want to think about that. He just hoped that they were in a building he could see from here and that the UNSC radio he found would pick up their signal eventually.

He was using said radio to boost his own comm-link for now though. He kept trying to reach the Normandy at first, but to no avail. She was either out of range or having the same communication problems as everyone else. Maybe the Covenant had set up jamming devices, like back in Viery, they had stopped him from getting in touch with the Normandy before.

"Damn it Shepard." He grimaced, gripping his gun "Where the hell are you?"

It was then he got a signal on the radio. It wasn't on the Normandy's channels and it was faint but it was a signal. That was better than nothing. As he tuned the radio in the static cleared and he could finally make out who it was.

"Anyone on this frequency?" It asked a grumbly somewhat southern accented voice "I repeat, is anyone still alive out there? This Gunnery Sergeant Edward Buck, Orbital Drop Shock Troopers. My team is pinned in the market district. I got Brutes and Grunts clambering all over each other just to get to us! We have civilians with us! Does anyone read?"

That was Garrus' cue. He had eyes on the market district for some time now. It was a bottleneck in the streets below. The perfect killing ground for the Covenant, and ideal ambush site. As he looked through the scope of his powered rifle he found what he was looking for. A full squad of the giant gorilla creatures called Brutes. They were on the street amongst the burning cars and buildings, the giant grenade launchers and spike shooting guns were tear up the street. A little ways down from them were Sergeant Buck and his team. Garrus could also see three unarmed humans as well.

"Sergeant," Garrus said as he contacted the trooper "I read you and I have eyes on your position."

"Who is this?" Buck asked in return

"Just call me Archangel for now." The Turian replied "I'm here to solve your giant ape problem for ya. I'll get you and your men out of this, you have my word."

"Mighty appreciated Archangel," Buck told him "fire when ready."

One of the Brutes had taken the lead and in fact was advancing down the street. His helmet was horned and ornate, it pretty much broadcasted to everyone out loud saying "I am important. Shoot me." He appreciated for once the bad guys were making this easier. He had to work to kill the bastard mercs on Omega.

He a little bit ahead of the Brute as he rushed down the street. He needed to take into account the wind, the target's speed, the velocity of the round, this far away no shot was easy. He fired once, armour piercing round just in case that helmet wasn't entirely for show. A split second later the Brute leader fell to the ground, his feet flying into the air as he fell to the floor. A clean headshot, now the remaining brutes were without a leader. That was helpful.

Garrus switched to his next target, the Brute that was rushing forward firing blindly at the rooftops. He soon took fire from Buck and his squad. A perfect distraction and it slowed the dumb ape down. Garrus went for another headshot and watched the Brute twirl one last time as the round cut him down.

Normally at this range Garrus wouldn't risk trying to hit such a small target. But if Miranda was good at anything it was finding weaknesses in the enemy. According to her dossier on the Covenant she dug up for them the softest spot on the Brutes were their skulls. They could absorb pretty much anything you threw at them otherwise. At least they couldn't regenerate like Krogan.

A third Brute suddenly rushed forward into Garrus' range of sight, intending to rush through the kill zone and get close enough to the ODSTs to crush them with his bare hands. Thankfully garrus was already zeroed in and he fired a round that stuck the Brute in the leg. It caught the dumb primate off balance and he slammed into a wall of the left side of the street. When he got back up Garrus put another round through the alien's jaw. The Brute was dead this time.

One last member of the Brute pack, this one was smarter though. He was staying back, continuing to pelt the ODSTs with his grenade launcher. The Brute Shot kept blasting away, tearing up Buck's cover bit by bit. Garrus reacted fast. Problem was the Brute was keeping his head behind a wrecked car. He didn't really need precise aim with a grenade launcher after all. At least in his mind he didn't. He needed to lead the target a bit. So he fired a shot near the car he was using as cover. Just to scare the monkey a bit. The Brute ducked down and clambered away from the car wreckage. The Brute made a break for a nearby pillar and tucked himself behind it. Garrus could just barely make out his head, but at least all that twisted metal wasn't in the way.

He waited for the Brute to get comfortable and then the stupid hairy bastard jumped out and tried to cross the street itself. He was trying to run from cover to cover, keep the sniper from hitting him. It wouldn't work, not when Garrus was already zeroed in. One shot and the round cut clean through him. As the Brute's body dropped to the ground Buck came over the radio again.

"Thanks for the assist Archangel." He said "Think you can cover us till we get to the evac center?"

"I'll do my best sergeant." Garrus told him "I'm not going anywhere."

Not for now at least, not until he figured out where the others were. That was, if they were even still alive of course.

* * *

><p>One day worth of rest, hell not even one day it was half a day. The second the new Covenant fleet jumped into orbit Kowalski's unit had been called back into action. Good news, from all reports only one side of the planet was being invaded, bad news they were getting clobbered all the same. New Alexandria was the first place the new ships had hit and they hadn't let up since they arrived.<p>

Kowalski was running on empty, everyone was. Ellingham and Ramirez were doing their best to keep the other from falling asleep. They kept smacking each other in the back of the head to stay awake. The call could come anytime, they needed to be ready. Kowalski didn't have that problem. He was too scared to sleep. Even inside this reinforced basement they were using as a command post he couldn't close his eyes for a moment. Oh he was tired, but the idea of him never waking up kept his eyes taped open. Now bloodshot and twitchy, Kowalski was trying to force himself to sleep for a moment before it was too late.

He looked to other people in the basement, all of them hunched over communication displays and computers. They were trying to organize an effective resistance or at least find someone on any channel that was. Something was making that next to impossible. They could barely reach anyone outside their sector. They had lost total contact with command just an hour ago. For all they knew the Covies had blown them up, the Joint Chiefs were dead and they were the last humans alive on the planet.

He supposed that was what the Covenant wanted them to think. Kowalski had to admire them at the very least for finding new ways to rub salt in their wounds.

Where the hell was the fleet they were promised? Where were the reinforcements? Probably caught up fighting off the bad guys far above them, or they were space junk now. Another thing they didn't know, couldn't know.

Sergeant Taylor approached Kowalski soon after and lightly tapped him with his foot.

"Jensen wants us up top." He told him "You get any rest?"

When Kowalski looked up at him and he saw the poor privates baggy eyes that was all the info he needed. Taylor sighed and he pulled the private up.

"Come on." He said "I'm gonna need everyone."

Kowalski didn't argue, how could he? The city was coming down around him. To complain now about anything just seemed pointlessly selfish.

Jensen was outside the basement hideout, the ground floor of a parking garage complex attached to a mall. Or what was left of the mall after the Corvettes bombarded it. Jensen was currently looking out over the city amidst a small forward op-center.

"We're in a bad way people." He told the squad as they approached "Every company is cut off from each other we have very little air support and there are just too many damn civies out there. We can't handle the situation while we're this disorganized."

"Do we have a plan sir?" Taylor asked

"Besides surviving?" he asked in response "Not sure. All I know is we have a Covenant Wraith column coming in. Our spotters think they're heading to one of the civilian evac centers."

"The civies?" Taylor said astonished

Jensen didn't seem as shocked as Taylor though, his stoic expression unchanged.

"Don't act so surprised Sergeant, this is how the Covenant operates." Jensen reminded him "It doesn't matter if there are more important targets to hit. The Covies wanna make sure we can't get anyone out of here alive. It's an advantage we can exploit. We're gonna send you boys to reinforce one of the other units along the presumed path of the Wraiths. We gotta destroy the bastards before they get too close to the evac center or we'll have a lot of dead humans on our hands. More importantly they may decide to finally focus on us."

Kowalski winced at that, the notion that they were only protecting their people cause it made sure the Covies would keep attention on them. It sounded so callous, but the cruel truth was that the more the Covenant focused on the Civilians the more the UNSC could regroup. It was their only real advantage they had left now, using the Covenant's stupid genocide-first tactics against them.

"Get to the trenches out front." Jensen ordered "One of the runners from 7th platoon will help lead you back to their position. Kill the wraiths and get back here. No heroics beyond that."

Taylor nodded once and the team moved out. Kowalski stayed in place for a moment though to ask a question that was bothering him.

"Sir?" he began "Do we have anything on the Normandy crew?"

Jensen's head lowered slightly.

"Unknown private." He admitted "Let's just hope they're still alive and fighting. They're our biggest ace in the hole right now, besides the Spartans."

Kowalski accepted the answer. He didn't expect sudden good news coming out of the blue. The Normandy team had pulled him and his squad mates out of the fire though. They almost died doing it. More or less he assumed they were just doing what they were doing right now. Just trying to hold on.

* * *

><p>He'd gotten sidetracked more or less. He was supposed to just find Miranda and Jack, the bickering biotics as he sometimes called them. People thought Krogan got uppity with one another, but Grunt wouldn't be surprised if he found them dead in the end. He had hoped to back at the refugee station before nightfall. That was two days ago. He didn't expect Jacob to send a search squad for him. The krant was already stretched thin enough. Between Shepard out of contact, Vakarian and Thane cut off, and Miranda and Jack missing and the Geth completely off the grid who else did they have to spare?<p>

Grunt suddenly remembered one he forgot, Tali. They all presumed she was dead. He wondered if that was why Shepard was out of contact. Perhaps his battlemaster had gone off seeking to avenge his mate alone. He didn't see why Shepard had been attracted to her, but it was not his place to question his battlemaster's choice in a female companion. That and despite it all he liked the Quarian, she had always been nice to him more or less. If a bit preachy about how the Krogan were wasting their homeworld. Although he wondered if that kindness was just out of fear that he'd crush her.

Perhaps he should've told her that he'd never have done something like that. Tali was a fellow clan mate and to harm the mate of your battlemaster in any way was the most dishonourable thing a Krogan could do. Nothing he could do about it now though. She was gone. There were others of his krant he could still protect.

Which was the reason Grunt was still out here, still trying to find Miranda and Jack. He hadn't given up the search, but he had come across a number of Brute forces in his way. The stupid Gorillas were hunting humans, defenceless ones mostly. The human civilians had guns sometimes, but they didn't have the same training. Shepard wasn't here, but he knew what he'd order him to do regardless. Save the poor pyjaks.

He'd come across another group of humans, about five of them from the looks of it. They were huddled in a small busted up shop as two Brutes relentlessly pelted it with grenades from their Brute Shots. Grunt, still armed with his Krogan shotgun, rushed forward into the fray. As the Brutes began to march up the steps Grunt drew his fist back and collided with the one nearest to him. He sent the dumb mammal hurtling back down the steps he had climbed. He then fired off a single shot from his claymore right into the Brute's comrade. The high impact shot tore through the Brute's body, but while bleeding the monster tried to tackle Grunt. The Krogan responded by butting the overgrown monkey in the face, cracking his skull with ease. He was done. Another victory and two more bodies added to his count.

He looked to the humans as they poked their heads out of hiding, one of them pointing a pistol at him.

"If I wanted to kill you, you'd be dead." Grunt told them "Now get out of here. This is no place for your kind."

The humans slowly but surely backed away. One of them however was a small boy, his hand held by his mother. He seemed adamant to stay and look at the giant dinosaur like beast more. He pulled away from his mother briefly.

"Are you gonna kill all the monsters?" he asked, somewhat nervously

Grunt just looked back and smiled.

"Yeah, and then I'm gonna eat them." The Krogan replied cheekily "It's what Krogan do. Heh, heh, heh."

The kid was taken aback by the statement, but he didn't run. His mother needed to rush in and grab him so they could get going. She was more afraid of him than her son was. Before long they were all gone. He didn't even get a thank you for saving them. It didn't matter. Grunt wasn't in this to be idolized by anyone. He was fighting because it was in his blood. Because killing monsters was what Krogan were born to do. And this city was full of them right now.

* * *

><p>Kowalski kept his sights on the approaching convoy of Wraiths. All three of the floating tanks were heading in a straight down the very center of the street. They didn't have a care in the world from the looks of it. Probably thought all the humans were dead in this sector. Whatever the case it made them easier to target. He'd been given a rocket launcher for this, along with Ramirez and two other guys. Everyone else was armed with a DMR to pick off the infantry stragglers. Most of them were Grunts, the Brutes were riding in the Wraiths currently.<p>

Kowalski wondered why there were not as many Elites as there probably should've been. Then he remembered what he'd been taught in basic. That Brutes and Elites didn't work in tandem in many operations. They could be found in the same area from time to time, but more or less they didn't fight alongside one another. Animosity in the ranks, another advantage they had. They didn't have to worry about facing two of the toughest assholes in the Covenant army at the same time.

They let the tanks get a little closer. They wanted to take out the Wraiths before they even got a chance to figure out what was going on. They'd target the lead Wraith first, clog up the route. The rest would be easy pickings then.

Kowalski took aim at the Tank as it passed just beneath his window. He then just waited patiently for Taylor to make the call.

"Fire!"

With the sudden order Kowalski pressed hard on the trigger and let the rocket fly. Ramirez's rocket joined in and both projectiles smacked straight into the back end of the Wraith itself. The tank exploded violently, forcing Ramirez and Kowalski to dive back into the building. By now the other rocket team had already hit their target, the back Wraith. The one in the middle started to swivel to try and fire at the building. Kowalski rushed up and fired his second rocket in conjunction with the other team. The final Wraith exploded, sending a blue fireball up into the air. What few Grunts remained, those not killed by the explosion, rushed for cover. They fired back on the human position as the marines gunned them down.

That was when more plasma started striking the building, but not from the ground, from on high.

"Banshee!" shouted one marine.

A strafe of plasma fire slashed across one of the windows and one of the Marines fell back as a bolt hit him square in the chest. Kowalski pressed himself against the space between two windows as a green bolt of energy hurtled towards him. When it struck he fell forward, the force of the blast knocking him to the ground. But at least he only took the shockwave. He could handle getting slammed into the floor face first. Better than being burned alive.

Ramirez rushed over to him, helped turn him onto his back and waved his hand across his face.

"I'm fine! Kill it!" Kowalski told him in a frustrated rage

Ramirez rushed up to the window and aimed through the rocket's sight. The banshee was coming around for another pass, but Ramirez had enough to target the aircraft. Locked on he let the missile fly and it soared straight into the Banshee's cockpit. As the aircraft broke up and began to pepper the ground with its falling debris, Kowalski got back up to his feet.

"Well three less Wraiths." Ramirez noted "Should make the civies happy."

"Yeah, but not much of a dent is it." Kowalski noted as he propped himself up against a wall.

He looked out the window to see a corvette off in the distance, firing its plasma cannons on the buildings around it. A victory in the midst of such tremendous losses didn't really do much to comfort him. He just hoped for now what little they did accomplish was pissing off the Covenant.

* * *

><p>Kreave growled in anger once more as a rocket sailed over his head and slammed into the wall behind him. The humans within the office building were well armed and dug in. The usual Krogan tactic of charging head first into combat did nothing to break the stalemate. Blood Pack wouldn't pull out and the Marines would not die. It was a rather grating dilemma.<p>

In the past few days Kreave had lost all the Vorcha in his platoon and a great deal of his fellow Krogan had fallen as well. His Blood Pack was still strong, still in the fight, but the fool Covenant were offering no support. The losses were unnecessary and unsustainable for long. Fed up he finally caved in and decided to contact the fleet itself. He wanted an explanation.

"My men are being slaughtered because of your incompetence!" he yelled "I need support if I'm going to secure this street and I need it now!"

"Support is allocated as required." The unhelpful sangheili on the other end responded.

"I don't need excuses I need tanks!" he demanded "If you cannot give me banshees then I will take those! Divert the nearest column to me!"

The sangheili was unsympathetic to Kreave's desires however.

"A column has recently been destroyed by the humans." He explained "We need to press more tanks to that sector to complete their objective."

"What objective?" Kreave asked "Is there anything more important than taking this city?"

Kreave already knew the answer before the idiot even said anything. "The city must be cleansed" was the Elite's response. That was how predictable this stonewalling had become to Kreave.

"The humans must be entirely annihilated." The sangheili continued "None can be allowed to leave this city."

"And while you spend time trying to find and exterminate their civilians the pressure on their army softens!" Kreave explained "We should be focusing on their military targets first and foremost! The civilian population can be dealt with later!"

"It is not your place to question our orders." The sangheili operator replied "It is your place to follow and obey. Your mission is not as imperative as ours. You will be given support as allocated by the plan. Fleet out."

Kreave slammed his fist into the hood of a burned out car. The metal contorted to his hand and he growled in anger once more.

"Idiots!" he declared "Unless they plan to drop a moon on this worthless city like my kind did in the rebellions their strategy is worthless!"

An explosion erupted several feet away from Kreave, engulfing three of his Blood Pack brothers at once. He looked to where the shot had come from, a human tank known as a Scorpion. It had picked the wrong time to come this fortress. Kreave really wanted to smash something. He rushed up along the barricades towards a discarded missile launcher. He picked it up briskly and fired at the Scorpion in successive shots. Two missiles collided with the driver seat of the vehicle, creating a small fireball that consumed the pilot.

"You two!" he said looking to his side "Get up to that tank! Take it!"

The Krogan obeyed and they bounded over cover to reach the Scorpion. One of them got into the driver's seat. The turret soon swivelled around towards the office building, although it took awhile as the Krogan tried to figure out the human controls. He didn't drive it though, just aim it. The Krogan blasted at the human held office building, raining fire down on their position and allowing the rest of Blood Pack to push up.

"The humans give me more support than my own allies." Kreave growled in anger as his lieutenants joined him "Dying in battle is only good when it's against a worthy foe, not when it's because of the stupidity of others!"

"Should we break off the attack sir?" one of the lieutenants asked

"No, we press on!" Kreave ordered "If I have to take this city by myself because of the Covenant's idiocy I shall! These losses will not discourage our resolve! We are Krogan! We are warriors! We shall endure and we will win!"

Besides, Shepard was still here. He could feel it in his bones. Shepard had fought greater odds at Elysium and won. If he could win a battle with minimal support then so could Kreave. He'd find a way, Krogan always did.

* * *

><p><strong>August 23<strong>**rd****, 2552**

Nine days of hiking on a broken ankle put things into perspective. Specifically, how much tolerance a Spartan had for pain and how much you could push it. Six had long since passed the threshold and yet he still kept moving. He had made a splint for his foot awhile back. He took it off yesterday when his leg felt better. The ankle was still sore though.

Legion kept telling Six to stop and rest for awhile longer, but he refused each time. They needed to get to New Alexandria. They needed to find Shepard and Noble Team. He could fight through what little pain bit at him, it wasn't a concern. Stopping those conversion centers was though. He'd seen what had happened to humans when they were huskified down in the drone den. He saw what they could be moulded into given enough time with the centipede. They needed to take that capability out of the Covenant arsenal now, not later. Stopping to rest would only prolong things.

Eventually though the walking paid off.

"Beacon signal is strengthening." Legion declared "We are getting close."

Six looked up towards the sky as it peaked over the hill in front of them. It was cloudy but with a touch of orange hue. Understandable, it was early morning, the sun was coming up. But some of the clouds seemed unnatural. Six suddenly burst into a sprint, rushing up the hill to its top, Legion close behind. When he got there his suspicions were confirmed. It wasn't clouds. It was smoke, smoke billowing up from New Alexandria. The orange hue wasn't the sun either, it was the fire. Even from this far away Six could see it as bright as any star. Through the billowing smoke Six could see three massive Corvettes floating in the sky, their sinister shadow cast all across the once proud human city.

Six had seen war torn landscapes before, but this was on another level. He had gotten there after the fact most of the time, he was in the process of watching this city burn to the ground right in front of him.

"Six Noble."

Six turned to see Legion, who was also staring at the city. Its voice held a slight bit of sadness, although Six wasn't sure if that was from Legion or if it was him colouring things with his own perceptions.

"Do you believe the crew of the Normandy is still functional?" it asked at last

It was strange, a machine asking for comfort from him. At least Six thought Legion was asking for comfort. More likely the Geth was asking his honest opinion to add to its consensus. Still, the look in the synthetic's blue eye as it shifted, the way its head plates moved about and swivelled, something suggested it was more than that. The Spartan looked back to the city as he pondered the question. He reached up with his free hand to one of his compartments on his belt and pulled out Jorge's dog tags. He let them dangle in his hands as he continued to watch the fires rage in the city below.

"_Make it count."_

That was first thing that sprang to his mind.

He turned to Legion.

"We'll find them." He said with utmost confidence "I promise you, we'll find them."

Legion looked at Six for a moment before nodding slightly.

"We shall follow." It said solemnly.

With that Six began to walk down the hill, towards the raging inferno below them.

* * *

><p>Jack wasn't the easiest team mate to have. If she wasn't running off on her own into a fight she was disobeying orders. How Shepard got her in line Miranda had no idea. But since he seemingly dropped off the face of the earth someone had to pick up the slack.<p>

She didn't want to go out looking for survivors with the crazy biotic, but Miranda needed her. Samara would be better suited to a defensive action should the Covenant get to Jacob at the refugee center. Jack was more offensive minded and she seemed eager to face the Brutes when they first dropped in. She needed that aggressiveness. Besides it was only going to be a few hours.

Those few hours had now turned into days. The Covenant moved faster than they expected. They weren't focusing on military strong points they were focusing on Civilian population centers. That was how the team got cut off so fast. The Brutes swooped in and set up more checkpoints and roadblocks then they could count. Now they were just trying to figure out a way through one of them while keeping the pack of mostly unarmed civilians they had picked up alive. They now had fourteen people with them, five of them were still just kids and the oldest of them had just turned thirteen two weeks ago. Two of the adults were police officers and the rest were secretaries, file clerks, parents or teachers. Miranda had thought about arming them, but she wondered if that would just make them targets. One of the clerks said he played paintball once. That was hardly experience.

"Do we even know where we are?" Jack demanded as she looked out the window

"An office building for an insurance company," Miranda informed her "about six blocks away from Jacob and the others. Might as well be miles."

Jack turned her head back to Miranda and growled.

"We should just try that checkpoint on the east end." She reiterated "We can break through them easily, it's the least defended."

"Least defended means there are only twenty guards as opposed to forty or more." Miranda reminded her "It might as well be an outpost with that garrison."

"Yeah but they rotate in patrols." Jack added, sounding frustrated "We can take a few of the isolated ones down, hit the main group when they're hurting."

Miranda shook her head ardently.

"Are you forgetting why we aren't taking as many risks?" She asked

Miranda looked back to the group of civilians behind them. Some of them were trying to overhear their conversation while others were just sitting quietly in their thoughts. Jack just groaned at it all.

"They can hang back while we do the heavy lifting!" Jack argued, shouting aloud in frustration at the Normandy's XO.

"If we stay and try to eliminate the checkpoint we won't last. Not by ourselves." Miranda informed her "We need to punch a hole and run. We can't do that with a group this big."

"That was why I suggested the sewers before, but you shot that down too." Jack argued in kind

"We'd end up just getting more lost down there then we are now!" Miranda shouted back "For all we know it's probably chalk full of Covenant by now trying to cut off people with the same idea!"

"Then what is the plan cheerleader?" Jack demanded to know "Stay here and die like a bunch of pussies! At least I'm suggesting plans instead of hunching over my omni-tool!"

"I am running potential simulations!" Miranda shouted back as she looked Jack dead in the eye.

"No you're wasting my time! I could've gotten us back to Jacob on day one but you had to get us all turned around and stuck in this shithole even further!"

"I was trying to save them!" Miranda replied, practically boiling as she pointed to the civilians "I can see why someone as selfish as you wouldn't care about getting as many people as we could out of this hell, but I wasn't gonna leave them to those monsters!"

"Oh so now we're all charitable!" Jack said in demeaning mocking tone "The Cerberus bitch suddenly wants to actually save people instead of torturing them and trying to find a bullshit justification for it."

Miranda stood up and walked over to Jack in a rage.

"I am not Cerberus anymore! Get that through your stupid spiteful little skull!" Miranda shouted her down "Your idiotic grudge is not helping anyone and it's a miracle that we've saved as many people as we have so far with your attitude!"

"It's amazing we're not dead yet because you're so high on yourself that you won't listen to me period!" Jack told her as she poked her finger into her chest. "If Shepard were here-"

Miranda swatted the finger away.

"Well he isn't! I am! And if you wanna live to see tomorrow you will shut up and just do what I say!"

As the two powerful biotics glared each other down a small cough erupted from behind them. They both looked to see the large group of civilians all watching them. They didn't say anything, probably too scared to do it. But the look on one of the father's faces as he held his daughter close was enough to say everything. Miranda sighed.

"Not here." She told Jack firmly

The two walk off and away from the group. They'd be okay for now. Jack and Miranda entered one of the offices on the far side of the room, away from the cubicles that had become their current home for the time being. There was a large desk in the middle of the office, now smashed in two. Part of the wall had collapsed revealing the smoking runs of the city outside.

"I know we don't like each other." Miranda said as she walked in and Jack closed the door.

"No shit." Jack responded sarcastically

"But those people out there are counting on us to get them out of here." Miranda continued "If we're gonna make it we need to settle our issues for the time being. Come to an agreement if you will. Otherwise we're all dead."

Jack just shrugged.

"Fine." She admitted as she walked over to the giant hole in the wall. "Believe it or not I don't want those people out there dead either."

Jack was right, Miranda didn't really believe that.

"So let's put the cards on the table then." Jack conceded "Me first, you're a bitch."

"As you've made very clear, several times." Miranda responded exasperated, holding her face in her hand "Your problem is you're an insubordinate cunt who only cares about herself and her own damn survival."

"Oh so you can swear." Jack said, faking surprise "Doesn't matter, you're still a cold bitch who like everyone else just wants something from other people. Just like all of Cerberus, just like everyone."

"Please." Miranda replied, her tone of dismissal apparent "I joined Cerberus because they freed me. Nothing more."

"And they kept me in a cell for a whole chunk of my life." Jack added "One girl's saviour..."

Miranda sighed deeply. They weren't getting anywhere like this.

"Point is I left them." Miranda informed her

"Yeah, after you kept making excuses for them and pretending they could do no wrong." Jack reiterated "Your bullshit hasn't changed. You're just whistling a different tune as far as I'm concerned."

"Why? Because I haven't said I'm sorry or something?" Miranda asked "I may have been a part of Cerberus but I was not involved in what happened on Pragia. I wasn't even employed by them back then, I was a child stuck in my father's twisted little world where every waking moment was devoted to his legacy."

"Yeah," Jack replied turning around "so I've heard from the gossip."

Jack marched over to the destroyed desk and leaned against it with her back to Miranda.

"Saved your sister from that shit too," she added "guess you're not all bad in that sense. Just kinda makes you a hypocrite is all."

"What do you mean?" Miranda asked crossing her arms

"Teltin was the exact same bullshit run by your former boss." Jack replied as she peered over shoulder "Trying to make me into their ultimate killing machine. Your daddy tries to make you into something you never asked for and yet you act like what Cerberus did was so different. Well it was in a sense. It was worse. Kids died in there just to make me stronger."

Miranda thought she knew where this was going. Cue the swearing and the pity party as usual. That was when Jack surprised her for once.

"Shit, you think I don't feel bad about what happened?" she asked "That I had to kill those other kids just to get out alive? Yeah, I felt bad. Terrible. It's not something you're proud of. I just don't dwell on it period and I don't make excuses for it. I did it, I killed them."

Miranda uncrossed her arms, letting her guyard down just a bit. She was actually opening up with , progress. Still, she didn't want to let Jack win out that easily.

"But you do dwell on the fact Cerberus did it." Miranda reminded her "That they were ultimately responsible. I understand that Jack, but you can't blame me constantly because I'm the best outlet for your rage."

"And you can't just treat me like shit." Jack replied as she turned to face Miranda with a scowl "Because of all the people on the Normandy you should know what it's like to be stuck in a prison for half your life. Even if it was a cozy little house, the Illusive Man did the same shit to me as your father did to you. Doesn't matter which one was worse, it was the same shit."

With a great heaving sigh and a nod of her head, Miranda looked to the side of the room. She hated to admit it when Jack had a point. In any case, she knew how to solve this.

"If I admit as much will you stop scowling at me at least until we're back with the others?" Miranda asked

"I don't know," Jack started "what will it take for you to listen to me for once?"

Miranda supposed it would be a nice bonus to get something in return in or to get Jack to drop this for awhile. She knew exactly what she wanted.

"You admit that it was unfair to use me as your personal stress ball." She requested

"I haven't tried to crush ya biotically." Jack protested "Not that I haven't thought about it."

"You know what I mean." Miranda reiterated

Jack sighed and swung her arms back and forth a bit.

"Fine, sorry I took my shit out on ya then." Jack admitted "Wasn't fair to you cause you were only just out of diapers or your tube or whatever when I was on Pragia."

"And I'm sorry I wasn't more sympathetic." Miranda added sincerely "You're right. I should have seen the similarities and not ignored them when I was still working with Cerberus."

Jack nodded briskly and walked over to the former Cerberus operative.

"So what now? You gonna attempt to bed me like you tried with Shepard when you started warming up to him?" she asked slyly

The former Cerberus agent shivered at the thought.

"God no," Miranda replied quickly "I think that's the last thing on my mind. Not even on the agenda. Besides, that thing with Shepard wasn't my idea in the first place."

Jack's eyes widened and a grin encroached onto her face. Miranda thought she could see the little wheels spinning her head at the realisation of what that meant.

"Oh... I see. Illusive Man doesn't just dress like a cheap pimp does he?" Jack asked

Miranda tried to stifle a laugh, but she admitted it was kinda funny. Even if the idea no doubt gave a certain amount of pleasure to the ex-con for obvious reasons.

"Not that I ever stood a chance." Miranda noted "We both know he only had eyes for one woman on that ship."

Now it was Jack;s turn to laugh a bit. She knew exactly who Miranda was talking about.

"Yeah, helmet chick had that cute little accent." She said grinning "Could tell that alone drove the Boy Scout wild."

Jack's chuckle died down slightly. Her face became more sullen as she started to remember.

"Gonna miss her. She hated Cerberus as much as I did after all." Jack mused "Hell, probably one of the few people on the ship I didn't have a beef with. You know, at least not personally."

"Yeah, she was a very capable alie-" Miranda caught her tongue before she finished "...Engineering chief. The Normandy won't be the same without her."

For a moment there was silence between the two. They hadn't thought much about Tali since they got to New Alexandria. They'd been so concerned with those they had to save they had forgotten one they hadn't been able to. Their remembrance of their quarian crew mate eventually died down, they needed to focus on the civilians now. They could think about the dead later.

"So, those sewers," Miranda started "you think we can make it?"

"If you think we won't get lost in there." Jack responded with a light shrug

Miranda thought for a moment.

"I suppose I could try getting into the city mainframe system and digging up a blueprint of the tunnels." She suggested "I'm not on Kasumi's level or Tali's, but it's worth a shot."

"Yeah, okay I'll tell the civies the plan then." Jack said "You do that."

Jack left the office. Miranda wasn't kidding herself into thinking this problem was over and done with, but at least she was sure it wouldn't affect the rest of this mission. If they could cooperate for just a while longer they had a chance.

* * *

><p>The Brutes had taken over the square, the position had fallen. There was no doubting that now. As Kowalski dove behind an overturned Warthog for cover that fact became painfully clear. Spikes slammed into the side of the car, sticking out like giant thorns. Kowalski looked up to see several of them poking up over the top. The marine now was starting to miss plasma and wished that the overgrown monkeys didn't have such a pointy objects fetish.<p>

They held off against the Brutes as best they could, but the breakthrough had been inevitable. All over the city the relentless horde of the ape-like aliens had finally overcome stiff Marine resistance. They were now crawling all over the city, destroying everything in their path. They weren't surgical or precise like the Elites. The difference between facing the two could be seen in their favoured weapons. Elites used swords, Brutes used hammers. Already Kowalski had seen one of those Hammers kill three men in one swing. It had served them well in pushing the Marines back. They just kept coming in droves, never halting, never tiring, they were relentless. It was like trying to keep a brick wall from falling down on you with your bare hands. Something had to give eventually.

Kowalski peered out slowly and ducked his head back in just as quickly as spikes careened into the warthog once more.

"Son of a bitch!" he squeaked out

The Brute that was firing on him had gotten closer and was now rushing his position itself. He could hear the massive thumping footsteps of the gorilla creature, plodding towards him. Kowalski steeled his nerve. He had killed at least four of these things today. Took a whole clip most of the time but he had killed them. He could do it again. He popped up and steadied his DMR on the undercarriage of the Warthog. He fired several shots through the scope, hitting the Brute as he ran towards him. The beast's mouth was wide open, snarling at him as he fired his Spiker again and again. Kowalski trailed the shots up along the dumb monkey's shoulder towards his head. One shot connected with the creature's helmet, knocking it clear off. The snarling teeth of the Brute appeared once more in the scope as the beast's head slowly turned back to face Kowalski. As the monster's eyes seemed to lock with Kowalski's through his scope the brute fired again.

And Kowalski felt a powerful pain in his right shoulder.

He fell back to the ground, one of the spike shots had connected. It was now sticking out of his damn shoulder. It looked like it had gone in deep. Kowalski gritted his teeth, trying his best not scream.

"Fuck, it hurts." He said to himself

It was such a generic and unwitty thing to say, but it was hard to come up with anything good when your entire arm was in agony. He tried to grab at the spike and pull it out, to no avail. That was when the warthog was flipped up and away, the Brute smashing through it. Kowalski dragged himself backwards as he reached for his pistol. The Brute edged closer, raising his spiker up so he could slam its sharp bladed underside down upon the injured marine. But Kowalski pulled out his pistol first and managed to fire off a round. It hit the Brute clean between the eyes and he fell backwards onto the ground in a heap.

Kowalski lifted himself to his feet and began to run away from the square. An explosion erupted to his side as the Brute Shot's grenades began to fall around him. As he made his dash another Warthog rolled up onto the road. Inside were his squad which he had been separated from when the square's defensive line had fractured.

"Get in private! We need to get back to the FOB pronto!"

Sergeant Taylor didn't need to tell him period, Kowalski was already rushing into the back of the warthog where Ellingham dragged him up by his good arm. As he sat down in his seat Ellingham kept him steady and placed his over the spike to try and stop the bleeding.

"Thought we lost ya buddy!" he said, sounding relieved

"Can't ditch me that easily." Kowalski assured

Taylor looked back at the group as Pearson kept driving.

"Ramirez get that spike out of him!" he ordered

As Ellingham held him in place, Ramirez grabbed the spike embedded in Kowalski's shoulder. He pulled hard and the young private elicited a scream of pain as he did. Best to pull it out quickly he supposed, like a band-aid if you will. With the spike removed Ellingham quickly shot a wad of bio-foam into the hole it left.

"That should keep you from bleeding out until we get back to the FOB." He said "We got some of that medi-gel there. You should be back in the fight in no time."

Kowalski looked around them. The demolished cars on the road they were driving around, the burning buildings that surrounded then and the rubble strewn about were unavoidable sights. The undeniable fact they were losing this city. It was everywhere you looked.

"If there is a fight left to go back to." Kowalski responded miserably

* * *

><p>At this point Garrus was exhausted. Nine days since Sword Base, eight days since he arrived in this city, seven of them stuck in this tower. There had still been no word from either Shepard or the rest of the team at the refugee center. Were any of them even still alive? If they were dead he could own that, he could handle that. The not knowing was killing him. He kept trying to raise Jacob on the radio whenever he could, but he got nothing. He could see people in the refugee center from his position, but that didn't mean anything. It just meant people were still alive. For all he knew all his friends were dead by now.<p>

If only there was some way to boost the signal. That wasn't his domain. He knew tech, but not like Kasumi or Legion or... Tali did.

"Damn." He said at last, the realisation sinking in "Damn it all."

He hadn't thought about his Quarian friend since things went to hell. It hurt to know that in all of this he forgot about one of his closest friends and how they had to leave her behind. They couldn't even find time to recover the body. He supposed it made sense that he forgot about her in the midst of everything, but that didn't make him feel better. He remembered every one of his friends he lost on Omega and in all the fighting he completely forgotten he had lost another friend over a week ago. To say he was ashamed was an understatement. The retreat from sword base felt like a life time ago now, but as of now the reality of it all came back in a flash. Tali was gone, either killed by that damn plasma strike or by the Covenant invading the base.

"You made a lot of asshole cracks at her expense back when you first met her." He thought to himself "Good job on that one Vakarian, acting like another racist C-Sec cop she had probably already seen a dozen times before. Never even told her you were sorry, some friend you are."

He knew he was being hard on himself. He had always figured apologies weren't needed. They had become friends more or less. He had stopped making cracks about her suit and telling her people to feel contrite for creating the Geth. He figured that had been enough. That learning to shut up, grow up and treat her like an equal was more important than an apology. But now that she was gone the old guilt was surfacing once more. He should've said he was sorry.

He could only imagine what Shepard was going through right now. He just hoped his friend didn't do something stupid that could get him killed... again.

He shook his head vigorously. Mourning Tali wouldn't help him get things sorted out. But maybe trying to think like her would. He turned to the radio again, he'd been trying to keep in contact with Buck but it had been popping in and out. If he could stabilize the signal he had a chance. Problem was he wasn't familiar with human communication rigs, especially not the ones in this universe. Its archaic design didn't help. He tried to recall what Tali had told him long ago on the first Normandy when he had a problem getting a signal to his sister back on Palaven about how things were. The answer was clear enough, he needed to get some place higher and perhaps hook the radio up to a stronger transceiver. As he prepared to pack up and head topside though he tried one last time with the radio. He heard some static over the line and tried to see if he could clear it up. As he moved the dials he heard the static clear and attempted once more to make contact.

"Anyone on this channel?" he asked "Anyone still alive out there?"

After a short silence a welcome voice came over the line.

"Archangel! I almost thought you were dead."

"Something has been jamming the signal." He explained to Buck "I'm not very good with this kind of tech and I think it's only a temporary fix so we probably don't have long. How you been Sergeant?"

"As good as I can be in this position." Buck explained "City is a death trap buddy. We can't move an inch without the Covies trying to zap us. Thanks for taking care of that last group yesterday by the way. Those Jackals weren't expecting a shot from behind."

"Just trying to keep you alive and the bad guys on their toes, all I'm doing." Garrus assured him "You heard anything about the refugee center?"

"Which one?" Buck asked "There's too many to count now. We're stretched thin trying to protect them as is."

Garrus supposed it wouldn't be that easy for an update. He looked over to where Jacob and the others were supposed to be, far off in the distance, over ten blocks away.

"It's the one they set up in and around Traxus Tower, close to the Spaceport." He replied

"That one's been hit hard, but they're holding from what I hear." Buck answered "You got someone there?"

"A few someones." Garrus lamented "Any other news?"

"Besides more ships starting to pour in over the city? Not much." Buck told him gruffly "Damn Brutes are starting to come out in full force too. Bigger packs, more organized, sometimes two or three squads attacking together and hell of a lot more chieftains too boot. Covenant air support is still spotty though, so that's good news. Then again, that's only because their fighters are focusing on shooting down any civilians that try to bolt, so not sure if you can reclassify that as a positive."

Garrus didn't, just meant more people they couldn't save. But that wasn't what he meant.

"What about Spartans?" he asked

"Some reports that they're around but not sure where." Buck told him

Garrus didn't ask for Shepard by name. He knew the Commander was probably with Noble Team. If they could find them Shepard wouldn't be too far away.

"Alright, I gotta go see about boosting this signal Buck." Garrus told the Trooper "Stay safe out there."

"You too Archy," Buck replied sincerely "you're the closest we got to over watch down here. Nice to have some semblance of command and control I guess."

"Yeah, I guess. But who's watching my ass then?" Garrus asked cheekily

"Even if I knew where you were Archangel I would not be staring at your rear end." Buck informed him with a nice jokey demeanour "And it's not just because you're guy either. I just got out of a relationship and I'm not looking for a replacement just yet."

Garrus let out a small chuckle.

"Fair enough, good luck Sergeant."

With that Garrus packed up and began to walk up the skyscraper towards the top. He wondered if Buck would be so talkative if he knew he was talking to an alien. He supposed it would probably make things a bit more awkward. It was probably best to keep his mouth shut on the matter. The Trooper and his squad were so far his only eyes on the ground. He needed all the help he could get.

Getting to the roof was difficult. Stairs were blown out pretty much everywhere. He had to keep finding new stairwells to try. At least he hadn't run into any Covenant patrols. They were staying away from high rises so far, at the very least that was working in his favour.

Eventually he found the roof and the assortment of antennas dotting it. If he could just boost the signal with one of them maybe he could find Shepard or at the very least re-establish contact with the others. He worked fast, hooking up the radio to the antenna quickly through its transceiver. As he connected the last few wires to the junction box on the side the radio came alive with chatter. Mostly it was incomprehensible, too many people trying to do the same thing he was. Garrus began to tune into individual stations, sure enough the voices soon became clear. Requests for fire support, warning about incoming enemy squads and drop ships, it was mayhem out there.

But eventually one voice managed to resonate with Garrus, a crackly low whisper of a sound only he recognized. And it was calling his name.

"Garrus? Jacob? Anyone? You read me?"

Garrus quickly picked up the radio's mic and spoke into it.

"Thane, its Garrus." He said relieved "Good to hear your voice. How are you holding up?"

"Best as I can." Thane assured, sounding a bit tired "Had to change a few buildings in the past couple of days. Bombardments are making them structurally unsound and the Covenant are starting to climb up. Managed to kill a few of those Brute chieftains but I can only do so much."

"Same here." Garrus concurred

Garrus walked over to the edge of the roof and began scanning the skyline.

"Could've used ya when the Blood Pack made another incursion in the area." Garrus told the Drell "They're getting bolder and I can't get a good vantage point all the time from this skyscraper. You see that bastard Kreave yet?"

"No," Thane said disappointed "none of the Krogan I've shot matched his description. They looked mostly like low ranking mercs to me. Kreave's smarter than he looks. He's keeping his head down and off the grid more or less."

"Too bad, if we got him we'd probably put the Blood Pack into disarray." Garrus noted as he kept looking through the streets "And we'd get him off Shepard's back too. Speaking of which have you gotten word about him?"

There was a short silence from Thane, never a good sign.

"No, I can't get anything." The Drell lamented "Considering what's happened I imagine he's more or less indisposed."

"He's probably just having com-trouble." Garrus quickly shot back.

"Would you be in the mood to talk after leaving a loved one to die?" Thane asked in kind.

Garrus had to admit, that was a compelling argument. He sighed a bit, He didn't like thinking about his friend in pain, hurting, practically shut down. But it wasn't like he had been in great shape after Omega.

"What about Jacob?" Thane asked, changing the topic before it got too depressing "Have you heard from him and the others at Traxus?"

"I can see them but I can't get them on the line, even from here." Garrus explained "Whatever the Covenant are doing it's stronger where they are then you I guess. I'm gonna try linking more antennas up, boost our signal. Where are you exactly?"

"Grid seven five four on the map, roof of an old hotel with a large billboard on fire a few feet away." Thane replied.

"Stay there," Garrus ordered "I'm gonna see if I can divert a pelican to pick you up. I got the best angle of Traxus Tower from up here I'll need your help. Brutes are supposedly trying to hit the evac centers hard."

"Understood."

Garrus panned his scope over Traxus tower once more. As he watched over the building it really started to sink in. He was in charge wasn't he? He was running this entire thing on his own. Shepard was out of contact and he had been left to pick up the slack. Awhile ago he may have been reluctant or unsure of himself. But this was no place for doubts. His crew, his friends were in trouble. He was determined to make sure they all got out safely.

They wouldn't lose another. There was nothing he could've done for Tali, but he could still save Jacob's team and everyone inside that building. He had to.

* * *

><p>Entering the city was easy enough. The Covenant and the UNSC had abandoned the outskirts. All that was left were bodies. Six and Legion passed several as they continued into the bleach white urban jungle that was now scarred by singed plasma marks, stained with blood and marked by burning rubble. They found themselves in a city square. Once again it was completely devoid of life. The only thing moving were some of the automatic doors on the buildings ahead of them.<p>

As they walked towards one of the doors Six tripped slightly, his ankle getting the best of him again.

"Damn I wish you had some of that medi-gel." He complained to Legion.

"We should endeavour to locate a medical supply kit in the immediate area." Legion suggested

"Well it ain't here." Six told him as he growled through the pain "Let's just keep following that beacon signal of yours already."

Legion only nodded and took the lead. As they neared the malfunctioning door past a large set of banners on poles and yet another dead body on the ground the radio in Six's helmet began to pick something up. A faint frequency but in a moment the words became clear.

"This is Kilo Dispatch. All teams advance to Traxus Tower." It said "Evacuation has already commenced."

"Copy that dispatch. What is the status of the tower pad?" another voice asked

"Green, but let's move before that changes. We need to get the civies out of here."

It was hard to believe there were people still alive in this city, but Six supposed the Covenant wouldn't still be here if there weren't. He turned to Legion as they passed through the doors into the darkened room beyond, a bright UNSC symbol the only thing that stood out among the blackness. That and strangely out of place road barrier that was flashing its warning light. Six wondered why something that was meant for road crew workers was inside. Probably used as a makeshift barrier to the oncoming Covenant, he could see no other reason.

"If we can link up with one of those teams we can probably hitch a ride to the beacon signal." Six suggested "Help some civies along the way too."

"Covenant focus appears to be centered on civilian population." Legion suggested "As suggested by eighty-five percent non-combatant kill-ratio among encountered bodies. Resistance will be high, without appropriate assistance most will not make it to the evacuation center."

"All the more reason for us to book it and find one of those squads." Six reasoned as he cocked back the barrel of the pistol and moved forward "Let's roll Legion, we gotta find that tower."

As Six and Legion exited out of the building they were met with stairs leading up to another promenade. Six could only groan. This was gonna be murder on his ankle. When the plasma bolts started to fly however he ducked into cover by the handrail between the two sets of stairs. Up above, Skirmishers were prancing about, firing down on him and Legion.

"Knew our luck could only last so long." He grumbled "Legion! Deal with them!"

"Acknowledged." Legion declared.

The Geth fired a shot at one of the Skirmishers, it sailed past his head but it forced the aliens back. Legion advanced up the steps, Six following with a slight limp his gun held high. As he reached the top one of the Skirmishers rushed past his field of vision. He fired a single shot catching the alien in the eye. The bird-like E.T. fell skidding to the floor. Meanwhile Legion targeted two other Skirmishers making a break for an open door. It had already activated a drone that was chasing the aliens down, coming at them from the right side. As the one closest to the door turned to fire on it, Legion lined up a shot upon the two aliens. With one round the Widow cut through on Skirmisher's eye and then collided into the side of the other's head as it travelled clean through.

"Target's neutralized." Legion declared

"Good, let's see where they were running too." Six suggested "Probably trying to hook up with their unit or something. Could lead us to some troopers."

Six also quietly hoped it would lead them to that medical kit Legion mentioned they needed. He did not want to suffer more stairs that was for sure.

They entered the building where the Skirmishers had run to. The atrium was still brightly lit although heavily trashed. The back of the room was encased in darkness but they could hear something. Heavy wheezing breathing vibrated in their ears as they approached. Six kept his pistol held high as did Legion with its assault rifle. As they neared the darkened room a small blue light shone upon the back wall. It flickered and pulsated, but it was coming from behind a desk so they couldn't see the source.

As Six closed in more chatter came up over the radio.

"Holy fuck! What was that thing? It looked like a Grunt! Almost took out the whole squad!"

"All teams be advised! We have encountered some kind of... I don't know what it was! Some new kind of Covenant I think. Possibly sub-species of Grunt. Glows blue and has some big ass bomb strapped to its back or something. I thought those were supposed to be methane tanks!"

The radio chatter from the troopers may have sounded odd to some, but to Six and Legion they knew almost instantly what it meant. That was when the wheezing got louder, slowly at first and then it grew into a full on roar. Bolting up from behind the secretary desk, glowing blue with a fury uncommon for the gas guzzling Covenant was a Grunt, a husk Grunt. Its legs had been replaced almost entirely with metal and wire, grafted directly onto the bone. Its head was nothing but a metallic misshapen skull with no lower jaw. A blue pulsing light shined brightly as it roared. On its back where the methane tank was supposed to be a large triangular shaped pulsing blue container filled to the brim with plasma surrounded by tubes that seemed to be belching tuffs of methane. The grunt husk bolted off the desk and was followed by two more that scurried out from behind the desk as well. Six was shaken by the appearance, but this was the fourth Husk type he'd seen. The shock had largely worn off. In seconds his training kicked in.

"Waste them." He declared

Both he and Legion opened up on the disgusting skittering creatures, the first one in front in particular. The rounds pierced the casing surrounding the plasma container on the monster's back and exploded violently. Both Legion and Six were knocked to the ground as the blast took apart the grunt husk and was added to when it ignited the plasma containers on the two remaining Grunt husks. The methane and plasma mixed to create a volatile explosion, but thankfully they hadn't been close enough to do much save knock out both Legion and Six's shields. As they pulled themselves up from the ground they finally managed to wrap their heads around what they'd seen.

"Grunt suicide squads are common." Six started "I guess your Reaper decided to improve them."

"The species you have designated as Grunt has shown to be extremely adverse to physical direct combat." Legion suggested "The Old Machine must be attempting to rectify this weakness."

"You think it's gonna do it to all the Grunts?" Six asked

"A possible end result, although it is unlikely to have occurred yet. Not all Elites have been converted to their husk forms for example." Legion surmised "The Old Machine cannot covert an entire species on its own and it may have other intentions for the grunts beyond simple suicide units."

That was good news at least. Six did not want to face a continued cadre of those things constantly/ He preferred the little gas guzzling cowards.

"I guess we should name them." He figured "I mean, it's kind of a tradition among you guys according to Garrus."

The Spartan thought for a moment what an appropriate name could be. These things were small skittering little monsters that blew up in your face and wheezed a lot before they did. It was a pest and terrifying at the same time.

"Gremlins," he settled on "we'll call'em Gremlins. That fits I think."

"We shall add that title to our databanks and share with the Normandy unit at large when we encounter them." Legion added

Six looked through the darkness finding an open passage to the right. It seemed to lead down to the basement of the building, the maintenance area to be specific. There were a lot of dark corners and twisting halls down there. Perfect ambush spots for the Gremlins to use.

"Well let's keep our eyes sharp down there Legion." Six warned as he pressed forward "If there's any more of these bastards we do not want jumping up on us from behind."

The maintenance area was no better than up top. Flickering lights and dark corners weren't as cliché when you stuck facing them and whatever horrors within. Toppled over boxes lined the corridor as they began walking down it. Within moments the wheezing sound came again and scurrying from around the corner was another of the Gremlins. Six and Legion fired before it could begin its run on them and backed away as they did. This time the explosion wasn't close enough to neither knock them on their feet nor drain their shields, but it was still big enough to shake the very hallway. They continued their way through the corridor, winding down a ramp behind a bend that led them further into the basement. Another Gremlin bounded off the wall at the bottom of the ramp and made a rush for them. Again all the two could really do was fire at it until it began to tumble down the ramp once more. It exploded as its fellow abominations before it had, leaving a black smoky mark on the wall at the back.

"These things are gonna get really annoying real fast I can tell." Grumbled Six "You and Shepard ever have to deal with exploding husks?"

"Yes." Legion acknowledged "They did not however have the same explosive yield."

"Still creepy looking though right?" Six asked as he reloaded his pistol.

"We are uncertain. Geth lack the concept of organic inclined aesthetic parameters." Legion replied

As Six and Legion reached the bottom of the ramp, the Spartan pressed against the wall as he did more radio chatter flooded his helmet's radio.

"Kilo Two Six, this is Kilo Four Zero, Covenant Corvette is raining hell on us. Final Protective Fire-1, danger close on my command, over!"

Moments later as commands were given and calls to 'hang onto your helmets' were shouted the entire building shook wildly. Six kept his balance best he could and then peered out into the hall ahead of them. There were two more Gremlins, patrolling the area, if a husk could patrol of course. Six clutched one of his grenades and tossed it into the corridor. The blast took out both gremlins in one hit. It shook the hallway yet again as they burst into flames.

The radio chatter returned. It was the firing squad asking for a sit-rep. Kilo Zero Four only replied saying it was a negative. Moments later the building shook once more.

"Damn it how do you stop this thing!" shouted the trooper over the radio

The fire missions and anti-air strikes were failing. The Covenant just seemed to absorb the fire. Not a good prospect for the defenders as Legion soon pointed out.

"It would appear UNSC bombardment is insufficient against Covenant shields." They pointed out "We surmise that at this rate the city will not survive long under Covenant air superiority. Civilian evacuation will also be problematic."

"If we had a MAC those damn Corvettes wouldn't be within three feet of this city." Six growled in his throat "Fleet reinforcements must be tied up just keeping the rest of the Covenant up in orbit."

With that in mind Six asked a question of his own as they rounded the corner.

"Where you think the Normandy itself is in all of this?" he asked

"If we have profiled Pilot Joker correctly it is most likely engaged with Covenant forces near the city limits or attempting to locate the crew within it." Legion suggested "He would not leave Shepard Commander under any circumstances."

"Well let's hope he's giving the Covies hell then." Six commented as they neared another doorway "Same for the rest of the Normandy crew."

The next room had a central pillar surrounded by a grated catwalk floor. It was dark, dingy and from all the wheezing they could hear loaded with gremlins. As Six stared at the mass of suicidal husks Legion took position against other side of the doorway. Six began trying to think how this would play out. There were so many angles and far too many targets to pick.

Then the Gremlins forced his hand. One turned its head in the direction of the doorway and locked eyes with the Spartan staring in on them. The lights in its eyes and mouth glowed wildly.

"Oh shit."

It let out a hacking screech, catching the attention of the other Gremlins. They charged Six and Legion's position en masse. With no other options, the Spartan and Geth opened fire as the Gremlins charged. Even as the bullets ruptured their bomb packs and mulched their bodies the Gremlins kept coming. The explosions cascaded across the room, dangerously destabilizing the grating. As it buckled and rocked from the blasts Six and Legion kept firing, switching from target to target as they popped up.

Eventually all that remained of the gremlins were bits and pieces. The catwalk looked stable, but portions of it were now swinging slightly. Finally catching his breath, Six calmed himself. He looked to Legion who of course didn't seem to slightest bit worried. It was strangely comforting to know you had someone who knew no fear guarding your back, even if that was because machines couldn't feel fear.

"Take it slow." Six warned Legion as they began to cross.

The grating groaned as Six placed his feet upon it. Legion followed shortly after. It was an uneventful crossing, although it was tenuous all the while. When they made it to the other side on solid concrete again Six breathed another sigh of relief. He had been worried about being forced to run on a broken ankle for a moment or two.

The room proceeding the area appeared to be a laundry room of sorts. Chutes and bins for clothing were directly nearby large washing machines and dryers. There was nothing in here to cause alarm. But the next area, a large storage room with two floors connected by a grated stairway did hold something. The wheezing sounds of Gremlins could be heard once more.

"Starting to miss regular Grunts about now." Six mused

Legion activated a drone and let it roll into the room. They probably should've tried that earlier. Acting on instinct the wheezing little exploders scuttled to it. Both them and drone burst into flames and the igniting the very center of the room in a small fire. Six rushed in to clear up whatever remained only to be fired on from above by something that wasn't an exploding husk. Skirmishers and Jackals, just as Six had begun to miss them. As their plasma and needles launched at him Six lobbed a grenade up to the second floor. A gift just for them to know how much the Spartan had missed them. The resulting explosion and falling Covenant corpses were enough to ease the growing disgruntlement of fighting the gremlins.

Six pulled himself up the stairs, Legion close behind. When they both arrived at the top they saw an open door with daylight streaming out of. They were finally out this pit. But before leaving six looked to back of the room behind a chain link fence. Attached to the wall was a first aid kit, at long last morphine, stitches, dressing and biofoam. Everything he needed to take the pain off his damn foot. Staggering over to it he pulled the medkit off the wall and began to tend to his long suffering ankle.

Legion kept watch on the door as he did.

"I think we're batting 900 here." Six said aloud as he prepared the biofoam injector for his foot as a makeshift cast. "If we can take this city's bullshit your friends are probably kicking ass just as much Legion. I wouldn't worry about them."

Legion looked over to the Spartan.

"Your attempt to console us in unnecessary," the Geth stated simply "but we are grateful for the sentiment."

Six just chuckled warmly.

"Just you wait buddy," he continued "by the time we meet up with them they'll probably have won the war alongside Noble Team."

Legion would've said something to correct the Spartan, but they were catching on to the Organic penchant for making light of difficult situations by assuming illogically unlikely outcomes. Another attempt to soothe the suspected worries Six thought Legion was experiencing. It wasn't that Legion wasn't concerned about the rest of the Normandy crew. It simply did not know how to precisely express its concern or categorize it. The best they could was assume the crew was more than capable of handling itself under the current circumstances. The odds were against their survival, but they had proven capable of beating said odds before. For a moment, Legion wondered if this assumption was similar to the organic concept of hope. It put that thought away for further study later.

* * *

><p>The sewers reminded Jack of her brief stay on Omega that one time. The lower levels, the ones that stunk of fumes and old refuse. She supposed that was true of all sewers, but this one especially.<p>

Miranda's little map had in fact been a great help after all. It wasn't easy to get though, city plans were under heavy lock and key it seems and the network was a mess right now. But it wasn't like these were classified military documents. That and the insurance company they had held up in had a contract with the city it seemed concerning the sewage lines. Just their luck, thanks to all that they managed to avoid dead ends and keep themselves from going in circles and getting in even deeper trouble.

Miranda was on point, keeping her omni-tool up and the map at the ready. Although she was staying out of the water, walkway was preferable. Even if she was still wearing her full battle gear she did not want to trudge through the sludge. The civilians didn't have much of choice, but they kept their children on their backs and away from the disgusting muck pooling around their upper ankles at this point. Jack was down in the muck with them. She wasn't adverse to being knee deep in crap. Thankfully she was 'not' knee deep, but that could change.

"How we doing?" Jack asked Miranda

"Halfway to Traxus Tower," she assured "there should be exit a few miles down the next passage. We'll be past the checkpoints by now and we can make it the rest of the way on foot in no time at all."

Suddenly Miranda, her eyes glued straight ahead. Shadows had suddenly been cast upon the wall, large ones. She motioned the civilians to pull back into the dark and shut off her omni-tool. Jack did the same, she loved the scrap but she knew better than to go into one head on when you had surprise on your side. So she waited and let the group of three Brutes trudge past them. For giant gorillas it seemed more appropriate that they were trudging through a sewer. For all their muscle and girth, their messy matted fur and drooling maws made the sewer a more appropriate habitat than the jungle for them.

These Brutes looked to be lower tier, not chieftains. Good for Miranda and Jack, that meant they didn't have the good weapons. They appeared to be carrying the standard Brute side-arm, the spiker. So there was no need to worry about explosives going off in close corners, another thing in their favour besides surprise. Jack looked to Miranda as they passed, she nodded once.

The second time today they actually agreed on something it seemed.

Jack trudged forward waiting for the Brutes to get a few feet further away. She wondered how effective her biotics would be with all this water, but then again it wasn't too deep. She supposed it wouldn't be much of a concern. She waited for Miranda to get into position at the corner of the tunnel. She gave Jack another abrupt nod and the ex-con smiled wickedly. Time to kill more stupid monkeys.

She jumped out of cover and let loose a shockwave that travelled up across the tunnel and smacked straight into the backs of the Brutes. One flipped over backwards, landing in the muck in a heap, the other careening into a wall, his helmet cracking apart as he it. The other was thrown forward face first into the dirty sewage water. Jack now brought out her shotgun and advanced.

"I hear your hands make damn good cigarette holders!" she chided as she armed her warp ammo type and began to blast away. The Brute that had been flipped into the water stood back up, taking a full blast to the back. While he staggered forward enraged he turned around just as quickly. With his spiker in hand he fired a flurry of spikes at Jack who ducked down low as the attacks streamed in. Her barrier taking hits Miranda peered out of cover and raised the Brute up from the ground. Then the Brute was rocketed straight back down into the sewage water and the hard concrete beneath it, only for Jack lash out with an angry throw attack that sent the Brute hurtling across the tunnel nearly hitting his comrade at the far end.

The Brute with his cracked helmet stood up and pulled the broken headpiece off him. He turned his gun on Miranda and fired spikes at her position. Miranda ducked back into cover as the spikes smacked into the wall, sticking out like vicious thorns from the brick and mortar. Jack struck out her hand pulled the Brute towards her, stopping his attack on Miranda. As he floated there she pumped as many rounds as she could into the dumb ape's body. When the biotic attack wore off he fell to the floor in a bloody heap.

The last Brute had already started firing on the two Biotics but had been unable to get a clear shot. He now charged forward as Jack closed the distance. Miranda however was no longer pinned and came out once more to help Jack. They both hit the alien ape hard in the chest with a throw attack that sent him careening backwards into a wall, leaving a big messy blood stain on it as the body slid down and fell into the water beside the other dead Brute.

Miranda now jumped down into the water with Jack and called back to the civilians to join them up here. As the civies filed into the new corridor Jack couldn't help but smile at their accomplishment.

"You know, we actually kinda make a kick ass team." She noted

"I guess." Miranda relented "best watch your barriers though. That last spike was dangerously close to piercing it."

Jack just laughed.

"Yeah well you should brush up on your slam a bit." Jack told her with a playful chide "I shouldn't have needed to finish him off for you."

Their first civil conversation was cut short unfortunately when they heard the sound of sloshing from behind. Along with it alien shouts and grunts.

"More Covenant." Jack observed "We gotta book."

"Agreed." Miranda said as she turned to the civilians "Everyone double time it, exit is this way! Come on!"

Both biotics now ushered the civies forward. This sewer would not be their grave. They had come this far already, they were so close to Jacob and the others now they could taste it. They were in the homestretch now. They just hoped the others in Traxus were still alive.

* * *

><p>Exiting the building to the outside, Six and Legion were met with a rising Covenant Dropship with two Brutes shooting out the side. As per usual it was out of one frying pan and just into another frying pan. Six wasn't kidding himself they hadn't even reached the proverbial fire yet. They weren't even at Traxus after all, close but not yet. Six had seen the tower just moments before the damn drop ship obscured it. He fired upon the brutes with the ship as they blasted at him and a bunch of Civilains fleeing down the stairs with their spikers. Legion's sniper rifle managed to cut one of them down as a shot cut clean through the bastard's head. The drop ship veered off now, the dead Brute tumbling out of it to the ground fall below.<p>

With that danger past Six turned to the stairs on his left and towards the promenade below. A bunch of troopers and some civilians were huddled together facing off against more Brutes. Some were even dropping from phantom onto the field. Six watched as one Brute closed in on a civie and picked him up by his neck. As the beast roared loudly Six looked to Legion pointed at the alien monster. The Geth complied quickly. With a new thermal clip already loaded the synthetic took aim as Six ran ahead. The round hit the giant ape square in the eye and continued straight through the skull blowing out the other one as it exited. The Elite dropped the civie, bent backwards, clutched his head and then fell over dead.

Six rushed up to the body and liberated the Spiker from the dead alien. Legion was close behind.

"Picked up a friendly! Two actually!" Shouted one of the troopers.

"What's a Spartan doing here?" Asked another as he kept firing on the Brutes coming around from the front of the building they were next to. "And what the hell is that thing he's with?"

"Who the hell cares?" Replied another trooper "Spartan! Could use a hand!"

As if they needed to ask. Six looked back to the building to his left and saw a set of stairs leading up to the roof. As Legion got beside him he pointed to the stairs.

"You go high I'll go low!" he said

"Acknowledged!" Legion replied and quickly rushed off.

Legion ran up the stairs to meet two other troopers holding down the roof of the building as Brutes swarmed the promenade below them. They hid behind the plant and tree stands as well as the medium sized decorative blocks strewn throughout the promenade. On an elevated man made hill a few feet away at the center of it all was a fast food stand of sorts if the advertisements on its side were any indication. Legion picked their first target there, another Brute preparing to have a snack of his own as he lifted another civie towards his gaping maw. Legion's round travelled across the promenade to connect square with the Brute's head, sending him careening over with his arms flailing wildly. The civilian dropped to the floor and then quickly took off for cover.

With the human out of danger Legion rushed to the side of the roof to give Six support. The Spartan had already rushed into combat. He fired his new spiker at its former masters, turning the hides of the Brutes' into pincushions. It wasn't enough to kill them though. It hurt just enough to piss them off and get their attention on him nonetheless. As one Brute rushed forward to clothesline the Spartan, Six ducked low and slid under the beast. As he did he slashed at the Brute's side with the bladed underbelly of the spiker. Blood ejected out of the wound, splattering over Six's armour. Once clear of the alien he popped up to his feet again, turned and fired as many spikes as he could into the dumb ape's back. Another Brute rushed from behind and prepared to smack the Spartan down, only for Six to slash at the alien's throat and then fire a full burst from the spiker into the stupid brusier's face as he clutched at the bleeding neck in pain.

The first Brute now turned back into the fray and prepared to punch Six across the promenade with all his might. Then a round cut through the back of his skull to his front with ease. The alien collapsed dead to the ground. Legion ejected the thermal clip as his Widow continued to smoke. Six had already turned his attention to the final Brute in the courtyard who was keeping cover behind one of the planters sections. As he tried to move back and away from the onslaught of humans Six pulled out his pistol again. He aimed through the scope at the covie's head. The first two shots knocked the dumb creature's helmet clean off, revealing the ugly bumpy head beneath. As the Brute roared in anger and kept firing sporadically at Six, the Spartan fired again. The bullet entered right between the alien's eyes and it collapsed backwards.

"All targets neutralized." Legion informed Six as he vaulted the roof.

The machine landed upright and rushed over to Six as the troopers and civilians pushed up.

"Thanks for the assist Spartan." One Trooper said as he passed.

Six quickly grabbed the soldier.

"We need a sit-rep on the tower." He said commandingly

"We got an evac center set up inside. Elevator in atrium leads down to the cargo bay and that leads to the landing pad on the roof. Process has worked so far, but it's getting hit hard." The trooper explained frantically "Brutes have pushed up the tempo that's for sure. We've been ferrying people onto pelicans to the space port the whole damn siege, but the covies have finally zeroed in. They really don't want us skipping town."

"How many people inside?" Six asked

The trooper merely scratched his head.

"No idea, too many that's for sure." He responded

Legion quickly butted into the conversation.

"Is there anyone within that is a current crew member of the star-ship Normandy?" it asked

The trooper seemed surprised as his eyes widened and his face grew a distorted looking frown of confusion.

"Uh yeah we got a bunch led by this guy Jacob Taylor I hear. Whole bunch of folks I think." The trooper explained "Least that's what the radio says. What is this Normandy anyway? I never heard of it before a few days ago."

ONI, while in shambles currently no doubt, was still keeping secrets. Then again it couldn't have been too hard to do so given the circumstances within New Alexandria. Communications were down for one and obviously not every soldier in this city had been at Viery or had knowledge of Commander Shepard and his merry band of aliens. But it didn't matter right now though. This meant Legion's people were still alive. Six was just happy for some good news for a change right now.

As they were just getting their bearings the door to the entrance of Traxus Tower opened wide. Rushing out of it were a number of Skirmishers and two Brutes. They seemed to be firing back at something inside the tower. The Covenant were being pushed back away from the evac center and towards them.

"Up high Legion," Six ordered "let's move!"

The Geth rushed up the steps towards the food stand once more. With rifle at the ready Legion zeroed in on the Brutes at the door as they fired back. Meanwhile Six rushed into the fray with the Skirmishers, using the spiker to riddle with its piercing ammunition before slashing the underside straight across the alien's face next. Six's dash saw one Skirmisher after the next fall. As he closed in on the door Legion fired its first shot, blasting apart the head of the Brute as it struck the ape dead center. The second Brute looked over to see his dead pack mate and looked up to Legion on the hill above. Roaring in anger it rushed the machine's position. Another shot from the Widow rang out, cutting deep into Brute's shoulder. The creature's arm went limp, but it kept trying to rush up the hill. As it clawed its up the side of the man-made hill Legion fired again, center mass. It was enough to cause the Brute to lose its footing and tumble back down to the ground below. Before it could right itself Six quickly stepped over to it and fired a stream of spikes into the creature's head. The entire body of the beast fell limp and Legion was quick to rush down the steps to join his organic friend.

Together and without another word they rushed inside the building. Only a second inside and they watched a single grunt get tossed out of a nearby doorway in a heap, an aura of blue dissipating as he landed. There was another level above them with a glass floor and a nearby staircase leading up to it. Quickly the two rushed up it catching two Grunts as they began to retreat from the main atrium. Six plugged them both with two shots each from his pistol. The grunts fell over dead as as blood pooled from between their eyes. Six and Legion now rushed over a large planter box that was obscuring their view of the atrium itself. All they could hear was intense fighting going on up ahead. They both peered out to see who was causing the commotion. As expected it was the Normandy crew. Jacob and Mordin were on a landing above the first flight of stairs leading up from the ground floor level to Six and Legion's position. They were separated by a large gap but that didn't they couldn't help.

The salarian and former corsair looked like they needed it as they were falling back against a mass of Brutes and their grunt underlings. Jacob was pinned behind the large tree planter that separated the stairways from each other. Not the best cover as it was more round than anything. Mordin was behind a wall near the right stair case leading up to the third level. He was in a much better position and this was keeping Jacob covered. An incinerate attack shot out from Mordin's omni-tool and set one of the Brutes ablaze. It was obviously pain but it seemed to shrug off the flames now engulfing its body. Jacob added to the firestorm as his assault rifle chattered assault rifle rounds at the alien. Now completely set alight and riddled with holes the Brute launched himself into a rage. He charged at Jacob forcing him to rush away from cover as the engulfed Brute brought his fist down upon his position. Jacob dove away from the attack and fired another stream of rounds that tore apart the now enflamed skull of the Brute.

Grunts pushed forward now, advancing on Jacob's position as he tried to get over to Mordin. As they did though a singularity opened up in the middle of them and pulled them off the ground. Six motioned his pistol's scope over to the left staircase once more. Samara, glowing blue with a powerful barrier, was marching up the stairs, her machine gun at her side. As she calmly and methodically fired upon the entrapped grunts, spikes cascaded against her barrier. She swung her arm to protect herself from the attack once more. It came from Two Brutes who had now rushed onto the battlefield from an alcove to the side. They were rushing towards the back of the room and towards a staircase that would give them the high ground it seemed.

Legion had already zeroed their sights upon the flanking Brutes and Six quickly joined in. Between his pistol and the Geth's widow the Brutes were caught completely off guard. The bullets ripped through their skulls, leaving a pulpy mass. The Brutes staggered back, slamming into a wall as their dash came to a full stop.

Samara looked over to their position briefly. Six gave a quick thumbs up in response and the asari simply nodded as she returned to the task at hand. Another Brute was onrushing her, this one armed with a brute shot. With gritted teeth, Samara sent the alien flying back, his gun firing off rounds as he slammed into the black marble wall at the back of the second level. But the alien got up once more and leved his weapon at the Asari. Before he could get off a shot, however, a blast of white struck his side. Suddenly the Brute froze in place. Mordin stood out of his cover with a broad smile across his face. Samara followed up the professor's quick cryo blast by sending a powerful biotic wave streaming into the frozen gorilla. This time when he smacked against the wall, he shattered.

With the initial problem dealt with Six and Legion rushed over to the Normandy crew's position. The two teams met in between the two staircases where a Traxus Tower logo stood emboldened on a slab of marble. The Normandy crew looked tired and ragged, as if they had been fighting the whole day and then some. Unsurprisingly Mordin looked the least affected and didn't seem nearly as out of breath as Jacob. Samara weariness was slightly masked by her ever steely resolve, but her uniform spoke volumes. It was covered in blood and cuts.

"Good to see you guys," Six told them all "you wouldn't believe the shit we've been through."

"I wouldn't bet on that." Jacob informed him as he looked to Legion. "Good to see you still with us Legion. I was starting to think you were offline or something."

"This unit is fully functional." Legion replied readily "We request information on the current situation."

Jacob raised up his open palm at that.

"Questions later, we gotta secure the area first." He explained as he stood up straight again "Kasumi and Zaeed are on the third level near the elevator they're gonna need some assistance."

There was a loud explosion and the clattering of assault gun rifle fire. Jacob's prediction appeared to be all too true.

* * *

><p>Zaeed had been in a lot of battles over his long career, but the past week or so had proven to be something completely else. He was now using a tree within a tower's atrium as cover as a Brute Chieftain rained hellfire on his position with a plasma repeater. His jackal cohorts were by his side adding to the crossfire. It was around this point Zaeed wished he hadn't run out of thermal clips so fast today. His revenant rifle was dry now and he could've really used it for this. He still had this DMR though and unlike the Elites the Brutes had proven to be easier to kill with their lack of shields. But cutting through the helmet of the ugly bastard who was shooting at him currently was not so easy to do as his smaller friends.<p>

"Where the bloody hell is my backup already?" he demanded to know. "I need a shot!"

A flash of light erupted at that moment, engulfing the enemy position. The jackals scratched at their eyes in pain and the Brute staggered around confused. As they did a certain hooded thief appeared among their ranks and using the bladed spiker gun cut down one Jackal by slicing across his back and then another by stabbing it forward in between his shoulder blades. She then unloaded the ammunition into the last jackal before firing on the recovering Brute.

"What are you waiting for old timer!" Kasumi shouted as the Brute's armour simply forced the spikes to bounce off.

Zaeed rushed out of cover, firing his DMR wildly at the dumb gorilla's head. Kasumi rushed away from the large alien. She couldn't beat this thing with a quick punch to the back of its head like regular museum guards after all. Zaeed however had the solution, an inferno grenade. It smashed against the Brute's armour and engulfed him in flames. Zaeed kept up the pressure intending to drown the stupid ape in fire of all kinds. As the chieftain began to buckle under the pressure it knelt to the ground, still on fire. Zaeed approached a placed the barrel of the gun into the eye hole of the alien's helmet. He fired several rounds into the beast's head until the trigger just went click.

"His head's gonna look good on me wall." Zaeed stated flatly as he looked over the body.

"Well what's left of it anyway." Kasumi told him as she appeared beside the old merc. She clutched her nose tightly. "Ugh, burning primate fur. I thought their smell was terrible before but now..."

They heard the rushing of boots up from behind them and looked to see Jacob and the others approaching. However they weren't alone, with them were Noble Six and, an even greater relief, Legion.

"Legion!" Kasumi shouted in joyous rapture "I to think i was just about ready to declare you scrap metal."

The thief prodded Zaeed in his side.

"You now owe me fifty credits geezer." She chuckled "Told you he wouldn't go down that easy."

"It, Legion's an It." Zaeed grumbled "Or they, whatever."

Kasumi just smiled cheekily.

"You're just pissed cause you lost a bet." She chided

Six coughed, getting everyone's attention.

"Excuse me, but we need a sit-rep here." He told them "How long you been hold up here and where the hell is the rest of the crew?"

Jacob sighed and fielded the question. There was a lot to cover, but he opted for the shortest version possible.

"After Sword Base fell we retreated to the nearest military outpost." He began "Then the Covenant started sending Blood Pack against New Alexandria along with every remaining covie that wasn't on the carrier you two blew. We Shepard put Garrus in charge of this sector while he went off with Noble team."

"Why's he with my people?" Six asked demandingly

"Beats me, but it was his call. Felt we'd get more ground covered I guess if we split up." Jacob figured "That and he's... well... he ain't in the best condition now."

Six kept himself from groaning. He had hoped for explanations from the Normandy's commander sooner rather than later. Instead he was still cut off from his team and Shepard, so every little thing that had been nagging at the Spartan since the carrier would have to wait longer. But why would he split up his team so drastically? Switch all control of it over to Garrus and take off with Noble Team? It didn't make sense.

"Where's Garrus now?" Six asked

"Moved to vantage point." Mordin answered "Skyscraper several blocks away. Overlooking Traxus Tower and market quarter. Thane joined as secondary spotter. Communications with both, problematic."

"Yeah we've been getting that." Six grumbled.

"Covenant most likely blocking communications." Mordin continued "Widespread across city. Complete loss of chain of command. UNSC in disarray. Acting on personal orders from field now. No other option."

Well that explained where two of the missing people were.

"What about the others?" Six asked once more "I need to know how many people we got."

"Miranda insisted on going out looking for survivors to get out of here." Zaeed explained "Took Jack with her, they've probably killed each other bout now."

Jacob's brow furrowed in anger at the suggestion as his enraged gaze levelled at Zaeed.

"Miranda's not dead, don't even suggest it." Jacob ordered

"Just reminding everyone why sending those two out on an extraction job was a bad idea." Zaeed added "So was telling the dumbass krogan to find them I might add. He's probably been too busy killing these space gorillas to even bother looking for them."

Jacob groaned at that. Six had a feeling why the man was the worst looking out of everyone. With Garrus cut off and Miranda gone he seemed to be the one in charge. And it wasn't helping his state of mind.

"He's trying his best Zaeed." Kasumi informed the merc defensively "Grunt was the best choice to go out there on his own. He's tougher than us remember? I mean you survived a bullet to the head but he's the only one that can actually regenerate."

At that moment Legion finally interjected itself into the conversation. One person had been left out and it seemed they were the only ones that remembered her for the moment.

"Where is creator Tali'Zorah?" they asked curiously, possibly even with a hint of concern, as the plates on the platform's head contorted.

Legion's somewhat nervous sounding tone was justified when the faces of the crew changed drastically. Samara's head lowered. Her eyes were closed and sullen. Kasumi's cheerful face turned to one of sadness and loss. She looked from Legion and bit her lip. Mordin took a deep breath as his eyes closed and his shoulders sagged. Jacob just grimaced hard and shook his head. Zaeed's expression changed the least, but he still looked away unable to answer the question.

"Tali..." Samara started meekly "when Sword Base was attacked... she was inside. We-"

"We left her is what we did." Kasumi said, sounding as if she was on the verge of sobbing "We left her, just like that. After every..."

Kasumi couldn't finish her sentence, her hands were balled into fists and shaking as Jacob looked to her.

"There was nothing we could do Kasumi." He reminded her sombrely

"That doesn't make me feel better." The thief shot back

Jacob looked to Six and Legion. He couldn't tell either of their expressions, they weren't easy to read. But Legion looked a bit downcast. Its head was drooped low and it's rifle hanged by its side. Jacob looked to Six, choosing his next words carefully.

"I don't see Jorge with you, so..."

Six simply shook his head.

"I'm sorry." Jacob quickly told him.

"Yeah, same here." Six responded in kind "Tali... she was a good person."

There was a slight moment of silence before the Spartan took charge.

"Alright, can't dwell on that. We need to prioritize here." He began, trying to sound as considerate as possible "Civies first, then we can find Shepard and my team. How many people we got in here?"

"Too many innocents." Samara informed him "And the Covenant keep sending wave after wave to take this place. If we falter they will not be able to escape in time."

"And we're not leaving until Miri, Jack, Grunt and whatever remaining civies in this sector are safe." Jacob added quickly "We ain't losing more people."

Six wholeheartedly agreed with that How could he not considering what had happened in orbit. He looked to Legion.

"Think you can zero in on Garrus and Thane in that tower?" he asked the Geth "Cut through the Covenant static and get in contact with them?"

"We shall try." Legion assured

Six nodded in kind and looked to the others.

"Alright, we'll hold this elevator then. Get every trooper set up. We'll keep the Covies out as long as we can until your missing buds show up." Six explained "Cover every entrance to this place the Covenant could use and call out what you see. The better we can fire and manoeuvre the greater chance we have at holding this position."

Quickly everyone went about getting into position. Samara and Kasumi headed back downstairs where the Covenant could come in through the promenade entrance. Mordin moved back towards the elevator where all the civilians were nestled by now. The position offered good cover as the elevator itself was nestled in between two walls that created a little nook. Everyone else moved to the next likely position the Covenant would try to come at them from. There were asset of doors near the elevator that led out onto a large patio. It had once been a dining area as the nearby food kiosk attested to. Around the corner from said kiosk was a machine gun nest that Zaeed quickly took for himself. In the middle of patio was yet another planter section with two large trees sticking out of it.

As Six took up position on the far end of the patio under some pillars. Legion stayed at the kiosk and Jacob backed up Zaeed near the gun.

"You get Garrus yet?" Six asked Legion as he settled in to his spot.

There was no immediate answer over the radio. Six could only assume that the machine was still in the middle of that. However Legion had usually been quick to respond beforehand.

"Legion," He said once again, this time louder "how's it coming?"

"Apologies." The Geth stated "We were... processing another matter."

Six wagered a guess as to what.

"I'm sorry about Tali," he told Legion sincerely "I'm not sure how close you two were to be honest."

"We are unsure of our status as well." Legion complied "However, the news that she is no longer functioning is... lamentable. Creator Tali'Zorah was an admirable part of our unit. We feel lesser now."

"A Geth in mourning over a Quarian," Zaeed said gruffly over the radio "Never thought I'd see that."

"We would not categorize our consensus on the subject as such." Legion quickly corrected

"Then what would you call it?" Zaeed asked in response

Legion didn't answer, so Zaeed just settled back into his machine gun. Regardless of whether it was mourning or not though Six needed to bring the Geth back to the here and now.

"Whatever it is you're feeling now Legion I can sympathise," Six assured his robotic friend "but we need every single one of you in the fight right now. Okay? Can you reach Garrus?"

After a brief, possibly contemplative, pause Legion answered.

"Diverting power to communications transceiver, boosting signal."

Zaeed looked up to the sky and glared.

"The bucket of bolts better hurry cause we got incoming."

A phantom dropship swooped down from the sky, its plasma guns blasting wildly as it did. The grunt plasma gunner on the edge of the ship was barely keeping the gun steady as it zeroed in on Zaeed's position, pinning the old Merc down. Six stepped out of cover and aimed at the Grunt's head with his pistol. A single sent the little gas sucker tumbling off the platform. He slammed onto the floor of the patio with a sickening splat.

Zaeed jumped back up from the sandbags just in time for the phantom to start letting off its passengers. Two Brutes fell from up above first, followed by a number of grunts that practically spilled out of the ship's interior. The Brutes landed atop the planter, snapping the trees in front of them in half in a fit of rage. Zaeed trained the machine gun on them and opened fire. Quickly the Brutes retreated off the planter and ducked behind it for cover. That was Six's cue. He tossed a grenade into their position. One Brute bolted in a panic, the other couldn't get away in time. The explosion ripped apart the unfortunate gorilla-like alien. Amazingly however he was not killed. His legs were shredded, but he could still hold a gun. As he lay in a heap he fired his spiker at Six's pillar. The Spartan ducked away from the offending spiked ammunition and fired repeatedly with his pistol into the Brute proper. Finally the mauled alien fell dead.

Zaeed kept the machine gun rattling away as the Grunts tried to rush out into the open. Jacob kept them from getting to far, opening up with his incendiaries. The methane tanks caught fire and exploded as the Grunts scurried for safety. Between them and the constant rattling of the machine gun the Grunts didn't stand a chance.

The final Brute rushed out next, blasting wildly as it made a dash for the food kiosk where Legion was. The synthetic popped out of cover and fired a single shot at the Brute. The alien however was able to roll out of the way before the slug slammed into him. As he fired his spiker at the machine he turned his back to Jacob and Zaeed. Jacob didn't waste any time and threw out a biotic pull attack. The blue ball of energy struck the Brute he began to slowly float towards them. Zaeed turned the gun on the floating helpless creature and began to fill him full of lead.

"Is this all these dumb bastards got for us?" he chided as the Brute turned into paste.

But the phantom had not released all its secrets yet. As the dead brute fell back to the ground another very much alive Brute flung himself out of the dropship up above. He slammed down onto the metal tiles of the patio with enough force to crack them. He was wearing heavy armour that encased his body entirely. His helmet was even more bulky and ornate than the chieftains from before. Worse still was what he held in his hand, a giant hammer.

Bellowing loudly the Brute charged at Zaeed and Jacob. The old merc tried to riddle him with bullets, but the ugly monkey alien actually had a shield unlike his kin. Zaeed knew when something was futile so he and Jacob dove away from the machine gun as the hammer slammed down upon the nest. A kinetic force erupted from the weapon as it hit, knocking the gun clean off its mount. The Brute charged again and both men rushed away from the pillars as the hammer took out a chunk of it. They fired on the beast as it began to walk towards them once more. The shield absorbed the bullets like a sponge. Even when Six joined the fray, stepping out from cover and advancing on the monster, his pistol did little to dissuade the creature's course.

The Brute slammed the hammer down hard the ground between the two Normandy crew members. Zaeed leapt left while Jacob ducked right. While the hammer missed them both, the kinetic shockwave from the attack was enough to send Jacob flying into the food kiosk. Jacob's barrier kept him from getting hurt too badly, but he still clutched his shoulder regardless as he staggered to stand.

Legion poked their platform's head out again and clicked its omni tool. A drone appeared on the battlefield and attacked the Brute immediately. The stupid brute growled at the little ball of light and how it kept shocking him. He slammed his hammer down hard on the drone and it exploded violently. Six thought that was the end of it. Then the blinding light faded... and the Brute was still standing.

"Bloody hell!" Zaeed shouted as he readied his assault rifle "How do you kill this thing!"

The Brute roared once more, raising its hammer on high over its head. It seemed to laugh at their pathetic attempts to bring him down. As if mere humans and machine stood a chance against him. The Forerunners smiled in his favour this day it seemed.

That was when the Brute's head exploded. The drone hadn't been completely wasted. It had depleted the dumb primate's shields leaving him vulnerable to a high powered anti-material rifle that had zeroed in on him from over several blocks away. As the pulp of what remained of the Brute's helmet and head fell to the ground, the body following shortly after, Legion spoke up once more.

"Contact re-established with Garrus Vakarian." They declared "Connecting rest of unit with him."

Garrus' voice soon filled the heads of every Normandy crew member and Six as well. It was a welcome development. To know that at the very least the scar faced Turian was alive and still keeping watch over them. And if his words were any indication he was still remarkably upbeat despite the situation.

"Sorry about taking so long, hard to get a proper fix on something that runs around swinging a giant slab of metal like a mad-man."

"We were doing okay." Six replied, obviously pretending he wasn't grateful "I'm sure we could've put him down easy."

"Well sure, but it wouldn't have been as stylish." Garrus added, with a little chuckle

"In all seriousness Garrus thanks for the assist." Six said as he returned to his more serious attitude "Thane with you?"

"Yeah Pelican picked him up and brought him to my position. I'm on the roof of a nearby skyscraper but we can't stay here for long." The turian replied quickly "The bastards got us zeroed in. The Corvettes are starting to hit tower tops so I'm calling in another Pelican to get us out of here and back to your position for the civilians. We can meet at the top of the tower."

Six looked to the top of Traxus as he walked along the patio and past the dead Brutes.

"Three of your team are missing in the city." Six explained gravely "Miranda, Jack and Grunt to be precise. We need to hold out till they can get back or we can establish contact with them."

Garrus took awhile to respond, obviously troubled by the news. When he came back his tone matched the situation.

"Alright," he said sounding exasperated "hold down the fort. I'll see if I can send some people your way. UNSC hasn't lost total control of the skies yet. I'll call out bad guys as I see them from here."

That was good to hear. Six had no intention of leaving behind another person on his watch. He just hoped the missing Normandy crew was on their way. This was especially so when he saw more Phantoms moving in towards the promenade.

* * *

><p>The manhole cover shot straight into the air. It clattered against the pavement as fell back to earth. As it did Jack pulled herself out of the hole, Miranda close behind.<p>

"You could've been quieter." She told the ex-con

"Not my style." Jack said as she shook her pant legs to get the sludge off of her. "Sides, we have to start climbing remember?"

Miranda began helping the civilians out of the hole but briefly looked up towards Traxus Tower which stood out amongst the skyline like a beacon. Getting up to it and the refugee center was gonna take awhile, but with any luck they were past the major Covenant patrols. That was when she spotted something flying about the tower. She steeled her eyes, hoping they were pelicans. Unfortunately they were two rotundish to be that.

"Looks like Jacob and the others are having their own problems." Miranda said as she pulled the next civilian out of the hole

Jack looked up to the tower and grimaced.

"Shit, I thought they were supposed to save our asses not the other way around."

"Now what?" asked one of the civilians "The Covenant have probably overrun the place by now. Where do we go?"

Miranda looked to Jack, she was already pounding her hands together, itching for a fight. Today was a scary day, she was agreeing far too much with the psychopathic biotic.

"We stick to the plan." She declared "Our crew isn't gonna let a few alien zealots kill them that easily. Just stay close to us."

Jack's ears perked up as she heard something from down the road, she turned to face it and saw speedy looking gunmetal grey coloured vehicle approaching them fast. It was spiky and it's wheel wa sinf act a giant mess of serrated blades.

"More space monkeys." She growled as her biotics flared, she looked to Miranda "Get them inside! I'll handle this!"

Miranda ushered the mass of civilians off towards the building to the left. They'd start rushing up to the tower from there. Meanwhile Jack stood her ground as the Brute vehicle barrelled in on her. It began firing its twin cannons at her as it approached. She put up a field in front of her, letting the shots bounce off it like they were pebbles against a mountainside. Then she let the field blast out along the ground in tremendous shockwave. It smacked into the vehicle and sent it hurtling backwards. It crashed into the side of a building the driver fell out onto the ground just in time for his own vehicle to collapse atop him.

Jack made a beeline for the door of the building where Miranda and the civies were waiting. Almost home free, just over fifty stairs and a few more packs of vicious alien primates to deal with. She just hoped those dumbasses up top were holding on. Otherwise she'd have trudged through all that shit and vomit for nothing.

* * *

><p>Grunt had been bounding across rooftops for awhile now, trying to make his way back to Traxus. He hoped Miranda and Jack had gotten wise and were doing the same thing. He had seen Phantoms heading in its direction. The krant at large was in danger, they needed him. Besides, he had lost the other two's trail. There was nothing he could do for them now.<p>

The rooftops however were no better than the ground floors. Brutes were everywhere. He could smell them up to a mile away. It was sickening how much these mammals had polluted the air with their stench. Killing them only made it worse actually as their insides were just as vile. He tried biting a few in his previous fights. He opted not to do that anymore unless he had to. They tasted awful. Did they roll around in their own dung or something?

As he leapt to another building's balcony close by he couldn't stop his run, he smashed through the glass window and continued his way forward. He then rammed his way through the exit door of the apartment and continued on to the stairs to get back up top.

As he ploughed out of the stairwell and back into the light he saw a group of three Brutes on the edge of the roof top. They were firing down below at another building just beside them. A bunch of humans, army troopers from the look of it as their uniforms suggested. The Krogan quickly pulled out his claymore again and rushed forward he fired one shot into the back of one of the Brutes. The blast was enough to send the dumb mammal hurtling off the side and down to the street far below. This caught the attention of remaining two Brutes who quickly turned their weapons on him. Grunt reloaded as he kept running and fired another at the head of the Brute. The claymore ripped the ape's head clean from his shoulders. Only one Brute remained and Grunt had no intention of stopping.

The krogan slammed into the covie monkey and launched himself forward. It wasn't a long jump to the next building and it was a bit lower than them. For a brief moment Grunt was flying in the air clutching onto the ugly smelling monkey as he did. Below the troopers, shocked beyond belief at their sudden saviour, gathered their wits and scattered. The two hulking aliens were after all hurtling towards them like a comet.

Grunt and the Brute slammed down onto the roof of the building, breaking the cement beneath them. The Brute had taken the brunt of the impact, Grunt was okay. As he stood up atop his defeated enemy he saw the mammal was still trying to claw at his foot. Grunt raised it up out of his reach and then slammed it hard down on his head. It didn't go splat, but he heard a nice crunch all the same.

"Shoulda moved." He commented as he stepped off the dead ape.

The troopers looked on as the tank-bred Krogan kept going. He looked back at them momentarily. They were in awe, as they should be. However Grunt wasn't interested in their admiration or fear. His krant needed him now. He took off once again.

* * *

><p>The brutes were once again racing through the door on the first level. Backed by the stubby legged grunts and quick footed Jackals, the slobbering primates quickly made their way inside. However with the increased Trooper support and the defence reorganized they didn't achieve a breakthrough so easily like last time.<p>

Samara was front and center on the barricades so to speak. The Traxus sign was to her right and she had a good view of the ground floor through the hole in the middle. More importantly any attempts to come through the second floor entrance via the stairs at the back were covered as well. A fairly good position and the back up from the trooper squad Six and Legion had led in here was appreciated.

She kept her assault rifle pointed and ready, she couldn't completely rely on her biotics in this fight, she'd ware herself out. She still had few more thermal clips, but she reserved those for her submachine gun. For now the DMR she held would do. Mordin was close by among the troopers in the alcoves along the sides. Good cover and a perfect ambush position. She didn't know where Kasumi was. Knowing the thief she was probably cloaked and tip toeing around the area. Samara hoped the girl wouldn't try and bite off more than she could chew. Punching a man in the back of their head was considerably easier than doing the same with a over two hundred pound gorillas bounding at them currently. Then again Kasumi knew her limits.

The justicar kept her gun trained on the door in front of her. The first two brutes appeared bounding up the stairs. They were the less armoured lower tier pack members. Their blue smooth lined helmets and patchwork armour was telling of their fighting style. They were shock troops, unafraid of pain and breed for fighting. They were savage creatures, plain and simple. When the Brutes first showed up the team had come across a group that had torn into a squad of troopers and their civilian charges. The humans had been torn apart, butchered. Samara tried to remove her emotions from the matter, as per a Justicar should. It had been difficult. She took solace in the fact that the Code demanded that the monsters face retribution. She had never felt more eager to carry out the demands of her order in a long time.

As the Brutes rushed into the room, Samara unleashed a reave attack leading. The creature dropped to the floor in agony, its battlelust temporarily slowed. His fellow Brute, armed with one of those bladed grenade launchers fired at Samara's position. The asari strafed along her cover of the large center planter, firing short controlled bursts at the enemy as she did. The Brute took the shoots surprisingly well, but still found himself getting pushed back by the impact. Finally one bullet managed to fly straight into the slobbering mouth of the beast. It dropped the launcher and began clutching its face, trying to hold the blood pouring out in.

"So they can feel pain." Samara noted to herself as she observed both Brutes.

One was dying the other was probably wishing he was dead at this point as the reave attack tore at his very core. It wasn't something to revel in, but it showed, despite the tough hides and savagery, that they were not invincible. A comforting reminder.

Samara lifted the suffering Brute off the ground with her biotics and then flung him backwards into the wall. Before he fell, Samara caught him again and then slammed him into the ground. You could never be too careful with these monsters, they were resilient.

She was reminded of said resilience by the spikes that flung up at her. Samara ducked her head into cover as her barriers spiked. Another thing about brutes she had learned, they had a fetish for sharp objects of all kinds. She sprang back up and returned fire. The three Brutes growled as the bullets smacked against them. A chieftain in the middle fired his plasma repeater, forcing Samara to duck her head down. As the plasma continued fly over her she reloaded the DMR, remaining calm.

With a deep breath Samara rose once more, instantly zeroing in on one of the lesser brutes. She fired off three rounds in quick succession. The primate's head lurched back as the bullets slammed into his skull. Biotic energy culminated in her fist as plasma began to spike her barriers. She launched the singularity at the two remaining brutes, pulling them off their feet. As they struggled to try and train their weapons on anything not Covenant Samara let herself biotically glide down. She landed a few feet in front of the spiralling vicious apes and let biotic throw send them hurtling backwards from whence they came. They smashed against the back wall, their heads splitting open on impact, their necks snapping like twigs. Their species possessed thick skulls, but being flung into a wall at such speeds was fatal for pretty much anything. Even them.

Samara looked to the door in front of her, now crowded with a new and weaker foe. Several grunts charged forward, bounding in with their plasma pistols blazing, She pitied the enslaved cannon fodder, but their presence threatened the civilians. She let her arms surge with biotic energy and waved them towards at methane breathing creatures. A giant shockwave rippled across the ground, sending the grunts flying in all directions.

As Samara continued her defence from below, Jackals and Skirmishers sped up the steps to the second ground floor. They were met with gun fire courtesy of Mordin and the Troopers. The Salarian's carnifex picked off a single Skirmisher through the head before he even knew the good professor was there. The Jackals brought their shields up and fired upon Mordin's position. However they were soon blinded by a blast of light. Kasumi materialized behind the two creatures as they dug at their blinded eyes. She slammed her fist hard into the back of one of the Jackal's heads before spinning back around and striking the other one with a chop along its delicate neck.

Another Jackal stood its ground in front of the thief and kept its shield firmly held high. As the alien's needler fired at her, Kasumi rushed forward. She jumped into the air, flipping herself upside down before firing the UNSC pistol from up above as she passed over the alien. The bullets cut clean through the alien's skull and Kasumi landed gracefully on the other side.

That was when a Skirmisher closed in on her. Striking out with its talons, Kasumi dodged away to the side. This Skirmisher was unique in that it had two arm shields that covered its weapons, dual plasma pistols. Kasumi quickly pulled out the Spiker again and peppered the alien's backside as it tried to turn around for a shot at her with its weapons. As the first skirmisher flailed its arms in its death throes before collapsing, yet another Skirmisher closed in from behind. He wasn't as stealthy as her though. Disappointing, she had hoped this was gonna get challenging at some point.

Kasumi ducked low as the alien swung a unique looking plasma blade. It was purple and it looked more like machete than a fancy sword. Kasumi tripped to sweep the creature's leg, but the alien jumped up and away. She tossed a flash grenade at the alien before he landed. The flash blinded the creature but it still landed on two feet. By now Kasumi had cloaked again and the alien pulled out his needler rifle. He scanned the area looking for the hooded human. Just like the regular rent-a-cops she faced, he hadn't seen sneak up from behind. She kicked forward, making the alien stagger along the ground. Then she fired her pistol at the alien. Growling, the Skirmisher jumped away from the shots, leaping around like a jackrabbit. He returned fire, but Kasumi was just as good at avoiding his shot as he was hers.

That was until he suddenly stopped dead. His talons curled inward as his shoulder seemed to cramp up. Kasumi turned to the back of the room and saw Mordin, a big old smile on his froggy face, with his omni tool outstretched. Bless that amphibious mad scientist and his neural shock function. Kasumi rushed up and ploughed her fist straight into the alien's face. Although, it was bird like so perhaps she should've consider it his beak. Either way the Skirmisher went flying skidding towards the floor.

The thief looked down at what the covie had dropped, his needler rifle. She kicked up into her hands. She wasn't into assault rifles, but they needed all the guns they could get right now.

"I wonder if Garrus would like one of these." She thought aloud "It's got a scope and it makes bad guys explode in pink. Not as manly, but it's still an explosion."

She heard something from down below. Samara was engaged in another fight from the sound of it. The grunting roars suggested more Brutes. Not good. What was worse she heard a number of stomping footprints bounding up the stairs once more.

"We could really use some more help here." Kasumi told the others over the comms "Please tell me someone called on the cavalry horn."

"We'll come to you." Six's voice shouted over the radio "Don't worry though. Garrus says he contacted back-up. They should be here soon."

Kasumi hoped soon meant they'd show up in the next few seconds and that they brought some big guns with them. Big gorilla killing guns to be precise.

* * *

><p>It was just their luck they weren't getting out of this hell hole just yet. They were losing midtown and fast, but there were just too many civies still stuck here. They just couldn't leave them to die. Not when there was still a chance. So now Kowalski was headed off to Traxus Tower in a flight of two pelicans each laden with a warthog. The plan was to drop them on the promenade and secure the area so Brutes couldn't get inside the evac center anymore. It was a good plan. Snd then, as he had come to expect, it went to shit.<p>

As soon as Traxus Towers appeared on the horizon they picked up a swarm of bogies. Banshees began strafing their pelicans with plasma blast after plasma blast. Kowalski held onto his seat, as both Agley and Ramirez gritted their teeth. Ellingham however began to walk to the door, gun raised and trying to peer around the warthog to get a shot off.

"Damn it if we didn't have this stupid car-"

Ellingham was cut off when the pelican jerked a hard left and collided with the wall.

"Took out the left engine!" the pilot shouted "We gotta abort this run!"

"That is a negative soldier!" Colonel Jensen declared "Stay the course!"

Jensen had just happened to be on the pelican when the call for support came from Traxus. They quickly picked up two Warthogs and made their way forward. Jensen was adamant on getting the civies out of here. Like everyone, he suspected the city was done for at this point. But they could still save the people0 and that was what counted.

Jensen was currently in the other pelican, with Pearson and Sergeant Taylor. With the warthog in the way they couldn't really see much of anything that was going on, that and they were in front of them. However they could hear the radio chatter.

"Commander what are you doing?" Taylor's voice asked frantically

"Swatting these damn flies boy!" Jensen called out "Get in the hog! That goes for the rest of yas too!"

Ellingham looked at Kowalski, a bewildered look in his eye with a twinge of fear. Agley summed up their feelings.

"I do not like where this is going." He said

For once Kowalski agreed with the semi-cowardly Agley. Carefully the team climbed into the warthog that was hanging oh so precariously from the back of the pelican. It wasn't easy to do, especially since there were only two seats and a gun. Kowalski took shotgun while Ramirez squeezed into the middle with Ellingham in the driver's seat. Agley had the sorry job of trying to get to the machine gun as the pelican buffered and rocked from the banshee fire. One good hit made the vehicle bounce and Agley was launched forward. He grabbed onto the gun's barrel for dear life and then quickly turned it around to grip onto the triggers.

Kowalski looked out beside them and saw bullet tracers smacking against banshees flying next to them. As their pelican gained speed in an attempt to outrun their own pursuers the bullets were revealed to be coming from the other warthog attached to the second Pelican. In the gunner's position was Lieutenant Colonel Jensen, firing away like he had nothing to lose.

"Crazy son of a bitch." Ellingham said as he witnessed the sight for himself.

Agley saw the scene too. He quickly followed the Commander's example. He fired on the banshees on their six, tearing them apart. The banshees exploded into bright blue flames and spiralled into the adjacent buildings. But more were joining the firefight and the pelicans were taking a serious beating. Jensen's was already starting to smoke. As it did they drew closer to Traxus towers, they could see the class skylight right below them now.

"This is our stop," Jensen said "let's show these bastards what happens when you mess with the corps! Pilots! Release the clamps! Now!"

What the hell did he just say? That was the first thing that sprang to Kowalski's mind. He was too shocked to hear the argument that erupted next. It was brief and short and no one any time to process things before the Warthogs were suddenly plummeting towards the skylight below.

All Kowalski could hear at this moment was the panicked screaming of his fellow Marines. After that all he could hear was the shattering of glass as they smashed through the skylight. He watched as the floor closed in on them and he prayed that Warthog suspension was as good as they said. Their Warthog travelled all the way down to the ground floor while Jensen's landed up top on the second. Kowalski's team were able to get the first kill as their warthog crushed a Brute under its wheels as it landed. The car rolled forwards and Ellingham turned sharply to stop their forward momentum. In the 180 degree turn Kowalski was launched out of the Warthog from the side and skidded along the ground. His armour absorbed the fall, but it still hurt like hell nonetheless. He kidded to a halt at a familiar pair of red boots and looked up to see much appreciated sight. The blue, slightly freckled and incredibly surprised looked Samara.

"Private Kowalski?" she said in astonishment

"Would you kill me if I used the obvious 'just decided to drop in' line?" he asked sheepishly grinning, surprised at the coincidence himself

"I believe you just did." Samara told him, the sarcasm slightly lost on her, as she held out her hand to help him up.

Kowalski took it readily. As he got to his feet though he clutched at his shoulder, the fall had been worse than he thought.

"Fuck." He growled "As if a spiker round getting stuck in there wasn't enough."

"Mordin has medi-gel, he can assist." Samara informed him "But first we must deal with our enemies."

Agley had already started firing at the Brutes that Grunts that were swarming into the room. Up above Jensen was doing the same thing to a pack of Brutes. He fired wildly, never letting up as they tried to swarm the warthog. The bullets tore open their sides and split their heads apart, their bodies collapsing heaps upon the ground as the flurry of bullets pretty much destroyed everything that came up the steps.

Agley however was still too shocked by his fall to catch everyone. Two skirmishers managed to dodge the fire and a Brute chieftain carrying a gravity hammer wasn't so easily killed either. He rushed past the storm of bullets joining the skirmishers as they made their way to the steps. Unfortunately as they rushed up them they were met with one machine gun they couldn't avoid. Zaeed Massani stood atop the steps, the machine gun that had been torn off its pedestal in his hands.

"Wanna play king of the hill huh?" he asked as he barrel start to fire up "Fine, I'm game."

The Covies rushed forward regardless of how suicidal, they were not going to be defeated by a filthy human. As the bullets rained down on them, tearing at their sides, Zaeed clenched his teeth together, the giant machine gun rattling in his arms. The Skirmishers were the first to go. After all they had little to no protection on them. Not even they were nimble enough to avoid a bullet on such a narrow stairway. Even as they tumbled down the steps, their lifeless bodies contorting as they went, the Brute with the hammer paid no heed. The bullets bounded against the armour, ruining its shining finish as each round hit. The Brute's helmet soon flung off his head as a number of bullets from the rattling gun smacked against it. It didn't even phase the beast as it raised its hammer on high, preparing to smash the merc under it.

At that moment Zaeed shoulder checked the Brute, halting his attack momentarily. For an old geezer he still packed enough wallop in him to smack an overgrown monkey around. He shoved the barrel of the machine gun straight into the side of the Brute's face as he side stepped around him. He fired off a full blast and then smacked what was left of the pulpy mess with the barrel itself. The dead ape fell down the steps like a ragdoll. A big, smell, incredibly unkempt ragdoll.

"Guess I should've told him I was the schoolyard champion of that game." He quipped

"When was that anyway Zaeed?" Jacob asked as he approached "Back when they had invented the radio?"

"Laugh it up kid." Zaeed grumbled as he trudged down the stairs.

Jensen's machine gun had also stopped firing. The destruction it had wrought was terrible, the entire entranceway to the second floor was covered in dead brutes and grunts.

"It's gonna take forever to get that smell out." Pearson noted as the company commander descended from the gun.

The whole team regrouped at Jensen's warthog on the second floor, Six was the first to greet the grizzly of a marine.

"Nice entrance." He told him "You got kicked out of the ODSTs or something?"

"Only cause I wanted to go all natural on the drops." Jensen laughed "Seriously though, Pelicans were taking heat. It was either drop through the glass or crash and burn."

The effects of the harrowing drop could still be seen Agley's face with, his eyes twitching rapidly and his mouth stuck in a seemingly permanent worrisome grimace. Kasumi, who was next to the shaken private placed her hand atop his head to stop him from jittering it about. The shakes went down to his knees in response. Kasumi was surprised, she thought that only happened in cartoons.

"Well thanks for the assist, however unorthodox." Jacob told Jensen "How are we on evac ships?"

"They're coming along, but a Covie Corvette is raining hellfire down on the area." Jensen warned "Heard the spaceport ain't doing so hot either. We need to a breakthrough or no one is leaving this city alive."

Garrus' voice suddenly came over the comms once more. His voiced sounded direr than ever.

"Guys, new wave of Brutes coming in!" he warned "I'm thinning them out but... well, they've found a new target."

"Who?" Six asked

Garrus' answer was quick and concise.

"Our ever lovable rage crazed giant lizard-monster just joined our party."

* * *

><p>Grunt had come barrelling down off the nearest roof, landing on the pavement of the promenade below and cracking it under his weight. No trouble for a krogan, hell he survived worse drops then that recently. Of course his sudden entry onto the battlefield caught the attention of pretty much every single ugly looking alien primate in the area. Grunt just laughed his usual slow and subdued laugh as he brought out his shotgun.<p>

"You're all just oversized pyjacks to me." He growled at them all, a wide grin on his face "You know what we use pyjacks for on Tuchanka?"

The Brutes didn't seem interested in the question as they bared their fangs at the Krogan. One was stupid enough making a running charge while firing his Spiker. Grunt simply pointed his claymore, primed with incendiary rounds, and fired. The burning husk of the collapsed the ground as its head exploded.

"Anyone else wanna volunteer for target practice?" he dared them all

They of course obliged. And to think people called Krogan savages, even he was more disciplined than them. Not even a hint of self-control as they barrelled towards him, firing like mad. It was like they were on permanent blood rage.

The first of the Brutes rushed forward firing that bladed grenade launcher of his. Grunt ducked under the explosive shots and dodged away from one as it hit the ground near his left. The blast kicked up shrapnel and stone, but it would take more than that to slow a krogan. As the Brute closed in he raised the underside of his weapon to strike. Grunt batted the alien to the ground with a swift punch, reloaded his claymore at last and stepped upon the downed alien's back. He fired point blank into his foe's head and turned back to the other Brutes still plaguing him.

One of them was smarter it seemed, he was strafe shooting as he ran past the stone walls that dotted the promenade. He jumped from cover to cover, firing his spiker as he went. Grunt's shields took a pounding and eventually one of the spikes stuck in his leg. Without even flinching the krogan pulled it out and threw it to the ground. Now he was getting pissed, but he controlled the anger. He would not let it get the best of him like it did when they first encountered Hunters. Instead he reloaded his claymore once more, waited for the Brute to step out again and then charged forward screaming. His head connected head on with the stomach of the stupid smelly mammal and sent him flying through the air. Before he even fell down Grunt fired another shot into the Brute. The force of the hit sent him crashing into a pillar of a nearby building.

So far things had been easy. They were engaging him one at a time more or less. If he could keep that up the fact he was outnumbered by the apes wouldn't matter. But unfortunately the Brutes began to pile on in force. From up ahead, two Brutes behind a planter fired upon him with their spikers. A third in the center of the promenade fired at him with another one of their grenade launchers.

Luckily for Grunt, he had more than just shields and a redundant nervous system on his side. He activated his armour's fortification function and charged forward. As he passed the two Brutes near the planter he fired one shot from his Claymore decimating the first Brute with ease. As the charred corpse fell to the ground, the incendiaries engulfing it in flames, Grunt turned his eyes back to the Brute with the launcher. He was getting hit, but the non-Newtonian fluid coursing through the armour hardened when struck by the blasts. While Grunt's body jerked when struck he kept going regardless, only slightly hurt from the impact. His shields held long enough for him to close the distance and ram his head straight into the Brute's own skull.

Grunt ripped the bladed launcher from the collapsing Brute's arm. Spikes from the remaining Brute's gun stuck into his back. The Krogan whirled around and fired every last grenade in the weapon at the brute. The blasts tore through the ape like rabid varren. Grunt thought he had claimed victory when the Brute fell dead. He held his arms up in jubilation.

Then he felt something slice into his back.

Grunt stumbled forward from the attack. His shields were still down and while he could take a lot of punishment that one slash had really hurt. He turned to see another Brute with its bladed launcher rush at him again. He grabbed it with his hand, the blade cutting into his palm. With his free hand he punched the brute in the face, sending his helmet flying clean off as he did. The Krogan followed that up with a clean headbutt to the skull. But even as that Brute fell another leapt onto his back and dug his Spiker's bladed underside into his shoulder. He grabbed the monkey by the arms and tossed off towards the railing on the edge of the promenade. The dumb ape fell to the streets far below.

And yet still more came. Another Brute slammed himself into Grunt's side, staggering him away. Yet another Brute punched him back into the first one. The Krogan grabbed the mammal's hands as the two tried to push each other back. The second Brute clambered onto Grunt's back and tried to put his arms around the gigantic lizard's neck to choke him. Grunt struggled to keep his balance on both ends. He looked down to the Brute who held his arms in place. On his belt he could see a single plasma grenade. Seeing his chance, Grunt wrenched one of his hands free and punched the Brute one good time in the side of the head. He grabbed at the grenade activated it and slammed it into the mouth of the stupid ape as his angered visage returned to look at him. The Brute released his hold on Grunt and clutched at his mouth. At that instant the Krogan raised both of his feet into the air and delivered a powerful double kick to the Brute's chest. The dumb mammal was sent flying into the path of yet another Brute that was onrushing Grunt. The plasma grenade exploded upon their collision, killing both aliens in one blast.

However Grunt had lost his footing and the literal monkey on his back now dragged him down. The brute retained his headlock, even as the Krogan massive weight collapsed on him. Grunt slammed his elbow into the Brute's face and then bit down hard on the gorilla's arm. As the Brute screamed, the vice-like grip of the tank-bred krogan's jaw pulled away and suddenly the Brute's entire arm ripped clean off.

Grunt was free from the grip and quickly righted himself. He knelt atop the de-limbed ape and began pounding his head into the pavement.

Stupid apes, he thought, can't beat me fair so they gang up. He resolved to beat this ignorant creature's head in until the message finally got across to the rest. That he was Krogan, and no matter how many there were he'd survive the onslaught. Krogan always survived. No matter the odds. That was what his rite taught him and by the nuclear scorched sands of Tuchanka he would prove that lesson true today!

In his rage however, yet another Brute blindsided him. Slashing him across the temple with another of those damn launchers. It cut clean through the thick hide and plate on his head. The Brute beneath was dead by now, but his friends were here to avenge him. Once again, Grunt thought, they couldn't be bothered to do this the honourable way. They had to resort to sucker punches and sneak attacks. Cowards, the whole lot of them!

He kicked at the first Brute that tried to stab into him again with his weapon. The second stabbed into his arm, but placed his leg too close to the Krogan's jaws. With one massive bite, Grunt tore into the Brute's leg savagely. As that one fell to the earth, his leg cracking in two from the powerful reptilian jaws, another slammed the bladed edge of his weapon down Grunt's chest. It hurt like hell, he gritted his teeth and felt his armour buckle. But he would not stop fighting. He kept lashing out however he could at these stupid monkeys. And they kept slashing at him in kind. They seemed to be laughing while they did. They took joy in the slow mutilation of their enemy. His body was working overtime to close up every wound, but Grunt knew he needed to break free somehow. He couldn't die here. Not now! Not when he was slow close to his krant again. He couldn't fail them. If he did what kind of Krogan was he?

A large chieftain Brute approached now, a gravity hammer clutched in his hand. He laughed as he circled the bleeding, downed krogan. His arms and legs were now pinned by the bladed tips of their grenade launchers undersides. He struggled to break free, but he needed a free hand or leg. Something!

The Brute with the hammer now stood over him, preparing to swing. Grunt grimaced for a moment. Stopped struggle for a bit. The realisation that he failed sinking in, that he'd never see the rest of the Normandy crew again. He just hoped he killed enough of these bastards to help them out. That he'd died thinning the herd for his Krant to face. But he would not die begging. He sucked back air in his massive throat and spat a wad of orange blood at the ugly gorilla's face. The laugh was replaced by a grumbling growl.

"Go on!" he demanded "Do it! Kill a real warrior for once! You don't have the quad! None of you do! Ya bunch of cowardly murderers! That's all you are! So do it! GO ON!"

The chieftain brushed the blood off his helmet and raised his hammer high. Grunt kept his eyes open. He wouldn't flinch. Not for them. He'd die with dignity.

"Hey! Fuckheads!"

The Brutes holding Grunt down looked to the left and were suddenly slammed by two powerful biotic throws. All four of them were sent careening into the distance.

"Screw you!"

Grunt looked to the side. He couldn't believe it! Jack and Miranda, rushing out guns and biotics blazing, firing upon the Brute chieftain and the other stupid monkeys that had crowded around him. They had come! At the last second they had come! Jack slammed a shockwave into the ground that sent three Brutes catapulting off the side of the railing. Miranda tossed another Brute into the chieftain standing over Grunt. He batted his flying comrade away with ease, but he had forgotten about the monster that had just been set free by the two women.

Grunt pushed himself off the ground and grabbed the Gravity Hammer's handle. Even weakened by the mutilation, Grunt pulled himself up to his feet and caught the astonished attention of the Brute Chieftain. His grimace turned to a satisfied smile.

"My turn."

He punched once and then backed handed the Brute before slamming his head straight into the primate's skull. He upended the handle of the hammer to slam the Brute in his sack, forcing him to let go of the hammer. Grunt now held the weapon in hand.

"I!"

He headbutted the Brute away slightly.

"AM!"

He jabbed the end of the hammer's handle straight into the Brute's eye, forcing him back further.

"KROGAN!"

With a mighty swing of the hammer, Grunt slammed the blunt object against the side of the chieftain's head. The helmet shattered to pieces as the now limp form of the brute flew high into the air and then began its descent as it fell past the railing and down to the streets below.

Grunt took a deep ragged breath and let himself fall. He caught himself with the handle of the hammer, using it as support so he wouldn't completely tumble down. He looked towards the entrance to Traxus Tower. He now Jacob and the others rushing towards them, blasting through what little remained of the Brute strike force.

Took them long enough, he thought. After all he just won the battle almost completely by himself. The rest of the credit of course went to the two human women who were now helping him to his feet.

"You look like hell Dino-man." Jack told him, seemingly admiring his actions if Grunt was reading her right. "Lucky we came when we did. You'd have been a new pair boots in a few seconds."

"Are you okay Grunt?" Miranda asked, almost as if she was truly concerned. That was new.

"I'm kinda hungry I guess." He said, half heartedly laughing. It hurt to laugh, but only a little.

The two helped him limp over to the others. Mordin was waiting with medi-gel at the ready from the looks of it. He just hoped the others didn't hug him or something. He really didn't need to be doted on right now. Not when there were still more enemies to kill after all. But right now, the krant, his krant was more or less reunited.

Now the Covenant were in real trouble.

* * *

><p>AN: Quick note before getting serious, I had a variation of the "Transformers Prime" theme music playing in my head during this final scene. Felt good to finally let Grunt cut loose.<p>

Alright, the real purpose of this chapter's notes is more or less to nip the obvious two questions in the bud. That way you can all stop asking me how I feel about them and ease your concerns.

One: Yes, I've seen Tali's official picture. I'm more or less okay with the actual look, because Quarians always kinda looked human from behind their visors. I'm annoyed BioWare decided to use a photoshop stock picture to give us this moment and not a 3D model or anything, but whatever. At least she doesn't look butt ugly and from what I saw she doesn't have elf ears. So I'm cool.

Two: Yes, I have seen the endings. No, I don't particularly like them. They're frustrating as hell, loaded with plot holes, devoid of explanation, take away elements of choice, introduce logical fallacies, contain out of character behaviour and in general just confuse the hell out of me. To quote Ren & Stimpy "No Sir, I do not like them" and the more I thought about them the more they pissed me off and the less I wanted to actually finish ME3. Which I haven't. Big deal anyway, I'm waiting for more SP DLC in either case... and for that face import fix.

Yes, I've heard of the Extended Cut, I'm not sure if it is going to address the myriad of problems with the endings as they are. I don't feel "artistic integrity" is an excuse when you're producing a commercial product. Even so, BioWare is releasing a second edition of the recent Mass effect novel to correct mistakes. No one is crying foul about that, which was also due to fan outcry. To use myself as an example, when people told me aboutmy fuck up concern the height of the Elites I fixed it. I didn't complain abotut he fans on my back, I didn't whine, I sucked it up like a man and admitted I made a mistake and I decided to address it/fix it. More importantly NO ONE HAD TO PAY TO EVEN READ THE THING ANYWAY!

Regardless, I'm taking a wait and see policy with the Extended Cut idea. I don't want people to suddenly shut up about things, I think we should use this time to continue to voice our concerns and hopefully those concerns will be incorporated into the final edition of the extended cut.

But your real question is this: How does this affect the story. Simple... it doesn't. I've already thought of my ending and I'm not changing it. In fact the ending was always going to fit AROUND the real canon ending. Why? Because with a story like this on a such a massive scale, with so many things altering because of the interactions between these worlds, there is no chance in HELL, that the ending was gonna be canonically the same. Diversions would take place. In fact they were inevitable when I looked at what I had planned for the future. The fact that my ending is different isn't to spite BioWare, the ending would always have been different and as of now has not changed. It will adapt to the current ending's situation, but it will be drastically different due to various other factors. Rest assured, the ending has not altered my own plans in any way. I'm flexible though, my ending fits and somewhat suits my purposes. However like the upcoming DLC, again, it's a waiting game. Can't do anything about it until we actually get to ME3 in this story. So, yeah, nothing any of us can do for now.

Well that covers everything. Sorry for the long Author's note, I just wanna be sure that I'm clear and everything and that people won't flood my inbox with the same question over and over. I like answering your feedback. I don't like answering the same question sixty times. Hopefully I won't have to make more of these Author's Notes this long again. Because honestly I want to keep them short as possible. So ending this one now. Continue on to next chapter.


	17. Parting the Sea

Chapter 17: Parting the Sea

With the missing team members in hand the crew had thought their troubles were over. In reality they were only half done. As they got Grunt in the elevator the process of ferrying civilians into it from every floor in the building as well as theirs began. However getting to the Tower evacuated was suddenly a lot more problematic. The reason, as a helpful trooper coordinator explained, was that the Covenant Corvette flying around this sector had blasted the landing pad atop Traxus tower when they were being overrun just now.

Although wounded Grunt still had enough energy in him to keep his hands clutched on his latest war trophy. The Gravity Hammer was held close to the giant reptile's chest as they helped him into the elevator. He still held onto it when they placed him down, propping him up against a pillar.

They were now in "triage", so to speak. It was the room near the bottom level of the tower where they had set up medical assistance for the wounded civilians. Right now there were way too many. Last time Miranda was here more of the benches in this little hideaway were empty. Now, almost a week later, every single one of them was occupied by at least one human with plasma burns on their skin or a spike sticking out of their arms. At least for the most part they were all still alive.

Now Grunt had joined them. Crazy stupid Krogan, almost got himself killed. But he had held off the next wave of Brutes from coming in. If he hadn't shown up when he did Jacob and the others would've been overrun.

Mordin was hunched over the wounded tank-breed, assessing his new assortment of cuts and bruises.

"He gonna be okay Professor?" Jacob asked

"Grunt's regenerative capabilities extremely effective." He assured as his omni-tool scanned the Krogan super soldier "Far exceeds average Krogan recovery speed. Combined with upgrades to armour, medi-gel injection and organic-nanotech regen-tech taken from Hunters included, Grunt's encounter was not terminal."

Mordin pulled out a bio-foam injector rammed its end into one of Grunt's open wounds. Grunt gritted his teeth as the foam sealed up the wound.

"Despite lack of terminal injuries will need to time to return to full strength." Mordin continued "Trauma to vital organs and internal bleeding must be dealt with before return to combat. Will need my assistance."

"I'm fine Salarian." Grunt argued "I just need a few minutes and I'm good to go. Ready to bash heads again. Not gonna let you squishy aliens have all the fun stomping them big ugly mutant pyjakcs."

"Loyalty to team commendable." Mordin admitted as he kept studying the scans on his omni-tool of Grunt's condition "Still, cannot allow you to compromise self. Strongly advise against continued combat until damage can be sufficiently repaired."

Miranda knelt down and put a hand on Grunt's shoulder.

"Remember what Shepard said?" she asked

Grunt just grumbled.

"Listen to the one person who knows my biology better than anyone." He groaned "Yeah, yeah."

"You'll be back in the thick of it soon enough." Jacob assured

"Yeah," Zaeed added "your body is too stubborn and stupid to just call it a day."

Grunt grumbled at Zaeed under his throat. Then he gripped his hammer even tighter.

"I ain't giving this up. I beat it off that bastard fair and square." He argued

"Fair enough," Miranda accepted as she stood back up "Not sure any of us could lift it anyway."

"Not unless you got Spartan strength enhancements at least." Six added.

With Grunt complacent to stay put for now the rest of the team, minus Mordin who was feverishly working on him, returned to the task at hand. That being getting the civilians, wounded or otherwise, out of this city alive.

"If the top landing pad is toast what options do we got?" Jack asked "I didn't fight all the way to this damn tower just to die in it."

"Hold on," Six suggested "let's see if Vakarian and Thane got input on this."

Six hoped their connection was still up and let everyone tune in to the same frequency as him on their own comm. channels.

"Garrus, it's Six. Rest of your buds are alive and with us."

"So I saw." Garrus replied "Tell Grunt I saw him tangling with the Brutes but I couldn't exactly help him out. Afraid I was gonna shot him. Thane had a bead on the guy who was gonna pulp his head, but luckily Miranda and Jack showed up. Not sure if we could've killed every single one of them before it got worse. But two Biotics knocking a chunk of them off you evens the odds it seems."

"We heard the landing pad above is blown. We need a new place to exvil the civies." Six informed him "Got any ideas?"

"UNSC dispatch says there is an executive landing pad in one of the high rises." Garrus explained "You can get the people up to it through the building but there is a mess of Covenant in the way. You're near the cargo port of the tower. That's another way to get up there but from what I'm hearing it's impassable on foot. Can't get the civies through there. But some of the ODSTs are chattering about a plan they've cooked up. See what they got."

Six was a bit confused about that last one.

"ODSTs?" he asked

"They dropped near our position when we first entered the city." Miranda explained "They joined up with us. Gave us added manpower."

"Been alternating between posts mostly, we're down here taking care of the wounded they're topside keeping watching." Jacob explained "Then we switch of course. Been like that for awhile now."

If the ODSTs had a plan Six wanted to hear it. Better than sitting around here while the Corvette blasted at them. Of course there were still the civilians to consider, they'd need an escort up top and a few extra hands couldn't hurt.

"Alright, we'll split up." Six informed them "Half of us will join up with the ODSTs, the rest will help get these people ready to move."

Miranda had quickly accepted that Six had taken charge. Besides the fact they were still under UNSC jurisdiction she also reconciled the fact from the get go that Garrus was running things anyway. So she was fine with him barking orders. All she cared about was get the civies and the rest of the team out alive. Even Jack.

"I'll handle the civilians and regular troopers with Jacob and Mordin." Miranda told the Spartan.

"As will I." Samara added unwaveringly.

That just left the other four still active Normandy Crew members. Six looked to them and they were all fairly quick to reply.

"I'm up for whatever these ODSTs have in mind personally." Jack declared

"Prefer a straight up fight myself." Zaeed added.

"Good with whatever for me." Kasumi shrugged "So long as we don't all die a horrible plasma laden death."

Legion simply nodded at Six, that told him everything he needed to know. With the teams settled, Six, Legion, Zaeed, Kasumi and Jack left to find the ODSTs, while Miranda and the others stayed back and readied the civilians for extract. It felt good to be semi-organized again after over a week of mishaps and one problem after the other. They were gaining momentum back now. With Legion and Six back, the Marine reinforcements present and the squad reunited it was hard not to feel optimistic. They had a chance now, better than before.

* * *

><p>The ODSTs were firing at a squad of banshees that was zipping through the cargo port. The aircraft ignored them, although they did fire a few harassing shots in kind as they passed. Six and the others arrived through the door and found the troopers waiting for them.<p>

"Spartan," one of the ODSTs shouted "radio has been buzzing about ya for awhile now."

Next the ODST and his squad was a small cache of weapons. Zaeed and Jack walked over to them, trying to figure out which to take. They would certainly have to re-arm appropriately for the coming attack. That and they were still low on Thermal clips, so they needed to work with what they could get.

"We hear you have a plan to get us up to the executive pad." Six said as he stopped in front of him.

"Yeah, far as we can tell the Covenant are on the other side of the docks." The Trooper pointed out to them "But as you can see we can't just walk across."

The statement was not an exaggeration. The cargo port was a forest of steel pillars and platforms, which used to be connected by a series of wenches and rails. Most of the catwalks and said wenchs were gone now, destroyed by the banshees like the ones that just passed. The good news was the Covenant couldn't get across and into triage. The bad news was it meant they could use it to transport the civies to the exec pad now.

"But we got ourselves a solution to that." The ODST assured.

He led the group over to a makeshift armoury at the back of the room. There they found a bunch of jetpacks assembled for the team. Kasumi practically rushed out to put one on.

"I love this plan already!" she said with glee "I was so jealous when Shepard got a jetpack of his own after Viery!"

Six got the idea of the ODSTs were gonna do.

"I see, we jump across, clear out the area of Covenant thus securing the flank and then we keep going on up to the top of the roof." He rattled off "We catch the covenant from the side and start pushing them back to the pad. They won't see us coming from this end because they think we can't pass it anyway!"

"Covenant will attempt to warn their comrades of our approach." Legion suspected "Any attack must quickly overwhelm enemy to minimize risk of counter-reaction."

"Agreed," said the ODST as he strapped on his own jetpack "so let's get hopping already! Welcome to the bullfrogs boys and girls!"

It didn't take long for them to strap on their jetpacks. Six was concerned not all of them knew how to use them. Tali and Garrus picked them up fairly quickly last time, but there was a significantly greater drop if they missed their marks this time. So he had them practice with little jumps at first just to be sure they knew what to do. There was little time to practice however, so they needed to be quick. Kasumi seemed to get the idea relatively quickly as did Legion. The less than tech savy Zaeed almost slammed his head into the ceiling, but after that he seemed fine. As for Jack...

"I'll just supplement it with my biotics," she said aloud "I'll be fine. Let's move already!"

With that the ODSTs took off, Six right behind them. It wasn't a long jump to the first catwalk around the pillar. He pushed his pack to land on the very top of the pillar and followed suit with the next. Kasumi did the same, hollering "Wohoo!" as she first took off. Unusual for the normally stealthy thief, but damn it she had a jetpack. She just couldn't contain herself. Legion was more reserved of course. Only jumping from catwalk to catwalk, Six had the high ground covered after all. There was no need to exert more energy than was required.

Jack fired off her pack and then her used biotics to float back down to earth softly. Easier than trying to gauge how much power you needed not to go splat on descent. Zaeed had a tougher time, he grumbled and swore each time he came in for a landing and did so again when he took off.

"Prefer the damn ground." He growled "Bloody thing is gonna get my leg broken in two!"

"Aw come on Zaeed!" Kasumi pleaded over the radio "Everyone wanted a jetpack at some point in their lives."

"I never needed it. I'm a ground soldier through and through." He ardently declared "I don't need to jump around like a damn rabbit to kick something's arse!"

"Spoil sport." Kasumi teased

The jetpack jumps across the cargo port didn't take long. Soon the other side became clear for all to see. On the port platform was a mess of shipping crates and boxes, all strewn out along the port, perfect cover. They could also see the bustling little covenant grunts and jackals, rushing into position as they approached. The first launch herself into them was of course Jack.

"Death from above asswipes!" she cried as she launched herself towards the port platform.

She fired into the crowded mess of jackals and grunts. She forced the little bird-alien assassins to hold up their shields to protect themselves. Big mistake, left them open. As she was flying towards them she had been building up a ton of biotic energy around her. When she hit the floor she let it loose, slamming her fist into the pavement. The attack sent the assorted group of aliens flying, clearing the area for pretty much everyone.

"I think this is what you navy types call a beachhead!" She called up to Six who was on the pillar behind her.

"Not really Navy actually, but yeah you could say that." Six acknowledged

As Six boosted towards the platform Jack found herself under fire. Brutes were counter-attacking and they were bringing more of their smaller friends to the fight as well. As the ex-con took cover behind a metal container Legion jetpacked up to the top of the pillar at last to get a better sniper's position. The Geth zeroed in on one of the Brute's peppering Jack's position with spiker fire. Legion fired one shot from their Widow and the Brute went down hard as the anti-material rifle round split his head open like a melon. Jack was now momentarily free to remove some a portion of their problem. She sent a shockwave rippling out onto the platform that sent a number of the grunts and the Brutes flying. Some got tossed over the railing, the Brutes who landed on the floor got back up and sought cover jack continued to fire her pistol in to the mass of enemies. Six joined the fray soon after, firing his DMR on the Covenant as they pulled back into cover. He contacted both Garrus and Miranda.

"We're on the other side of the cargo port!" he shouted over the gunfire "We're gonna fight our way up to the Executive Landing Pad! Meet us up there and we'll make a push!"

"Copy that." Miranda concurred "I'm gathering up the Civilians now. Mordin says he'll keep working on Grunt as we go, he's at least good enough to walk right now."

"And me and Thane are en route." Garrus assured "We're on board a pelican now. We'll see about getting you some fire support. Just keep this channel open so I can find you."

As Garrus finished, Zaeed joined the fray. He had switched from a DMR to the fully automatic MA37 rifle back at the ODST's weapons cache. He let it unload on the retreating Covenant and pushed forward. Legion landed next to Six and pushed ahead with Zaeed. As they did a single Skirmisher jumped out from behind a large shipping crate in the center of the platform. He aimed his needler rifle at Zaeed's head as he advanced on a Brute, unloading round after round into him. However the alien wouldn't get the chance to fire as Kasumi descended from on high and delivered a swift kick into the bird-creature's jaw that saw him slammed into the steel floor of the port platform.

"Jetpacks are so awesome!" she said as she pulled out her submachine gun and joined the fray.

Zaeed was already ahead of the group, gunning down the grunts as they tried to make a run for the cover of an alcove and the stairs to the next level of the port. As Zaeed ran he was suddenly tackled from the side by a Brute hiding behind some crates. The old merc was thrown to the ground and the vicious toothed maw of the Brute snapped repeatedly at him in anger. But thankfully Zaeed had grasped the ape's neck with his hand, holding him in place. The Brute's other arm rose up to slash at the human with his spiker gun. But Zaeed quickly punted the stupid monkey in the groin with his foot. The alien back off slightly, releasing a little pressure on Zaeed's body. It allowed the old merc to stick his rifle into the Brute's face and fire an entire clip straight into it at point blank range. His attacker plainly dead Zaeed push the carcass of him and stood back up.

He looked to the others who all had their guns raised, as they were about to shoot the Brute off him.

"Well at least I didn't have to have my ass saved by yas like the krogan." He grumbled "That woulda been embarrassing."

Zaeed wouldn't really have much time to gloat over his self-rescue. In moments green flaming balls of plasma slammed into the floor near their position. Six looked up, grunts on a grated catwalk staircase high above armed with fuel rod launchers. He looked around for a way to get to them and saw the large crane above them and a busted balcony near it.

"Get to the stairs!" Six shouted at the others "Legion follow me up!"

"Acknowledged!" was the synthetic's only response

The geth and the Spartan jetpacked up to the balcony above while the others rushed into the alcove and ran up the regular set of stairs to the catwalk. Six and Legion fired upon the grunts as they turned their attention to them. It was hard to miss a jetpacking super-soldier and his robot sidekick. It didn't matter though because Six and Legion had already zeroed them in. In tandem they fired at the same time and killed both of the fuel rod packing Grunts. One of the fuel rod cannons actually discharged and fired a round straight into the catwalk. It exploded and took every grunt nearby with it.

At this moment the others rushed up the catwalk steps and continued their way towards the top of the port. The ODSTs were close behind. There were a few more Brutes in the way though, the biggest threat among them being a long Chieftain armed with a concussion rifle. He fired continuously at Six and Legion's position as best he could. By now the two had jumped to the crane above the balcony. They had a little cover up here dud to some misplaced crates, but they were relatively exposed. However the goal was to distract them with an easy target while the others encroached on them from the side. It worked, the Brutes fired on Six and Legion, only for a biotic throw to send one of them careening into a wall. As the chieftain turned to fire on the humans that had rushed up the steps Legion's got his head in their scope. The geth fired once, there was nothing much left of the Brute's skull after that.

As Jack rushed forward, firing her shotgun like mad into the final Brute, Six contacted the others.

"Area clear down here! We're moving to the exit and onto the final stretch! What is your position?"

"Currently on the final stretch!" Miranda's voice shouted over plasma fire "Could really use your back up!"

"Be there in seconds!" Six promised as he rushed off the crane and back onto the concrete floor of the port platform. "Hang on!"

* * *

><p>Hang on he says, what did he think they were doing? Miranda kept huddled behind a pillar as plasma and needles slammed into their position. A few spikes were added for good measure too of course. She looked to the others. Grunt was growing impatient as he kept huddled up near Mordin who just kept telling him to let the medi-gel do its work. Jacob was close by, keeping a few civilians out of the line of fire. Samara meanwhile was front and center, tossing biotic waves out at the enemy like mad. Beside her were the Marines they picked up. They were in cover of course, behind various planters and sign posts, but they were close to her nonetheless. Samara was currently armed with a needler rifle, procured by Mrs. Kasumi Goto and handed off to her. First time Miranda had seen Kasumi give something away to be honest.<p>

Miranda herself was currently huddled with every trooper they had left in a small alcove behind a mess of walls and pillars. There was a small UNSC supply cache they had dragged up here for the assault. They needed the extra ammo and they needed it nearby. Thankfully she still had some thermal clips left. Unfortunately they weren't gonna last forever at this rate. They just needed to get across this rooftop and to the executive pad in the tower that was right in front of them. It was a case of so close and yet so far. To get to the pad they would have to cross this promenade and then they'd have cross a small narrow bridge to get to what looked like a massive covenant strong point hammered out of an assortment of floors that looked larger steps containing smaller steps. And if her vision was correct then they just had to cross yet another narrow bridge to get back to the tower that they technically were already currently at..

"Can never just be a straight line." She complained

Suddenly the Covenant up ahead were raked by gunfire from above. Miranda peered up and saw a single Falcon flying low over them.

"Now the gang really is back together!" called out Garrus from on high

If Miranda could have reached up, and truly desired so, she'd have kissed that scared faced Turian for his timely arrival. Air support! Now the odds really were in their favour. More shots rang out, Six's team had arrived, a full squad of ODSTs following close behind. They instantly saw the fleeing enemy and fired upon them.

"We miss the party?" Six asked

"No, you're just in time." She said

Their flank was secure, their enemy was fleeing, they had a falcon blasting up the terrain, this was it,time to push forward. Miranda rushed out with the others, her gun held high and everyone followed suit. Grunt looked to Mordin pleadingly. The Professor calmly closed his Omni-Tool and pulled out his heavy pistol. Good enough for the Krogan, he rushed forward, laughing heartily, the Salarian close behind.

Kowalski joined in on the running charge with his fellow squad mates. Samara nearby her rifle pointed out in front. The private rushed to the wall that led down to a level below them. He saw three Jackals, running in a straight line towards the bridge. He raised his DMR and fired once, catching one of them in the head. He was the one front, so when he fell his comrades tripped over his collapsing corpse. Samara sent a throw attack hurtling towards them to finish the job, sending them hurtling off the side of the building.

"Three less to worry about." He commented

"Too many more TO worry about however." Samara noted "Come, we must press on."

The Civilian hung back, they knew better than to get in a fire fight, but they advanced all the same. Legion and Six Jetpacked up to a balcony above as the Covenant in the building next door opened fire on the assault team. An ion focus beam shot out from a balcony beneath them, blasting out at the troops as they rushed by.

Six spotted it first.

"Legion!" he shouted as he kept running along the balcony "Bad guy! Lower balcony!"

Legion zeroed in and saw the Skirmisher armed with the focus rifle. They steadied the platform's aim and fired once. The alien's head was torn asunder and the body itself fell dead. But there were more enemies about.

Six and Legion took up sniping positions from above as the assault squad below advanced along the narrow bridge to the Covenant strongpoint. Jack and Miranda were leading the charge more or less. As a Brute with a concussion rifle rounded the bend of the stairs, Jack let a pull attack sweep the bastard off his feet. Miranda then let a massive throw send him hurtling into the sky. He smashed into one of the walls several stories up. The two climbed the stairs only to have an ion blast spike both their barriers. Miranda tucked and rolled the right while Jack fired her pistol into the offending skirmisher's body several times. Miranda stood back up and finished the Skirmisher off by lifting him into the air and then slamming him back down. The brittle bones of the bird like creature snapped easily.

Jack looked over to Miranda, who was standing in front of the next set of stairs that led up to the next level. Her eyes widened and she called out to Miranda.

"Cheerleader move!" she shouted

Miranda turned and saw an assortment of Brutes rushing down the steps towards her. One of them was carrying a hammer the other plasma reaper. She backed away firing upon them both. As she did, Jack sent a huge shockwave hurtling at the alien monkeys. It sent them reeling right back up the steps from whence they came. Not powerful enough to kill them it seems as they just stood right back up once more.

By now the others were approaching, Zaeed and Jacob were the first to arrive. The old merc tossed out a inferno grenade at the enemy position, igniting a number of jackals that had converged on the steps. The Brute with the hammer came again, even as his partner with the rifle was struck with bullet after bullet from Jacob's DMR. The Brute rushed again towards Jack and Miranda, but this time they were ready. They let their biotics smack into him together, the throw from Jack launched him up, the slam attack from Miranda sent him hurtling right back down.

The two biotics took a moment to smile at one another.

"You know we actually make a good team." Miranda observed.

"Don't get mushy on me Cheerleader." Jack growled "Remember, still got stupid monkeys to tear apart."

Already the others had gotten ahead of her. Six and Legion's expert sniping had cleared much of the Brutes out of the strongpoint. Brute bodies littered the ascending balconies now. By now Garrus' Falcon had made another pass and was firing on the Balconies from on high with his chain gun. Six thought he saw sniper tracers coming from the Falcon, most likely from Garrus and Thane as they added additional fire support to the attack.

Believing they had done all they could from this position, Six and Legion jetpacked down and headed up the stairs with the others. By the time they reached the main fight they were already in the thick of it. Samara stuck three needles into a Brute before casually walking forward. Against better judgement and common sense, Zaeed had smacked another Brute to floor and unloaded his assault rifle into the down gorilla.

Zaeed was old but apparently that hadn't slowed him down. If he could punch out a krogan and pry off his head plate then these overgrown apes didn't pose much of a problem. As another Brute from the next set of stairs fired his plasma repeater down on their position, Zaeed whipped around and fired a seemingly endless stream of bullets. They didn't seem to hit the stupid monkey, but it made him back off. That was just as good. He bounded up the steps with Jacob, Six and Legion in close pursuit. But as they arrived at the top they scattered again. A focus beam shot out and nearly cut them down. Zaeed ducked behind a large stone slab, probably used for marketing. The focus rifle kept firing on his position. At least until the Falcon flew back overhead. The chain gun rattled away at the shooter's position, tearing through his shields. It was another one of those uber-chieftains with the heavy body armour. Nonetheless the stream of chain gun fire tore through it and the shields before too long.

"You're clear people!" Garrus told them "Keep moving! I'll try and clear the bridge to the pad! Pilot! Get me alongside them!"

The falcon took off for the bridge again and began laying fire down on it. Nothing the others could do now but keep pushing. They weren't about to quit when they were so close to the end. On this level they had better cover, as the inside of the building was somewhat open to them. They had to come out of it though to climb another set of steps to the next landing where the remaining Covenant were congregating on the last set of stairs before the bridge. Zaeed was first up the steps, followed by Jacob. Both of them fired upon the stairway as the Covenant began to retreat up it. The two men kept the Covenant pinned on the stairs while more troopers began to surround and make a push for them. Kowalski and the rest of his squad were among the first to press forward. This was mainly because Jensen, with only a pistol in hand, was leading the charge and egging his men on.

"Come on Devil Dogs!" he cried out as he peppered a Brute standing abreast on the stairs, firing his grenades from his launcher at the attackers "Rip these ugly sumbitches a new asshole already!"

Jensen's constant fire didn't let up as he emptied magazine after magazine into the Brute. Eventually the Gorilla collapsed to the ground wheezing and bleeding profusely from every wound. One of his comrades rushed over to protect him, firing his plasma repeater wildly. Even among brutes pack loyalty was paramount. As he did his shoulder buckled from the shot of a DMR, courtesy of Kowalski. As he fired upon him Samara joined in, firing three shots from her needler. The Brute exploded into a fine pink mist.

The Justicar turned attention above as a Brute came bounding down the stairs. He was lugging a fuel rod cannon in hand and began firing it at the assorted soldiers. Samara however was prepared. She had taken a dropshield device with her before they set out on this mission. She plopped it down just as the blasts lobbed towards her. They smacked against the shield, the barrier fluctuating as it did. Within moments it took too much damage and dissipated. But it didn't matter, for now Samara had a clear line of sight on the Brute. She struck out with her biotics and pulled the monster towards her. The attack tugged at the Brute, lifting him into the air. She looked over to Kowalski's squad and they immediately understood her meaning. They unloaded into alien with every bullet they had as Samara kept walking forward. There were grunts on the top of the staircase firing down on them. She fired a singularity that lifted them into the air as well. The Brute fell dead to the stairs as she began her ascent she fired her needler at the two floating Grunts, causing them both to explode soon after. Jensen followed after her, stopping only once to fire point blank into the head of the Brute he had downed.

"Homestretch now boys!" he shouted aloud

Six and Legion decided to take point on this. They bypassed the stairs altogether, using their jetpacks to fly up to the final level. Now they were on the tail end of the bridge. There wasn't much in their way save for planter pots, grunts, Jackals and one very angry Brute with a concussion rifle. The two took cover behind a planter, Legion activating the platform's extra layer of shields.

"You go right, I'll go left." Six said as he put a new clip into his DMR "See if your drone can help us out a bit."

As the two began their flanking move, Legion's little drone charging forward first, Garrus' Falcon returned. The Turian and Thane began taking shots at the Jackals near the back of the bridge as well as some of the lower tier grunts trying to run interference for their dumb Gorilla superior. Thane took the initiative, his rifle could fire faster. The drell popped the head of one Grunt and then moved to the next with relative ease, blowing up the head of yet another one. As the plasma pistol he held clattered to the ground another of the grunt's fell to the floor with a bullet in his head. The only way to survive it seemed was to get behind a planter and stay there as two grunts did.

Garrus' anti-material rifle was slow firing and, as far as the Jackals were concerned, it was overkill. He needed to lay the rifle barrel on the seat and crouch low just to minimize the risk of hurting his shoulder from the kickback. You did not fire anti-material rifles from this range in this setting. But it was the only other gun Garrus had at this point.

Garrus watched as the first round literally ripped apart one Jackal's head and then severed his arm as it continued through downward into the shoulder. The blood of the jackal splattered all over his friend. He turned to fire on Garrus and Thane's Falcon. The pilot kept a steady course despite the plasma striking his engines. Garrus got off one more shot. The Jackal had neglected his shield as he fired upward, big mistake. The round tore into the little alien's torso, ripping a hole straight through it. Not a pleasant sight.

By now the Brute had lost most of its back-up and it was taking fire from a strafing Spartan's DMR, a drone that was shocking him from the front and synthetic blasting away with its assault rifle. There was nowhere to go and every concussion shot went wild as the Brute tried to shoot at something.

The last two grunts on the bridge hid behind one of the planters shaking. Both were armed with the fuel rod cannon, a devastating weapon. Yet they still felt incredibly small and helpless. They had nowhere to run and the Brute was their own protection. In a rare case of bravery both stepped out to attempt to save the only remaining "friend" they had. They looked to each other, nodded and enacted the closest thing that could be considered a plan. Although it wasn't much of a plan in all honesty, more like desperation.

The first stumbled around side of the planter, hoping to get a shot in from there. Instead he walked into Garrus' scope. The little gas sucker's head turned to mulch as the bullet hit him. His friend had snuck up behind six as he closed in on the planter itself. The Spartan thought it would be decent cover. But now the grunt had the human in his sights. He just needed one good shot. An explosion rocked the other side of the bridge. Legion's drone had detonated, sending the Brute's body tumbling backwards. The grunt prepared to shoot, hoping maybe the dead Spartan would distract the humans long enough for him to make a break for it and run.

Instead he felt a pair of slender arms reach around from his back. Except when he looked there were no arms. The next thing he felt was something hard punching into the back of his head as one hand held him in place. The grunt fell to the floor dead. Six looked in the little gas breather's direction and watched Kasumi, now jetpackless, appear over the corpse as her cloak deactivated.

"What took you guys so long?" She asked "I got up here like five minutes ago."

"Where's your pack?" Six asked

"Ditched it, wouldn't cloak with the rest of me." Kasumi shrugged "Shame. I was really starting to like it. Say, when we get out of here can I have yours?"

By now the others were bypassing them, most notably Grunt who had gotten ahead of the whole pack and was rushing up the bridge as fast as he could. He clearly did not want to end this fight without bashing someone's head in.

The doors opened wide as Grunt approached. Samara was close behind with the Marines. They entered about the same time and found the same problem. A small crowded room, with two sets of stairs on each side, packed with enemies. There were grunts on the main floor and what looked like another one of the uber-brutes to boot, this one packing a fuel rod cannon. He fired it once at the opening and the team scattered to either side of the doorway for cover, taking position behind the wall just inside as the green blasts hit their previous position.

Samara peered out to see more Brutes above them on the stairs.

"We can take out both sides separately and then converge on the big one in the middle." Samara suggested as she looked over to Grunt.

"So long as I get to bash their heads in already." Grunt growled

The Justicar didn't argue she just looked back to Privates Kowalski, Agley and Ellingham.

"Follow me up the right stairway." She told them "I'll clear us a path."

Samara jumped out first, sending a singularity into the middle of the room that pulled the collective gas guzzling grunts into the air. She kept running while the marines behind her fired into the spiralling aliens as they followed.

Grunt rushed out to, Taylor, Ramirez and Pearson opting to stay far behind the giant bull-rushing crocodile with the hammer. The Brutes rushed to meet the krogan as he barrelled up the steps. Their spikes were useless against him, his fortification function strengthen his resolve. He swung the hammer sideways, connecting with the side of the Brute and sending him hurtling off the staircase. He then swung it the other way and squished the other Brute against a wall as he kept running up the stairs.

"I love this thing!" Grunt shouted happily as he reached the top of the stairs.

Samara's solution was of course more elegant. A biotic throw sent one of the Brutes hurtling into a far wall. The second she took care of quickly by hitting him with reave. As the alien dropped to the floor in pain she fired her pistol point blank into the alien's skull.

She then quickly took cover with the rest of the marines as another fuel rod blast careened into the ceiling. Evidently the Brute below saw the Asari with biotics as more of a threat. Good, that meant he didn't see the giant scaly lizard-monster jumping at him from behind.

Grunt had launched himself off the second floor. He swung his hammer down hard enough that completely devastated the alien's shields and broke the fancy helmet the ape wore into piece. As the brute tried to get back up from being hit clean across the head by such a blow Grunt swung the hammer again straight down on the Brute's spine. He did not get back up. As he stepped over to grab the launcher for himself, to add further to his collection, an explosion erupted near the door that took him off his feet. He wasn't hit but the shockwave had been enough. Grunt looked back and saw that the blast had come from outside, two large plasma turrets were guarding the executive pad.

"Great, more work to do." He grumbled.

By now, Six, Legion and Kasumi had reached the tower and quickly filed in As they did Garrus contacted them over the radio.

"Heads up guys, Covenant Phantom coming in on the pad!"

The phantom flew low and from its underside it dropped a number of Jackals, some grunts and another uber-chieftain with a gravity hammer. It bypassed the other Covies and made a beeline to get inside. Samara jumped down below, blocking the monster's path as tore through the door. The Brute stopped as it saw the Asari in his way.

"Secure the pad!" she told Six and the others "I'll handle this monstrosity!"

Six would've argued, but the Brute had already engaged. He swung his hammer at the Asari, but she slid under the swing with relative ease. She fired at the alien with her pistol and the Brute turned around swiftly to swing again only for the Justicar roll away. The Brute walked away from the door, leaving an opening.

"Drop that bastard's shields and even the odds!" Six ordered everyone "Grunt! Grab that fuel rod cannon! Head outside!"

Grunt just nodded and scooped up the cannon. Six ran past the still ongoing melee between Samara and the Brute. Every soldier was pouring on the firepower, trying to take down the monster's shields. By the time they got outside, Grunt had already rammed head on into the Jackals. Their shields were useless against his ramming speed. He gestured Grunt to toss him the Fuel Rod cannon, the Krogan obliged however reluctantly. As Six grabbed the cannon the plasma turret was already turning to face him. Six leapt out of the way as a plasma blast almost struck him head on. He quickly righted himself and took aim with the cannon. He fired two shots into the turret, destroying it uttering in massive green explosion. What was left of the mangled weapon and its operator collapsed over the side of the pad.

Inside the shields of the Brute were almost down. As bullet after bullet stung at him, the Brute made a running charge directly at Samara. At the last second, she raised a biotic barrier to protect herself. The bubble expanded within seconds, just as the Brute swung the hammer down at her. The kinetic pulse generated by the hammer and the mass effect field it collided against created a devastating chain reaction. The entire building shook and windows shattered as the two forces collided. Samara was flung back into a wall and the Brute fell to the floor, skidding to a stop as he did. He forced himself back up, using his hammer as a crutch. Samara wobbled back onto her feet, somewhat disoriented, but still ready for a fight. The Brute bellowed loudly at Samara, but the Asari stood her ground unwavering.

"The code demands your end." She calmly stated "Come. Face it."

The brute roared once more and charged again, but Samara was ready for him. A biotic throw slammed against his chest and sent him careening back into the wall. Before he could recover Samara flung another throw at him, slamming him against the concrete once more. The Brute eventually dropped to the floor and tried to charge once more, but in the middle of his run he suddenly lurched backward and skidded to the floor. Samara's reave attack had stopped him cold. As the searing pain of the attack tore at his very core, Samara approached the now kneeling monster and used one last biotic push to toss him onto his back. She slammed her foot down onto the still reeling alien's neck. For a few more seconds she had the upper hand before reave wore off and his strength returned.

"May your gods be as merciful as I was." Samara told him as she pointed her pistol at him. "I could've prolonged this further."

She fired the human magnum's entire magazine into the Brute's head. Just to make sure it stayed dead. She stepped away from the dead creature, the battle over. She heard the sound of something crashing outside. She looked to see Grunt, picking up the final plasma turret and tossing it over the side of the building, its gunner still inside. She also heard an excited cheering from on high. No surprise as to whom it was from of course. Kowalski's were raised up in a rather unprofessional show of exuberant congratulations. He quickly composed himself and corrected the actions with a more reserved salute.

"Nice work ma'am!" Kowalski told her

Samara just smiled slightly back at him.

* * *

><p>Garrus landed with a number of Falcons shortly after the executive landing pad was taken. Pelicans began flying towards the pad as well. More or less everyone was loaded aboard, as much as each Pelican could carry. Miranda and Jack stayed with the group they brought in until they were all away. They'd been looking after them for so long it only felt right to keep doing so until they knew they were safely away.<p>

Garrus and thane helped Six and Legion aboard their own Falcon. Six took up a gunnery position or the right side of the aircraft. Another Falcon took Jacob, Kasumi, Mordin and Zaeed aboard. Grunt had to squeeze into one of the falcons all by himself.

"This one is as cramped as the last!" he complained as he sat next to an army trooper.

Samara approached Garrus in his falcon.

"We will remain here until the rest of the civilians are away." She told him.

Another group of falcons was already on the way to pick them up anyway. So they wouldn't be separated from the team for long.

"I'll let you know if we hear from Shepard before we meet back up." Garrus assured her as he turned to the pilot "Let's get this bird back in the air."

The majority of the squad, minus biotic users it seemed, took off shortly after. Below a Pelican dropped down to the pad and the civilians poured into it. You could see the desperation and fear on their faces as they rushed to find seats. However, for Six he could also see relief, happiness. The nightmare was almost over for them. It felt good to save lives for once. By that he meant actually see the lives he saved. It made things more personal, less detached. He heard that was a bad thing for Spartans to have at times. Right now though, he needed it.

"How long has this been going on Garrus?" Six asked

"Pretty much since you both dropped off the grid." Garrus explained "After Sword Base we retreated to a local FOB the UNSC had set up. Shortly after we hear what's left of the Covenant invasion force is moving into the city. We thought they'd be a little disorganized after the carrier's destruction. Even with the new fleet in orbit. But somehow the Blood Pack managed to rally them together for a fight."

Six shook his head in surprise.

"The Blood Pack?" he said surprised "You mean Kreave right? The Krogan who tried to kill Shepard back at Viery? I read the reports."

"Yeah," Garrus nodded, annoyed at the fact "he's smarter than he looks. We think he appealed directly to the new shipmaster. Took over ground operations for the time being before the Covenant sent down the Brutes and other reinforcements. We were holding them for awhile, Blood Pack may have been trying to lead the charge but the covies were still scattered then. They weren't too much of a fight, but they gained a bit of a foothold regardless. Even when the reinforcements showed up we thought things were going in our favour. Then the Corvettes appeared."

Six remembered the effect those damn ships had on the city. They were practically burning it to the ground. He was surprised there was still buildings left standing to be honest.

"What about our fleet?" he asked next as the Falcon began to fly off

"Scattered." Garrus stated bluntly "Too many ships in orbit over the continent, they just can't punch a hole into the line. Normandy dropped us off and then Shepard told Joker to leave, help out the fleet in orbit. Said he'd be of more use up there. Now he can't even get back in to help us out."

Garrus sighed greatly. A sign of the wear and tear this fight had taken on him, on everyone. The Normandy had always been there for him from the sound of it, he had taken it for granted. Now, no air support meant things got ugly fast. Ground combat was like that. Six knew from experience.

"Last orders we got from command were to evacuate actually," he continued "but it's a case of 'we'd love to but we can't.' Corvettes have the place surrounded and they are destroying any ship that tries to leave New Alexandria airspace."

Garrus looked outside at the pelican below them that was flying off.

"Besides, we weren't about to leave another person behind."

Garrus' tone was sorrowful and regretful. It didn't take a genius to figure out who he was thinking about.

"I heard about Tali." He said, trying to sound as comforting as he could "I'm sorry."

Garrus didn't answer for awhile. His thoughts and his eyes seemed tod rift miles away. Six couldn't read minds but he had a feeling Garrus' was currently not in this falcon. It did come back though, once he managed to sort his thoughts.

"My call, nothing we could do for her." He said forlornly "I convinced my best friend to leave behind his gi-"

Garrus seemed to catch himself at that, earning a curious look from Six.

"To leave behind another good friend." Garrus reiterated "Because I knew if we stayed we'd be trapped there. Corvettes were just moving in too fast. Window was closing and we needed to get our cargo out."

Six wanted to say there was nothing he could've done. Nothing he could've changed. That he made the right call. But really, after Jorge, it would just feel like putting a foot in his mouth.

"You two were close?" he asked

Garrus' head shot up a bit at that.

"Like I said, good friend." He responded, his tone sounding a bit defensive. It softened as he got a bit more nostalgic "Been through a lot together. Me, her, Shepard, best damn team in the Galaxy, fighting rogue spectres, crazed bug monsters and living eons old plants. Good times."

The turian just shook his head at it all, the nostalgia fading as reality seeped back in.

"Now we don't even have a body to bury." He said, his words downtrodden and defeated.

Six looked back at Legion and saw that the Synthetic's head was also hanging down low. The Spartan knew Legion probably wouldn't admit it to themselves, but Six could tell. Legion was mourning too.

"I could not have comprehended Creator Tali'Zorah's end occurring so suddenly." Legion stated out of the blue.

For a moment Six and Garrus nodded in agreement, the Turian even adding a little 'yeah' as well. Then it hit them.

"Did you just say I?" Garrus asked befuddled

Legion looked surprised again, its head plates scrunching up.

"We are beginning to find this data error troublesome." Legion said, its tone sounding annoyed

"What error?" Six asked confused.

There was no time to answer as the falcon was rocked with plasma bolts as they began to fly along the coast of the city itself. Banshees were on their tail. Six quickly rotated the gun back at the enemy aircraft. The chain gun ripped through the cockpit of the banshee like it was paper-mache. The rest of the wing broke off after that.

"Damn Banshees." Six complained.

At this time other Falcons joined their wing, carrying the rest of the Normandy team. Their preseance seemed to deter anymore Covenant air assaults for now. Miranda gave a little salute to Garrus' Falcon as they flew past. Six returned it in kind.

"Civilians are on their way to the starport." She informed them "But they're not out of the woods yet. Radio has been buzzing like mad. The corvette and the covenant are pounding the hell out of the position."

"Starport is just ahead people!" The pilot called out

As they closed in they picked up chatter from said Starport. From the sound of things, the issue involved a rather disgruntled civilian pilot trying to take off under fire.

"This is civilian transport 6 Echo 2, I need to go now Sergeant major!" he shouted in desperation

"Hold on Echo 2. I got some help on the other end." There was a brief pause "Stalwart Dawn, I have multiple civilian craft loaded with civilians. I got to get them out of this city now! I require air support!"

The sergeant's demands did not seem to be headed

"When something frees up I'll-"

"Not good enough!" The sergeant shouted in response

The Civilian pilot was getting more agitated.

"I got six hundred souls aboard! I can't wait here any longer!"

"Negative Echo 2, negative!" The sergeant shouted frantically "I cannot cover you! Do not take off!"

No one in the falcons liked where this was going, a desperate pilot, enemy knocking on his door and no one able to help. A recipe for disaster.

"He's not gonna wait." Garrus said aloud, melancholy in his voice. He knew what was coming.

As they rounded they saw the starport, at least three or so civilian transports on the runway ready for take-off. They saw their pelicans with their civilians make a beeline for it. They also saw a massive Civilian transport cutting into their airspace. As they jockeyed around it to avoid hitting it, but it wouldn't matter. The craft was suddenly struck by a plasma torpedo launcher from the corvette. The explosion ripped open its engine with ease.

All the team could do was look on in horror as the aircraft carrying six hundred began to fall out of the sky. They heard the pilot shouting mayday over the radio, his horror poorly masked by an aura of professional demeanour. The transport soon slammed into the water with a terrible splash. At the rate of its fall it snapped in two with ease once it hit the water. Kasumi shut her eyes, unable to watch. Even the hard ass and unflinchable Zaeed looked on in utter disbelief. Grunt just grimaced greatly. However they expressed it though the team felt the same way. It was Jack however who spoke it aloud.

"Bastards!" Jack shouted over the radio "Fucking zealot bastards!"

"Jack, enough." Garrus ordered in response "There's... there's nothing we can do."

"You're saying that a lot lately." Kasumi added, her tone seemingly bitter in response to the Turian's choice of words.

Garrus didn't try to correct her. Instead he tried to refocus them on what mattered.

"We can save the ones that are left." Garrus told them all "We just need a way to take the Corvette down before another pilot tries something like that."

"We're with you Garrus." Samara assured with resolute conviction as she watched the transport sink "The Covenant will pay for this, dearly."

"You may be able to help me with that."

That voice was the Sergeant Major down below. The Falcons swooped in close to his position situated on the other side of the harbour across from the starport. As they had flown they had passed over an installation. Possibly a part of the harbour's naval elements. Six was the first person the sergeant spoted. He was an African-American with a military ballcap on his head and clean shaven face, holding abreast an assault rifle in his hand.

"Hell of a day Spartan, let's keep it from getting worse." He said "My name is Sergeant Major Duvall, I got a plan to take out the Corvette."

"All ears Sergeant Major." Six told him

The non-com pointed out towards the installation ahead of them.

"I got missile batteries set up in there, but the Covenant overwhelmed the positions." He explained "I need you and your people to arm them and then activate them at the central terminal in that big building at the back."

Garrus was already surveying the battlefield, ne noticed Wraith tanks firing on the troopers positions and Covenant swarming everywhere. He could see the missile batteries stick out like sore thumbs among the carnage. A lot of ground to cover in general and they needed to get this done fast.

"Alright," he said "split up into teams. One group heads after the first battery, another heads to the second. I'll lead a team up to the building itself and activate the batteries when they go live. Let's move!"

Garrus leapt off the falcon and took off for the along the path, six and Legion were right behind as was Thane. The other Falcons split up. One hovering over to the first battery, the other the second, but the one carrying Grunt went to the very center of the field, where a covenant wraith tank was situated.

"I'm getting off here!" the krogan declared as he reached over one of the troopers and pinched a grenade off his belt.

"Hey! Careful! What do you think you're doing?" the trooper demanded to know

Grunt stood up in the falcon and stepped close to the open door.

"Krogan airdrop." He simply stated.

Grunt then leapt from the craft and hurtled towards the Wraith below him. A Brute gunner sat in a plasma turret on the front of the Wraith. He only looked up in time to see Grunt's tremendous foot slam down upon his head. Both the skull of the brute and the metal of the tank buckled under him. The Krogan then unlatched the pin from the grenade and shoved it into the opening of the tank. He then jumped off and ran like hell before the Wraith exploded in a ball of fire. Bits and piece sof metal flew in all directions and all Grunt could do was laugh.

"Tank down!" he declared

Over at the first battery, Miranda, Jack and Samara all fell from on high. There were only a few grunts and Jackals below, but all the same they made sure to clear the area. Once they landed, a biotic wave rippled through the covenant ranks, sending what few enemies were there flying. As Samara and |Jack rushed to secure the perimeter from incoming Brutes, Miranda rushed back to the battery, found the switch and turned it on.

"First battery primed!" she declared over the radio

The second battery was guarded by a whole pack of Brutes, but they were already under fire. Zaeed had taken up the Falcon's side machine gun and began firing down on the Brute's below as the res tof the team jumped the short distance down to the ground. Mordin quickly stood straight and let his omni-tool fire a cryo-blast that froze one of the Brutes solid. Jacob followed up closely with a shotgun blast that shattered the frozen alien. As Zaeed's onslaught turned from the Brutes down below to one on the bridge connected this battery's position to the other, he left on Brute behind. Mordin and Jacob ran out of the way as the Brute slammed his hammer down to the ground. But he was so focused on the enemy in front, he didn't notice that one of his grenades had been picked from his belt by an invisible hand and then stuck onto his backside. The brute only found out too late and the sweet release of death took hold soon after. Kasumi de-cloaked as she activated the second Battery.

"Number two armed!" she said aloud over the comm "Whenever you're ready guys!"

* * *

><p>Six had his foot practically glued to the floor of the warthog as they careened through the Covenant positions, flying straight into the installation, running over everything they saw. Legion had the gunner's chair on the back, trying it's best to clear what few remained of the Covenant forces. Garrus was just trying to get off a clean shot. It was even harder when Six began driving up the stairs at the front of the installation.<p>

"Getting choppy!" Garrus commented as the warthog bumped over the steps.

"Think that was a grunt actually." Six quipped.

Garrus maintained his cool a she contacted Thane.

"How are things on your end Thane?" he asked

* * *

><p>Thane had just rushed up the side stairs only to meet a cadre of Grunts and Skirmishers on them. They immediately fired upon the drell, but the assassin easily avoided the wild shots. He popped off three rounds that tore through the heads of the grunts up top.<p>

A skirmisher rushed forwards firing his own guns, but Thane swirled away from him and then sent a flurry of punches into the back of the alien-bird. He then kicked him down the stairs in full and turned to fire his gun square into the face of another Skirmisher that had tried to sneak up from behind.

As another of the bird-like beasts jumped him Thane kicked out his foot. He then grabbed the flailing arm of the creature, stuck his foot in the back of him and then pulled. When he heard the snap, Thane kicked the Skirmisher out of the way entirely and into a wall.

A Jackal on the top of the stairs fired down upon the drell as he rushed up towards him. The plasma shots failed to connect as the assassin easily ducked and weaved through the oncoming shots. He then jumped over the jackal with ease and landed behind him. Before the little alien could turn around the drell was upon him, his hands clasped around the jackal's head. All he needed to do was twist.

As the limp body of the jackal fell down the steps, Thane contacted Garrus.

"Flank covered, move in!"

* * *

><p>The Warthog stopped in the middle of a long hallway. Legion stayed on the gun and fired down range at the pack of Brutes that were on rushing them. No time to worry about them. They had missiles to fire. A single grunt was inside near the controls. He didn't even have a chance to raise his weapon as Six shot him dead. The Spartan then walked over to the controls and slammed his fist down on a large red button on the desk. Within an instant the missiles batteries turned and locked onto the Corvette high above them. A swarm of projectiles ejected out of the batteries and impacted all along the Corvette's side. The ship was now on fire, and the missiles kept coming. The Corvette veered away.<p>

Moments later, the transports were lifting off. They made a beeline at top speed for the ocean and never looked back. Not long after the Covenant had been routed. Their objective failed and a majority of their force out of action it didn't take long for the troopers to re-establish control over the facility.

* * *

><p>Six stood at the edge of the beach looking on as the transports flew off, their afterburners alight and flying full steam ahead. Garrus and Legion approached him on either side.<p>

"Hmph, even without Shepard you guys kick ass." Six chuckled "But then again, I already kinda knew that."

Garrus didn't seem as happy or congratulatory of himself as Six was.

"All I've really done is just make sure I didn't repeat what happened at Sword." Garrus explained "No one left behind this time."

Six could at least agree with the sentiment. He looked out at the transports now fleeing the city. Again, that feeling of saving people rather than taking lives took hold. It felt better, way better than anything else right now. Especially after Jorge. His thoughts returned to the story he told Legion a few days ago. About Agis the Third. The one about how saving lives was more important than winning battles. More than ever he could relate.

Six pulled out Jorge's dog tags once more.

Make it count, he said. Make it count.

As Six reminisced and contemplated static came over the radio.

"Six! Six!" A voice said "Do you read? Noble Five! Noble Six! Do you copy?"

That was Kat's voice. Within an instant he answered them.

"Noble Six here," he answered "go ahead Noble Two."

"Finally," an exasperated Kat replied "we picked up your transceiver an hour ago but we couldn't reach you. Too much interference on the comms, possibly Covenant related."

"Yeah, we've encountered that." Six confirmed "Is Commander Shepard with you? I found the his ground team, all of them."

"Well he'll be happy to hear that, maybe." Kat replied, somewhat aloof in her tone.

Six looked over at Garrus, who quickly added his voice to the conversation.

"Two, this is Garrus. Is Shepard alright?" He asked concerned

"He's fine." Kat assured "Physically at least. We saw the Corvette pull away from the starport. We assumed it was your handiwork. Nice job, but the Covenant has this city sealed up tight regardless."

There was a brief pause in Kat's side of the conversation, she was searching for the courage nbo doubt to ask the next question.

"We're getting nothing from Jorge."

Six dipped his head slightly, looking back at the dog tags.

"He... didn't make it."

The pause was longer now. When Kat resumed her feeling of relief was gone completely.

"Understood." She said "Status of starport exit?"

"All transports away." Six confirmed "We're ready for pick up if possible."

"Yeah, we're bringing you to us. All of you."

Six let off a signal flare as the discussions ended. He could see three black dots in the distance growing bigger. Pelicans no doubt. Garrus was no doubt by this point looking forward to returning command to Shepard, although it didn't sound like Shepard was in the commanding mood. Regardless, Six still had words for the Normandy's captain. He intended to speak them before this day was out.

* * *

><p>Kreave shook his head at the now burning Corvette as it veered away from the starport.<p>

"What a wasted use of a starship, playing it as a glorified prison guard." He grumbled "And now it's out of action. They wanted to kill the humans so bad they might as well have just dropped the whole thing on their heads the way they through their ships away."

Kreave turned to one of his subordinates.

"Any fix on Shepard?" he asked

"No sir, but we're monitoring UNSC frequencies." The Krogan promised "We hear something and if we can get a fix we'll be there in minutes."

"Good," Kreave said, sounding very pleased "I'm not leaving this city until Shepard does so or he no longer breathes. Those civilians may flee, but Shepard has too much fight in him. He won't run, not unless he's given a good reason."

Kreave peered out over the city. The skyscraper they were currently on certainly offered a great view. An entire metropolis aflame, like something out of the stories they sung of the rebellions. Despite his misgivings of the Covenant they had given him what he wanted. A glorious war in which to fight in, a promise they had delivered so far, regardless of their incompetence and inability to wage it themselves. Now, it was time to fill his end of the bargain.

* * *

><p>AN: I called this chapter that title because it's funny! See cause the level we're doing is called Exodus and Moses parted the waves, it's like a reference and its fun cause this was the entire process of the actual exodus of getting the civies out of the city and stuff. Okay enough of that.<p>

So this was supposed to be all one big chapter but apparently that was overzealous. Thankfully it worked out. I prefer this way. Not too long and more importantly the themes of both flow a bit better I find now.

I think we've had our fill of non-stop action for awhile. The next chapter is going to be a bit more of a slower affair. Yes you'll get some action, but really we need a breather. So expect more dialogue and actual plot development. And we finally get to see someone we've been talking about non-stop for awhile now. About time I think.


	18. And Alexander Wept

Chapter 18: And Alexander Wept

**August 23****rd****, 2552**

Six had never seen a pelican so quiet. Usually soldiers used their time aboard the pelicans to chew the fat, makes jokes, let loose just a bit before a mission. It helped ease the nerves before and after a fight. Everyone aboard this pelican however was silent as the grave. No one was in the mood to talk, not even after their victory against the Covies at the starport. Six didn't feel like talking either, maybe it was the fact that despite their best efforts they couldn't save the city. They knew that now. As their pelican flew through towards its destination the team watched as the devastated skyline of New Alexandria flew past them. Whole buildings were on fire, their rooftops aflame, lighting up the night like giant torches. Smoke billowed from every orifice in the city while Covenant corvettes had the run of the skies. One missile battery wasn't turning this tide. Even though it was night the horizon was bright as day, drowning out the stars above. More fires, more parts of the city burning to ash.

It made the victory of saving those civilians just seem bittersweet. For every life that saved this day, many more died. Six realised you couldn't save them all, but that wasn't the issue for him. The devastation that racked the city around them was what truly bothered him more than anything. The only reason they were still here wasn't because they were trying to save civilians. They were here because they couldn't get out, that was the only reason. There was nothing left save for civilians and maybe some intel to secure. This fight was lost and everyone knew it.

Beyond rescuing a few civilians from death, which gave you a warm fuzzy feeling inside but nothing else, what else could they do here? Six was shocked at how quick cynicism had resettled in. The fact was the entire planet was facing this city's current predicament. How long were they just delaying the inevitable for those civilians? How much had what they did today actually mattered?

For now, Six had to settle for getting the Normandy crew back to its Commander. More or less they all look beat. He wondered if any of them would be up for another fight for awhile. Legion at least never seemed to tire, which made sense. Everyone else he wasn't so sure about. Even Grunt seemed to be trying fight off sleep.

The Pelican descended on its final destination. Six stood up along with the rest of the squad. They watched as they passed a building, fire spreading across its side like a scar. They flew over two sets of Falcons parked on top of a roof as they pelican slowed. Six jumped of first followed by the others close behind.

The first welcome face they saw was Commander Carter, walking over to them to greet the Spartan. Much of the rest of the squad disbanded after the landing and made their way inside for much needed rest. Six soon realised he would not be joining them.

"Your report will have to wait lieutenant." Carter said grimly "Kat needs your help on a counter-op. We need to take care of those Covenant jammers and reach command. You think any of the Normandy would like to join you?"

Six wasn't sure, but as he looked back he found his answer. Kasumi was still there fiddling with her omni-tool for some reason. As were Samara and Grunt, close behind her.

"Don't you think you need some rest?" Asked Six

"Justicars do not sit by while the guilty kill innocents. I cannot in good conscience sit here." Samara explained

"I still wanna get some practice in with this hammer." Grunt added

"I'm fine in general." Kasumi assured, seemingly a bit more into her omni-tool than the conversation. "Let's just get going. Night is young and we have evil crazed religious fundie aliens to slaughter. Present company excluded of course."

The three Normandy crew members piled into one of the falcons as Six approached the pilot's seat. But he just wanted to make sure if he should expect another member. He contacted Legion over the comm.

"You up for another fight Legion?" he asked

"We must report to Shepard Commander. Proceed without us."

Of course, how stupid of him, that was the whole reason they trekked towards this city. Well even if he didn't sleep, Legion deserved a rest of some kind regardless. With that in hand Six climbed into the pilot's seat. Before he left Carter stepped up beside the falcon itself.

"It's good to have you back by the way." Carter told him sincerely

Six looked back over to the commander slowly, exhaling a bit as he thought over his next words.

"Sorry I came alone."

Carter's gave a single nod in acknowledgement and backed away.

"Make him proud." Carter said, although it sounded more like an order than anything.

"Already trying to sir." Six said to himself as the engines warmed up.

* * *

><p>Legion plodded along the hallways, looking for Shepard. It was directed towards a room off to the side where a large window looked out over the city. The room itself was a mess and shambles. Floors turned up and wires hanging from the ceiling. In the cente,r looking out the window, was Shepard, his back turned to the door, he regular N7 armour covering his body save for his head.<p>

He didn't seem to hear Legion come in.

"Shepard Commander," they spoke "that window's status as a structural weakpoint places you at considerable risk."

Legion wondered if that was a good way to open dialogue with the commander. But all Shepard did was turn his head back over his shoulder.

"Got my beacon message I guess." He reasoned

"Yes." Legion stated simply

"Good, figured you'd follow it here." Shepard said as he looked back to the window.

He then went back to looking out the window and not talking. Legion was puzzled. He hadn't asked about the information they recovered. For approximately twenty point five seconds, Shepard said nothing.

"We successfully extracted data from Covenant carrier." Legion spoke up at last

"And?" Shpard asked, stepping over to the window and leaning up against with his head against his arm.

"Primary mission of carrier refers to an artefact of great religious importance to Covenant. Our previous hypothesis was correct. The relic is located at Sword Base. Or, at the very least, the Covenant believe it to be."

Legion words only seemed to half interest the commander. He only responded with a rather low toned "Hmm" as if it didn't matter anymore. Legion wondered if they had done something wrong. It tried again.

"In addition, we discovered Covenant plans to establish husk creation centers within the city." Legion added "A frequency we can use to track the devices was also obtained. We shall attempt to locate any of devices that are nearby of great importance and endeavour to assist in deactivating them."

Shepard just nodded once.

"Good, keep me posted on that." Shepard told them, finally a sense of emotion in his voice. One of anger "Soon as we locate one, we're hitting it. Hard."

Legion by now had figured out what was troubling the Commander. They weren't completely ignorant of organic emotions, nor were they of Shepard and Tali's relationship. They wondered if they should attempt to comfort him in some way, as organics often do. They'd build a consensus on it, but first they had one last thing to tell him.

"There is another concern." Legion began once more "One file recovered spoke of a construction project on Reach. Its purpose was previously undefined within the schematics. However, after examination of the components and materials we believe the device is used to create an anomalous singularity. More accurately, a wormhole."

That got Shepard's attention. He turned away from the window and looked back directly at Legion.

"A wormhole generator?" Shepard said, both shocked and confused. "But... they don't need one. They've been going in and out of the wormhole for awhile now. Why would the Covenant need to make another wormhole?"

"We are uncertain." Legion replied "The objective of the device was not stated."

Shepard shook his head and simply paced around the room a bit before returning to the window.

"Great, just great." He grumbled

"We have a location on the construction site." Legion told Shepard "I suggest at the next available opportunity that we endeavour to destroy the device before it becomes active. Whatever its objective it cannot be allowed to fulfill its function."

Sheard just nodded, although he did not turn to Legion.

"Good job Legion, I knew I could count on you." He said, his low and sad tone of voice not matching his praise. "You're dismissed."

As Legion turned to leave however, Shepard spoke out again.

"Legion." He called, stopping the Geth in its tracks "I'm sorry. For making you lie. For making you do my dirty work. I should've been up there at the very least. Hell I should've told Noble Team our plan."

There was a long pause after this. Legion saw the commander's head drop below his shoulders. His posture sagged greatly as his palm leaned against the glass.

"I should have done a lot of things different."

Legion cocked its head a bit of confusion at the remark.

"She defended you ya know." Shepard said suddenly "Said I was risking your life needlessly. She told me I was putting you and Noble Team in jeopardy."

Shepard's head rose up once more.

"She was right. She cared more about your safety than I did. She knew better. I should've listened." He balled his fist upon the window at that "Why didn't I listen?"

Legion achieved a consensus on the matter concerning an attempt to comfort Shepard. They knew it probably would be pointless, but they just couldn't leave without saying something.

"We... deeply regret the loss of Creator Tali'Zorah." Legion told Shepard, trying to mimicking a seemingly soothing tone of voice. "She was... a capable crew member. If there is-"

Shepard waved his hand over his shoulder.

"Not now Legion. Not now." He said, aloofly "Just go."

The synthetic slumped away, disappointed in its failure to help the commander. It was obvious this was something Shepard needed time with. This was something they couldn't really solve. Organics weren't like math problems or equations. They weren't that simple. That much Legion had come to understand.

* * *

><p>The way Kat explained things the mission was easy enough. Find a communications scrambler the Covenant had set up and turn it off. Easy. Well, at least it sounded easy. Chances were the Covenant had people at every jammer and they weren't just going to let them walk up and press the off switch. Kasumi recognized that, it was why she was preparing her omni-tool.<p>

She sat across from Samara and Grunt, who were more or less just trying to settle in for the ride. Except Grunt, he was on the machine gun turret scanning the city below them. Kasumi didn't care to look out the door. She'd seen enough of the place on her way in. Watching one of the buildings next to theirs collapse as they took off was even more unnerving. The way the stone and concrete just seemed to crumble apart, the smoke that rose up from the collapse, the thief just hoped it wasn't occupied.

The only thing that wasn't more of the same outside was the scattered air traffic of both Covenant and UNSC craft. Every now and again they saw Banshees slip past through the buildings, or a Pelican chug its way over a tram line. Phantoms lurked below while Falcons patrolled the black smoke drenched skies. And to top it all off it was now raining. Great weather, great company, what more could you ask for on a sightseeing tour?

Her omni-tool was better. It didn't constantly remind her that she had gotten in over her head. She was a thief in the middle of a war now. She was definitely out of her comfort zone. However, she could adapt if need be.

"What exactly are you doing?" Samara asked inquisitively

Kasumi kept up her work as she responded.

"You know that omni-tools have a self-defence function?" she asked in return "It uses the replicators in the device as well as mass effect fields to create objects you can use beat down a mugger or merc. They're not uncommon, it's just a lot of people don't use them. I've had mine set to encase my fist so to speak with silicon carbide. Makes my punches hurt like a boxing glove with a brick inside. Its how I'm able to able to punch out guys from behind so easily."

Samara raised an eyebrow, intrigued at the discussion from the look of it.

"That still doesn't answer my question."

"There are more lethal options installed onto the omni-tool's defence function. But they're locked out until you can apply for a permit, get a code, make sure they're not essentially handing a criminal a weapon, those sorts of things. But I don't think a really hard punch is enough against these Brutes. I need something with a little more bite. Like say..."

She pressed hard on one set of command buttons. Within a second an orange glowing blade appeared, popping out from the omni-tool itself like a futuristic switchblade.

"...an omni-blade. I just hacked through the firewalls that kept me out of the self-defence function's advanced settings. Easy enough to do, although I think I may have voided the warranty now."

As if on cue, Kasumi remembered who she was talking to.

"Uh, this isn't a punishable by head squishing offence is it?" Kasumi asked sheepishly

"As long as you use it against the unjust as determined by the code, then you are permitted to do this." Samara told her with a bit of a smile on her face.

"Don't worry Sammy," Kasumi assured as she held up the blade "I intend to get good use out of this thing. Rest assured."

Samara's features grew a bit grimmer as Kasumi eyed her new toy. The Justicar's intuition and instinct helped her figure things out.

"You didn't come just because you wanted to help Noble Team did you?" she asked

Kasumi deactivated the omni-blade and say back in her seat.

"I've lost one person already I was fond of Sammy." She explained "I was able to pay back the man who did it. I don't even know who pulled the trigger that got Tali killed though. So the best I can do is end enough of these assholes as I can."

"Kasumi," Samara began stoically as she leaned forward "we're all hurting from Tali's departure of this life. But we can't let that cloud our judgement. There was nothing we could do."

"You sound like Garrus now." Kasumi responded, refusing to look the Justicar in the eye.

Samara had already picked up Kasumi's bitterness over the whole matter. She had previously told Garrus off a few hours ago after all.

"You can't blame him for what happened." The asari informed her

"He left her." Kasumi reiterated "They were supposedly best friends and he left her. There's no excuse for that. If there was even the smallest chance I could've saved Keiji I would've taken it. I was too far away when they took him from me, but Tali was just inside that base. And we left her behind. On Garrus' call I might add. He convinced Shepard to turn tail. So yeah, I can blame him."

Samara shook her head at it all, she wasn't going to try and argue with the girl. She needed to come to terms with this on her own.

"I'm sure Garrus is more pained by that decision than you can imagine Kasumi." Samara told her "If nothing else, believe that."

Kasumi didn't respond. She just accepted silently that perhaps Samara was right. Maybe she was just looking for someone to get mad at. It was just that Tali had become one of her best friends. She was the only other person who seemed to understand hacking and tech as much as she did. That and their similar fashion sense went a long way towards breaking the ice. And of all people she could've gone to concerning Legion's glitch she went to her. Not Shepard, her. The thief, she trusted the thief aboard her ship. That much spoke volumes.

And yet they just left her behind, when all was said and done. She needed an outlet for that guilt, that anger. The Covenant was as good an outlet as any. It was better them then taking it out on Garrus at least.

Six interrupted their thoughts.

"Kat says we got a jammer in the building below us!" He shouted over the comm. "There's already a bunch of troopers at it! But they're getting pounded by the Covenant! Hunters to be specific."

"How's our landing zone|?" Samara asked

Suddenly plasma fire zoomed past them as the Falcon began to descend. Six pulled a hard right to avoid a full green plasma bolt that was coming right at them from below. Everyone gripped their seats tightly, or in Grunt's case the turret he occupying.

"That answer your question?" Six asked in return, somewhat chidingly "I'm opening up on them, grab a turret if you can and clear the area!"

The building below them stood out like a thumb. Not because it was on fire but because it was lit up with orange lights. The landing pad, the floor, the entrance way, all bathed in glowing glorious orange lights. Of course it was offset completely by the Covenant turrets below them spiting plasma up at them. Six spun up the main gun and let it tear into the turrets in bursts. The problem with heavy anti-air turrets in the Covenant was that they were slow to fire. Firing on units on the ground, they were problematic, but a well-trained pilot and an equally good aircraft could just run rings around them. The plasma was notoriously slow and you could see it coming from a mile away. If Covenant just used regular old fashioned flak Six would've been probably worse off. If it was one the rapid fire turrets he'd definitely be in trouble though. Chances were with all the pelicans and falcons flying around the Covies were already planting those across the city.

Regardless, the turrets went down easily enough, exploding one after the other as the main cannon tore them apart. The real concern for Six was the plasma pistols. A full charge could drop your shields or disable your vehicle. Not a huge problem unless you several hundred feet in the air of course.

Luckily Six had Grunt, who was more than willing to lay down enough fire to keep the pistol packing jackals at bay. The shield-wielding birds were near the second landing pad to the right of the center one Six was aiming for. Grunt's machine gun fire managed to break up their little flock with ease, forcing them to either raise their shields up in defence or be cut down by the deadly rain of lead. One by one the machine gun claims its victims as the stream of bullets eventually overpowered the Jackals, their arms gave out and the shower poured through.

Six in the meantime had turned the main gun on the Covenant that filled up the rest of the area. The rounds penetrated the methane tanks of grunts and sent them flying into the air, flipping over several times before they exploded. The brutes, so powerful and devastating against ground targets were helpless against the onslaught of cannon rounds that rendered their thick hides all but useless. As Six lowered the craft even closer to the landing pad a balcony was revealed to him. It hung over the doorway that led into the building itself. Standing upon it, two Skirmishers, armed with needler rifles. As the pink little needle rounds smacked against the side of the falcon, Grunt opened up with the machine gun again and raked the balcony.

As the krogan secured their landing, Samara saw something approaching them fast from out of the smoke filled darkness of the city. A single Banshee was speeding towards them. Already it was opening up with its plasma turrets, striking against the rotary blades of their aircraft.

Samara took up the machine gun on her side of the falcon and began to spray bullets at the banshee as it flew closer. The alien craft refused to break off it seemed, even as it began to smoke and sputter. Its wing-like appendages were shot clean off, but the pilot just kept coming. In fact Samara thought he was increasing his speed. He was going to ram the Falcon out of the sky! Samara kept pouring it on, hoping one of her bullets would somehow breech the power core or the plasma coils before it was too late. In the last few moments, before the banshee reached the point of no return, the alien attack craft exploded and its husk dipped just under their falcon's landing prongs. It slammed against the landing pad beneath them with what was left of its nose and bounced off it. What was left of the suicidal pilot and his craft disappeared into the cloudy darkness below them.

"Why are they so willing to throw their lives away when they're winning?" Samara asked Six as they landed. "He could've veered away easily. These attacks reek of desperation when they should feel nothing but confidence."

"Go down fighting and take the enemy with you." Six responded as the Falcon touched down "That's the Covenant creedo in any situation. Winning or losing. Mind you not everyone follows it from what I've seen, some are smarter than that. But we're dealing with fanatics here who think killing humans is a divine duty. From what we understand they think they're rewarded for dying in service to that."

"The offer of paradise tends to negate common sense." Kasumi noted "Trust me, I've read some history books on this. Humans aren't any more immune to it than aliens."

Six popped the canopy and climbed out of the Falcon. Grunt was already outside, stomping forward as soon as they touched the ground. Kasumi and Samara climbed out second. They all got a good view of the area and it's flashing bright orange lights. It reminded Kasumi a bit of Omega and the Afterlife bar. The memory feed her curiosity.

"Is this a nightclub?" She asked, somewhat excited at the prospect.

"Looks like it." Six replied. "Strange the covenant would set a jammer up here though. I figured they'd hate human music."

Kasumi stepped over the body of a downed Brute as they headed towards the door.

"You think we could call this a double date Sammy?" Kasumi asked

"I am not sure I follow." The asari responded, looking a bit confused at the question.

"Well, we're at a club, Grunt and Six are both guys, we're both gals." Kasumi explained cheekily "I call dibs on Six by the way. No offence to Grunt but I just don't see him being able to dance all that great."

The korgan merely huffed at Kasumi's remarks. Six however was more vocal in his disapproval.

"Focus," he ordered "we got Troopers under fire. Let's move."

"Well don't expect a goodnight kiss now." The thief teased as she faked a sense of displeasure.

Nevertheless Kasumi did steel herself. She was taking this seriously, but as always she found it easier to cope with this stuff when she tried to make light of it. It helped her get through the collector base and it would help with this. It took her mind off the fact she'd be facing Hunters again. Not exactly her kind of a fight, especially when one considered what happened the last time she faced off against one.

She was just happy the pelican they boarded to get here had a supply of thermal clips. She silently thanked Shepard for deciding to spread that stuff out amongst the UNSC. She recalled seeing a few troopers using avenger assault rifles and predator pistols over the past few days. Sadly they too had burned through their ammunition pretty fast. But now her Kassa Locust was locked and loaded, as Garrus would say. It wouldn't do much against the Hunters, but she still liked having her own dimension's weapons in her hands as compared to the Covenant and UNSC ones. They just felt sleeker and more compact to her.

Six was on point as they entered the club, already they could hear the fuel cannon blasts up ahead. Thankfully that meant they weren't too late, Hunters usually stopped firing when everyone was dead. When they passed through the second set of doors they found their Hunters. All four of them.

Two were occupying the dance floor below. Although the music wasn't playing the light were on full blast. There was a holographic sphere spinning close to the ceiling. Directly beneath it was a lighted dance floor surrounded by decorative pylon-like beams. To the sides were the bars and sitting areas. Above that, accessible only by a set of stairs, on both sides of the room were more lounge chairs surrounded by pillars. Leading further up the symmetrical layout of the stairs was a balcony. Resting on the balcony was one of the jammers. Guarding it were the other two Hunters.

From what Six could tell, several of the troopers were pinned behind the bar at the back of the dance floor. Another two sets of soldiers were pinned on the upper level just below the balcony. They wouldn't last much longer with the fuel rod assault cannons tearing at their cover.

The team moved up to near the stairs on the left and watched as the Hunters kept blasting at the friendly positions.

"We need to get them off their backs." Six stated, as if there was any other choice "Then we need to take out both sets of Hunters one by one."

"Should be easy enough with my hammer." Grunt boasted

"Maybe but that means you'll have to get close." Six told him "Someone will have to play bait while you charge in and another team keeps the second Hunter on the floor pre-occupied."

Kasumi looked around the room before her eyes fell on something just a few feet away. The DJ booth, it looked like it was still active from a passing glance. If the lights were on that meant the place still had some power, which meant that the records would still spin so to speak.

The thief took off like a rocket, before Six even knew she had bolted. Within seconds she was fiddling with knobs and dials, booting up the system. No one knew what she was doing until the soundtrack started keying up. A loud thumping techno beat suddenly erupted from the speakers. The holographic sphere began to spin as graphics danced across it and around in the air. The Hunters stopped firing and turned their heads to the spinning lights above them. Then they turned them towards the DJ booth where Kasumi was pumping her fist into the air.

"DJ Goto in the house!" she shouted "Always wanted to do this!"

Six would've shouted out in a rage of anger had the Hunters fuel rod assault cannons not started firing on the DJ booth in retaliation. Kasumi vaulted over the side of the booth and down to the floor. The blast smacked against the DJ booth, blasting a giant hole in its side. Regardless the music kept playing, although it sounded a lot less appealing and skipped constantly with static coming on at random intervals. The noise caught the attention of the Hunters once again. That was how disruptive it was. They took their focus off Kasumi, allowing her to cloak.

She rushed up behind the back of one of the Hunters nearby as he tried repositioning himself to fire on the humans behind the bar again. Instead the mass of walking worms felt a pain in its backside as it began to turn. Something had stabbed into the unprotected orange flesh. Kasumi reappeared, her Omni-Blade stuck deep within. The Hunter looked back and saw the little human give a little uneasy wave at him.

"I'm guessing you're mad right about now." Kasumi noted nervously.

The Hunter raised its metal arm up and swung it towards Kasumi. She ducked just before she was side swiped across the room. She wasn't Grunt, that thing hit her she'd snap like a twig. She darted between the Hunter's legs as the beast slammed its arm down on her position. There were advantages to being small, quick getaways for one. Kasumi's actions had given a much sturdier team member an opening. As the Hunter turned to fire on the fleeing human it saw something in the corner of its vision. Grunt was rushing him, hammer in hand. He careened the end of the weapon in the side of Hunter's head. The attack pretty much knocked the giant armoured covered bag of worms for a loop and Grunt was quick to follow up his attack with another crushing blow on the creature's backside once it had stopped turning from the momentum of the first hit.

As the orange blood of the Hunter splashed the dance floor, Six and Samara had already engaged the second on the dance floor. Learning from past encounters Samara decided it would be best to incapacitate the alien behemoth so she used reave to force the hunter to slow in his tracks. The unique make-up of the Hunter's physiology seemed to increase the pain as the Hunter bent over forward, supporting itself with its metal arm. Regardless it still fired its fuel rod assault cannon towards Six as he approached. The Spartan rolled out of the way of the offending blasts as they impacted the dance. Together both he and Samara opened up on the Hunter's weak spots, but even that didn't seem to bother the monster that much.

With the reave attack wearing off Six looked around for something else he could use. His eyes fell on a downed trooper in the center of the dance floor. He was long gone, but his weapon, a rocket launcher was nearby along with a large rectangular box that contained the ammo for it. Also nearby was Kasumi, coming out of cloak.

"Pass me the launcher!" Six ordered as the Hunter began stand tall once more

Kasumi bent down and picked up the massive weapon. She was strong, but was more used to travelling light. And he expected her to throw this to him? Well orders were orders, but she could use some help.

"Sam!" she called out "Mind reeling this in?"

When she saw the Asari's head turn to her, Kasumi tossed the rocket towards her. The justicar figured out the thief's intention and used biotic pull to complete the weapon's journey. The launcher floated towards the arms of Six who grabbed it just in time to watch the Hunter rise up on its two feet again. It fired a fuel rod assault cannon blast at the Spartan who dove to side and away from the attack. As he did he pulled the trigger twice and fired two rockets out of their respective chambers. They impacted against the Hunter. The first sent the alien reeling. The second sent him flying straight into the back wall. The alien's charred corpse fell over dead onto its stomach as the smoke and fire cleared.

Over near Grunt the first Hunter had fallen and the Krogan was unloading a shotgun round into the back of the creature for good measure. The claymore's bite seemed to kill the beast easily enough. However they hadn't forgotten about the other two still up top. At least the troopers down on the ground floor were okay. They piled out of cover as soon as they saw their would-be killers fall silent. But as soon as the Hunters up top turned their cannons towards the ground floor they backed up. Kasumi took cover behind one of the beams surrounding the dance floor as the blasts rained down.

With the rocket launcher still their best bet but in need of ammo Six looked back to the dead trooper. The ammo box was still there.

"Distract them!" Six ordered Samara

The Asari rushed up to one end of the stairs and sent a single throw attack at one of the Hunters. She wasn't gonna try and hold it in place like last time, she favoured just harassing him and setting him off balance. The attack's intention worked, the Hunter stumbled sideways along the balcony. However it kept itself from falling by using its metal shield arm as a prop. The Hunter pushed himself back up and clambered back over to the stairs again.

By now Six had reached the rockets and was reloading the launcher as he ran back towards Samara's position. Kasumi in the meantime fired upon the second Hunter above, splitting his focus between her and the trapped troopers on that side of the room. If the Hunter was busy aiming at her he was getting pinged in the back by the troopers. It was a maddening situation for the alien.

With the focus of the Hunter team now evenly split they wouldn't be watching each other's backs. Six rushed up the steps to find Samara desperately holding a biotic barrier to protect the troopers and herself. But plasma wasn't like bullets or missiles and it was considerably harder to keep it back. Incendiary gel was a solid, but the searing heat corroded the barrier with each passing hit.

With little time to spare before Samara could hold the barrier no longer, Six bent down on one knew and fired a rocket. The blast careened into the side of the Hunter's head, ripping off portions of its armour. As soon as the secondary tube spun around Six fired again before the Hunter could get it's bearings. The blast ripped the hunter asunder, obliterating its left shoulder. What was left of the creature fell to ground in a smoking pile of burning and dying worms.

The second Hunter felt its partner die and turned momentarily to confirm what happened. When it turned back it saw a very angry krogan rushing up the steps to meet him. Grunt's hammer swung upwards like a golf club, smacking the Hunter in its head. The kinetic force this time was enough to force the Hunter's arms wide open and allow Grunt to continue his run straight into him. He shoulder checked the over 4 tons of worms standing in front of him and sent the massive alien falling to the floor on its back. Grunt pulled out his claymore with his free hand and fired a incendiary shot straight into the creature's unprotected stomach. Or at least where its stomach should've been were it not a pile of worms. The Hunter's assault cannon rose up to take aim at Grunt. The Krogan wasn't bull-headed enough to let a point blank range blast of flaming green gel hit him. He rushed off the Hunter, slamming his foot down on the creature's head as he did. The assault cannon's blast hit the wall instead of its target. Grunt then turned and slammed his hammer down once more upon the Hunter's head. A satisfying mix of a crushing and squishing sound followed suit.

Covered in the orange blood of his enemy Grunt walked over to the jammer device as Six and Samara approached it. Kasumi appeared nearby, deactivating her cloak.

"Let me handle the jammer." She said "I'm the tech-head."

Six let her pass to get to work, but that mean he had nothing to say.

"Next time you wanna play DJ in a warzone would you mind informing me first?" Six asked

"I've always been a bit impulsive." Kasumi admitted as she eyed the jammer "Ask Shepard if you're interested."

"You could've gotten yourself killed." Six informed her adamantly

"And that makes me different from anything you and Noble team has done how?" Kasumi asked, her eyes zeroing in on a holographic display located at the center of the jammer.

"The difference is we figure out plan and we don't go off on our own volition. That's the point of a being a team." Six informed her "Shouldn't you know that by now?"

Kasumi seemed to ignore the question and just pressed her hand against the holo-display. Her Omni-Tool lit up and within moments the Jammer began to close up. Kasumi backed away and the others followed suit. Within seconds the Jammer overload and a small explosion blinded everyone momentarily. The now ruined remains of the jammer lay in front of them.

"Troopers saved, Covenant dead and Jammer blown." Kasumi tallied off rather coldly "You wanna argue with results Lieutenant or do you want to get things done?"

Kasumi vaulted the balcony, landed gracefully on the floor and walked back towards the exit. Six could only shake his head.

"Does she do things like this often?" he asked Samara

"Kasumi has always been somewhat of a daredevil for as long as I've known her." The Asari admitted "However, I feel she has more weighing on her mind now. This war... it's affecting her."

Six wouldn't argue that point. He simply nodded softly at it all.

"Yeah, I guess no one's immune to that." He concurred

They left the club shortly, leaving clean-up to the Troopers. They'd call for evac as soon as they were squared away. As Six began to lift the Falcon off the landing pad, a loud sound ripped across the sky. It was like a jet plane, but far bigger. Six and the others looked up the heaven only to see a massive Covenant Battlecruiser fly overhead. The roar of its engines tore at the skies as well as the eardrums of everyone below. It stopped several miles away upon the horizon, where most of the city was now burning to ash. Underneath the vessel Six could see a glowing red light. It grew bigger and bigger before it suddenly shot out a single concentrated beam of light. It slammed into the ground with a resounding boom that shook the buildings around them and made even Grunt clutch his seat.

"What are they doing?" Kasumi asked

Six lowered his head and propped it up with his hand.

"It's called glassing." He said, his voice echoing despair "Covies burn the ground and everything around it until they've melted the rock and sand enough to make it glass. Nothing lives. Ultimate scorched earth."

"Damn." Kasumi muttered "When the Covenant wants you dead..."

Six looked at the burning horizon once more. Those buildings, whatever few people remained among them, they'd all be gone by this time tomorrow. There would be next to nothing left. The Covenant would erase any evidence that humanity had even settled here. He had heard the reports about glassing, but he had never witnessed one. Now those reports just didn't seem to properly convey the sheer magnitude of the action.

For a brief moment Six was glad Jorge was gone.

* * *

><p>Shepard had backed away from the window. He was now taking a sit down on a wrecked couch within the building. Most of the crew had settled in, apparently waiting on his orders. He'd seen Miranda awhile ago. She gave her report on matters. Shepard wasn't really interested in and eventually dismissed her. She offered condolences. Shepard appreciated her attempt, but he just couldn't bring himself to respond.<p>

He had hoped that would be the last he'd see of his crew until Legion tracked down that signal for the conversion centers. But once again, his luck was never that great. Garrus stepped through the door with his rifle slumped over his back. He didn't greet the commander with his usual hello or snappy quip, not right away at least. The turian just stared at his friend as he sat there and tried to find the right way to start things off. It took awhile, it made the situation a bit more awkward to stomach through, but eventually Garrus found the courage to speak.

"Crew has been wondering if you're gonna talk to them." He began "You know, give us a speech to get us going again."

Shepard looked away towards the window.

"Not in the mood for speeches." He told Garrus "Won't help anyway."

Garrus sighed and put his rifle down against a wall. He walked over to his friend. Dancing around the issue wasn't helping and they needed Shepard back right now. If that meant being the punching bag for him he'd accept it.

"What happened with Tali wasn't your fault." Garrus told him in an equally low saddened tone. "I convinced you to leave her. If you're gonna be mad at anyone take it out on me, not yourself. There was nothing you could've done differently."

Shepard simply shook his head.

"There's a ton of things I could've done differently." Shepard responded with a growl "I could've let her know I still cared. Could've spent more time in engineering instead of up in the loft sulking. I could've taken at least one shore leave with her during down time."

He turned back to the Turian, his brow furrowed downwards in anger.

"I could've listened Garrus!" he shouted, more at himself than his friend "I didn't. I didn't listen because I was an idiot, because I was arrogant and because I just didn't want to."

"I don't understand." Garrus responded, utterly confused as to what Shepard was trying to tell him.

Shepard sighed, of course he didn't know. He didn't tell anyone.

"Tali was in Sword Base because I told her to go there." He explained "I told her to go through Halsey's files."

Garrus was taken aback by the admission.

"You wanted her to spy? On Halsey?" He said shocked "Why?"

"I needed to know about the relic that's under that base that we all know about!" Shepard shouted in response "Halsey wouldn't tell me anything, practically denied any knowledge, so I made Tali try to dig up information on it. She didn't like it, she hated me putting her in that position and so did I but I did it anyway."

Garrus let his friend vent a little. He understood the Commander's reasoning, it wasn't an easy choice. But there was something more to this and he wanted Shepard to tell him about it without him asking. The best way to do that with Wade, as Garrus knew him, was just to let him talk.

"She knew I was straying Garrus." He continued "She could tell, even before I told her to spy on Halsey. She wanted to help. She wanted me to let her back in. Instead I closed myself off, kept secrets from her. I made her do my dirty work, like the Hunter's armour, I made her take it! I'm supposed to make decisions not force them on others. Especially not with Tali."

"Commanding others is never easy." Garrus interjected, turning his head to the side "Especially when you care about them."

Shepard lowered his head a bit at that and placed his head in his hands. When he pulled out of it, his mind was on a different track.

"Remember when I told you about Star Trek?" he asked "How it was my favourite show as a kid?"

"Yeah, I remember." Garrus responded as he took a seat next to him "You said it shaped you. That it made you decide who you wanted to be."

"Yeah, Kirk." Shepard admitted "I wanted to be Kirk. I wanted to save the Galaxy, meet new exciting species and explore the cosmos. I wanted my own starship and crew. Just like my parents, just like Kirk. All I ever wanted was to be like them, but the responsibility never hit until Elysium when I got it thrust upon me."

Garrus had never asked Shepard about the Skyllian Blitz, he only knew that he had fought in it. He figured it was best that way. You don't ask a soldier about specific past missions, you let them tell you. Even if the vids claimed Shepard's actions were to be commended something always told Garrus that Shepard didn't see it that way. He suspected he told Tali about it at the very least, but that was different.

"My CO takes a sniper's round to chest ten minutes in and suddenly I'm leading an entire squad." Shepard began, his hands crossed along his legs as he hunched over "I gather up civilians, some Turians on leave, there was even one Asari actually. We fight back, get them guns, we hold out. Fleet shows up, we blow the Batarians and their pirate buddies out of the sky. I get a medal and everyone just forgets about the three men in my original squad of six, not including my CO, that got killed on my watch. Not to mention the aliens that helped me. Wouldn't have made for as good a damn story they said, had to show it as humanity kicking alien ass they said, better PR they said."

Again, Garrus just let him talk. Whatever relevance this had to Tali's death would come out eventually. Right now interrupting him in the middle of him spilling his guts on what he felt was his past mistakes just didn't feel right.

"I own those deaths Garrus." He declared "No excuses, my job was to get them out, I failed and I swore I wouldn't let it happen again. Then it does happen again, with Kaiden. I own that death too, my call, my decision. But Tali... that one is more my fault than anything."

"Because you ordered her in there?" Garrus asked

Shepard shook his head vigorously.

"More than that." He clarified, wiping a hand across his face, trying to properly compose himself "She came up to my cabin just before. Tried to set me straight, gave me a chance to open up and be honest with her again. She tried to help me. And what do I do?"

He paused as Garrus looked on at him.

"I fuck up. I close myself up again. I blame her for it without even realising I'm doing it. We yell. We fight. I say things I don't even mean and it gets worse. And before I can clear my head and realise I'm a proud stubborn idiot we're at Sword base and she storms out. That where I left it Garrus."

Shepard put his head back against the tattered old couch and looked up to the ceiling, his brow still furrowed in anger at himself.

"I screwed up and I never even got to say I was sorry." He finally admitted "She was right about everything and I was an idiot for not listening to her. I was an idiot for not running after her and saying I was sorry. Now I'll never get that chance."

Shepard pulled his head off the couch and stared down Garrus.

"So don't you own this one Garrus." He said, his voice increasingly vicious "It's mine, they're all mine. That isn't me being hard on myself, that's accepting responsibility. If nothing else at the very least I can live up to my fictional hero that way. By accepting that I failed them, all of them. Tali's death is on my shoulders, not yours! Don't you dare take that away from me! It's all I got. We clear on that?"

"Crystal." Garrus relented, with a sympathetic nod.

As Shepard's face turned crest fallen and his head drooped down Garrus got up from his seat. He couldn't think of anything to say other than that. What could he? He wasn't take away something he wanted to own, he wasn't gonna tell him he needed to let it go. You can't just tell someone that. Not when it's about this kind of stuff. Not given his own history concerning a similar subject.

But as Garrus began to leave, picking up his rifle and placing it on his back, he did think of something to add.

"Tali's death isn't the only thing you own of her Shepard." He said as he looked back with a steely look in his eyes "You have the time you spent with her. I know that sounds trite, but it's true. Out of all the people she could've chosen she picked you. That says a lot, about both you and her."

Shepard looked back up towards him, his face less downtrodden and beaten.

"And she's not all you got either." Garrus assured him, his voice steadfast and strong "The crew is still here. They're still with you. They still believe in you, even if you don't. Tali would say the same thing."

"You sure about that?" Shepard asked he stared back over to his friend.

"I know that Wade." The Turian replied unwaveringly "We're all waiting on you. When you figure things out we'll be there."

With that Garrus left the room, leaving Shepard to contemplate his words. He knew he couldn't stay in here forever. He'd have to face the crew eventually. He just didn't know how. Not yet anyway.

* * *

><p>As Garrus left Shepard he felt a mixture of emotions. He was glad he helped a friend, but he wasn't sure how much he had helped him. For as long as he knew him Shepard always seemed to take the burden of command pretty hard. Tali wasn't the only one who knew of his problems with alcohol after all. That's not something you miss in a best friend. Now he knew why.<p>

His thoughts drifted back to Omega, his time as Archangel and how it ended. As a vigilante he had everything he ever wanted, the ability to stomp out crime without red tape. He gathered a team, just like Shepard, he made a difference, just like Shepard.

And just like Shepard he lost people. Good people. One could argue he lost his whole squad, that made it worse, but that was callous. For Shepard the hurt was different apparently, he got credit he didn't feel was deserved. Now he was taking credit for what he did deserve in his mind, the casualties. No wonder the commander seemed to know what he was feeling during those first days back on the Normandy and later when he tried to get his squad their revenge.

The feeling of regret gave way to anger however, when a familiar voice popped in as he rounded the corner.

"Your reunion with your boyfriend go okay?"

Garrus didn't need to turn to know who it was. The scraping of the kukri knife told him everything he needed to know. It was Emile, no doubt leaning against the side of the wall, a smug grin under that stupid helmet of his.

"None of your business." Garrus replied coldly.

"Way he's pinning over the dead xeno you'd think there was something else going on." Emile quipped

Garrus balled his fists.

"Don't go there." He warned, his words practically seething with venom.

"Figures, your commander ain't just a xeno-sympathizer. He's a damn xeno-lover." Emile returned snidely "That why you trying so hard for him to get over her? Cause you want him to move on to you big boy?"

"I'm not asking this time." Garrus warned, his tone the same as before. "It's none of your business, stay out of it."

Emile just laughed a small chuckle.

"Come on, I ain't dumb. I heard your little discussion half way down the hall." The Spartan explained smugly "I could tell command about it, if we could reach'em. Bet they'd love to know your commander was shacking up with that buckethead piece of tail. Not sure why? Probably looks like shit under that mask. Tentacles and everything."

Garrus turned slowly to face the Spartan. He could see the demon-esque skull on the visor looking back.

"Think before you open your mouth." Garrus warned once more

But it just seemed to entice Emile further.

"Oooh, defensive!" He said his voice ever so full of himself "Maybe that why you wanna 'own' the bitch's death so bad huh? Only thing you can lay claim to, considering she picked to screw a human over your ugly mug."

"Shut up." Garrus demanded

"Yeah that's it," Emile said with upmost confidence now "you wanted to fuck her bad didn't ya? And now you can't even have her dead corpse on your conscience. How that make you feel Vakarian? That you can't even lay claim to your lady's remains?"

Garrus breathed deep, holding in his anger best he could.

"I'm giving you, till three, to apologise." He said "One..."

"Face the facts shithead."

"Two."

"She got her dumb xeno ass killed herself."

There was no three. There was just a sudden rush of adrenaline and a swing of the arm. Garrus slammed Emile hard into the wall, holding him there with his arm clamping down on his neck and his free hand gripping tightly onto the Spartan's machete. To Emile's credit he didn't seem to be struggling for breath and although he couldn't see it Garrus honestly thought he was keeping his eyes wide open.

"Listen to me you smug son of a bitch," Garrus told him, practically on the verge of screaming "I don't care what your problem with me is. I don't care how much you insult me. I don't even care what you think of me. But if you open your mouth and talk about Tali or any of my friends like that again, I don't care if we're allies. I will shove this giant knife so far and so fast down that worthless hole you call a mouth you won't be able to talk, breathe or eat without the use of several machines. Do we understand each other?"

Emile didn't answer for a moment. It was enough time for Garrus to justify pushing his arm further into Emile's throat.

"I said do we understand each other?" he asked once more, seething through his mandibles.

Emile finally squeaked out a few words.

"Loud and clear." He complied.

Garrus let go of the Spartan, shoving him into the wall as he did.

Finally shutting up the bastard felt good, just not in the way Garrus had been hoping. He defended a friend's integrity, that much he could be proud of. But Emile had crossed a line he shouldn't have. The Spartan had touched a chord to be sure, which made the motivation for shutting him up a bit tenuous in Garrus' mind.

"Hey! Vakarian!"

Garrus stopped in his tracks. Was he gonna have to punch his jaw off now?

Instead, Garrus heard something flap out of the human's gums he hadn't expected.

"That was out of line, shoulda knew better, all things considered." He admitted reluctantly "We... we both lost someone that day."

It wasn't sorry, but it was enough.

"Yeah." he admitted "Yeah we did."

The Turian walked off, his thoughts now on more then what both he and Shepard had lost.

* * *

><p>The Brute slammed against the divider between the doors with enough force to crack it. The grunts all lay dead; their bodies slumped over the steps just a few inches away from probable safety. The Hospital's atrium at the bottom of its spiralling series of stairs was now clear. Samara stepped back from her latest kill back to Six who had long since traded in his rocket launcher for a plasma repeater, although he still held onto his DMR.<p>

"Troopers were still chatting when we got in, they might still be alive." He told the team "Let's hurry."

Kat had given the second jammer, located at a hospital lousy with the Covenant. It had been tough fight past Jackals and grunts all the way down to the lower level. From what Kat had briefed them on the situation it initially sounded like the previous team that had gone after the jammer were dead. Apparently not so, as soon as they got into the building they started hearing the jumbled chatter of Troopers over the radio. They were alive, but taking heat.

The only reason they could've been having communication problems was because they were close to the jammer. Which meant so were they.

The atrium emptied out into a long curved hallway. Planter boxes and decorative statues lay ahead of them. A fancy looking waiting room a few days ago now it was packed with the enemy. They could see covenant pop-up shields placed around the area and they could hear the fighting from all the way over here.

"Wish we brought a sniper rifle." Six lamented as he looked through his scope "Targets wouldn't be as small from back here."

"Should we rush in?" Grunt asked

"No, we need to draw them away from our friends first, give them a helping hand if you will." Six explained "Me and Samara will pick them off, you head in quiet like with Kasumi. Don't move until I say so."

Grunt grumbled under his breath.

"I hate being sneaky." He complained slightly "So boring."

"Come on big guy, give it a chance." Kasumi chided him playfully "Stick with me and you'll see how fun it can be."

Then Kasumi, as she was ought to do, vanished from sight as her cloak activated.

"Can't stick with her if I can't even see her." Grunt grumbled as he hobbled off to the side. "Humans are so confusing."

Six now focused on the enemy running about the area. There were some stairs that led to a platform above the hall where the Brutes seemed to be running around on the high ground. Bellow it on the ground floor were a few more, also weaving in and out of the platform's supports trying to take out the troopers they still couldn't see from here.

It was easy enough to start picking targets. Samara went high, Six stayed low. However these Brutes were a little less reliant on their thick hides. As soon as Six connected with one and blew off his helmet the alien crouched down and activated armour lock. One of the Brutes above did the same thing the second a needle pierced his side.

"Brutes with armour upgrades, you don't see that often." Six said calmly as he waited for the lockdown to power down.

"Is it uncommon?" Samara asked

"Nah, just starting to get more frequent I hear." Six explained as the Brute stood up and fired on their position "Those big bastards with the shield suits? New development. ONI thinks the dumb monkeys are gaining more favour with their leaders, if the reports are accurate."

Six plugged the Brute in his brain and watched him fall. With the knowledge their foes were in possession of the lockdown upgrade they needed to be quicker on the trigger. The next time Samara caught a brute in her sight she fired three quick shots in short succession. The pink mist that followed confirmed a kill. Six knew he couldn't bother with a torso shot, even if was more accurate. It was the head or nothing, troopers didn't have time for anything else.

As the Brutes were picked off down to one, the ape started to fall back to the safety behind the support beams. Instead he found a rampaging Krogan smash into his side and crush his head against one of those said beam. Grunt roared at the body as it slumped onto the ground.

"Yeah! Right on your ass!"

"You ever worried about people realising you're stealing most of your oneliners from that cartoon about the Krogan Barbarian?"

The voice was Kausmi's, but of course, Grunt couldn't seem to find her.

"His name is Garr the Krogan Battlemaster and I am not stealing his lines!" Grunt shouted back in defiance.

"Who are you talking to?"

Grunt looked over to see one of the Troopers poking his head out of cover. The Krogan growled under his breath and looked to nowhere in particular, trying to find a no doubt snickering little Japanese woman with a hood. But he could hear, oh he could hear her.

"Lousy sneaky thief, making me look stupid." He grumbled to himself

Luckily by now Six and Samara had arrived before the soldiers thought Grunt was a new threat they had to deal with.

"Easy soldiers, he's a bit reckless but he's on our side." Six assured them "Where's the Jammer?"

"In the back, good to see you Spartan," The lead female trooper said with relief. "Could've sworn we bit it big time on this one."

Six quickly got up to the jammer and pressed the holo-display. This time he got to a good distance away before the thing blew up. He didn't want to have his eyeballs seared again.

"Two down, let's get back up top and-"

Six didn't have time to finish the sentence as their position was pummelled by plasma fire. Apparently their attack had not gone unnoticed, that wasn't a surprise. Unexpectedly the Covies rushing to the aid of the now dead Brutes were Elites, something Six didn't think he'd see. Then again, they probably had just been waiting till everyone was dead before they swooped in. Elites and Brutes rarely fought together, but while theories suggested a rivalry no one was exactly sure as to why.

The Elites in question were ranger-class. Their jet packs strapped on tight they jumped around the room like crickets, blasting down below at the humans and their two alien allies. The group scattered, Six running towards the steps to try and even the odds.

As he rushed up to the second platform one of the Elites landed right in front of the stairway. Six fired a blitz of plasma from his repeater at the Elite, dipping his shields down to nothing. The Elites struck his shields in return, but most went wide. Six followed Grunt's example and slammed his fist into the Elite's jaw as he closed in on him. The elite was flung into a guardrail. Before he could lift off Six switched to the DMR quickly and fired a round into the alien's skull. The visor for the ranger-armour shattered and the Elite fell down to earth.

Samara took aim at the flying Elites as they started to rush towards her. She let her biotics catch some of them and then slam them back to the ground they had so quickly abandoned. Others found themselves penetrated by her needler rifle. The pink mist engulfed them and their charred corpses fell to the earth below.

Grunt was of course in the thick of things, firing up at the Elites as they bounced up and then rushing forward as they landed. He managed to smack his shotgun straight into the face of one descending Elite before plugging him in the back with a blast from it.

"Heh, now this is way better than sneaking." He laughed

One of the Elites landed behind Grunt just a few feet away. He raised his plasma repeater up high, intending to cut through the Krogan's shields. He'd never get the chance. An omni-blade struck from behind and cut into his back. Kasumi decloaked and poked her head around the side, looking up at the alien.

"That one was for Tali." She said coldly, before she pulled the blade and then slashed it across the jetpack.

The rupture in the pack sent the Elite flying uncontrollably into the ceiling. The resounding snap that followed was his neck as it slammed into solid concrete. Kasumi looked over at Grunt who was still staring up at the ceiling until the Elite fell back down with a thud.

"And that's why sneaking can be fun young grasshopper." Kasumi told the Krogan with a mock bow and her hands clasped together.

The expression was lost on Grunt.

"I'm not an insect." He stated, thinking he needed to remind her

Kasumi just 'pfted' at Grunt, deciding not to bother explain it to the Krogan think it would just bore him. Six approached her with Samara soon after.

"More are most likely in the atrium." Six warned "Stay sharp."

They rushed back to where they entered the hall. Sure enough as they peaked in there were a number of Covenant, Skirmishers with needlers, and one Elite Ultra with a combustion rifle to be exact.

"I got this." Kasumi assured them

She tossed a single flashbang grenade into the room. The aliens within were struck with the blinding light and clutched their eyes in pain. Six and Samara stepped out firing. Six nabbed the two Skirmishers on the steps with two well placed shots to the head and Samara piled on the needles until the Elite exploded.

"Clear." Six announced as he lowered his weapon. He turned to Kasumi. "Alright team, let's get up top and get the Falcon flying."

"Not gonna give me a stern talking to?" Kasumi asked a bit haughtily "Nothing to say about the Elite?"

Six had overheard Kasumi's little vengeance remark to the Elite before he sent him flying. He understood and sympathized with her, but he also knew this wasn't the place for it.

"Only that we can't let this get too personal," Six informed her "taking out the Covenant is more important than grudges."

Kasumi seemed incensed at that remark.

"Grudge?" she said as she stepped forward and into the Spartan's face "These bastards killed my friend. Killed her without even knowing who she was! Like garbage! This is not a grudge, its payback. You should understand that!"

As she pointed in Six's face Samara tried to pulled her back calmly. She shook her off and stomped towards the stairs.

"It's not you Six," Samara assured the Spartan "remember that."

"Yeah, I suppose." The Spartan relented. "Just don't want it to get her killed."

After all, Shepard had potentially lost him one squad mate already He didn't want to see Kasumi die on his watch. Besides not wanting to see Kasumi get killed over this, he also didn't want to feel like a hypocrite when he confronted the Normandy's commander.

* * *

><p>Jorge gone, it still hadn't sunk in yet. Something told Carter that he was dead when only Six's transponder appeared. He just didn't admit it to himself until the lieutenant confirmed it. Another one of his team, gone, and once again he had been powerless to do anything about it. Once again it had been on a ship several thousand feet in air. Once again an explosion took him away from them. The situation just felt too familiar.<p>

He had already added Jorge's name to the list of Spartans alongside Thom. MIA, missing in action, every last one of them, but every Spartan of both the third and second iterations knew what that really meant. Jorge was gone and just like Thom he was never coming back.

He remembered in officers training, they told him that inevitably they'd lose people. That it was a fact of war. No one dodged that bullet forever. You'd get hit. Something would happen. Sometimes you wouldn't even know what it was or how. He remembered the advice they told him, just hope the life was spent, not wasted.

But for Carter, both of them had been wasted. Thom shouldn't have had to blow himself up, Jorge died only to have his sacrifice be in vain. The planet was still doomed. They had changed nothing. In the grand scheme of things all they had done was hold off the inevitable. Once the Covenant were done with Reach they'd be on Earth's doorstep.

Carter had taken off his helmet and retreated to the armoury. Maybe field stripping and reassembling a few rifles would help. He took in the small fact that the only person you had to beat was yourself here, see if you could beat your best time for taking apart a DMR and then putting it back together. Currently he clocked himself at around 47 seconds. He was better with the pistol, 23 seconds. Both improved from his last record. Again, so much easier to defeat yourself than an enemy that just seemed to constantly kick your ass no matter what you tried.

"Commander," the radio in his ear sounded "you read?"

Kat's voice, must've been a mission update.

"How's the lieutenant doing?" he asked

"One more Jammer, they're already in the air and I'm just trying to locate it now." Kat responded.

A brief silence fell over the room as Carter began filling up a DMR magazine, one bullet at a time.

"You want to talk?" she asked

"Not really." Carter admitted "But I know I can't stop you, so..."

He could hear Kat's sigh on the other end.

"How's Shepard?"

"Still in his room, still not over his crewmate." Carter replied succinctly "Least he held up under pressure for a week. Reality finally caught up with him though."

"And you?" Kat asked

Carter shook his head at that. He knew where this was leading.

"I don't need a psych-eval." Carter informed her

"Pardon me sir, but I know that's bullshit." Kat replied, not mixing words as usual "You wanna blame someone, blame me. It was my plan."

"We're not arguing about this again Kat." Carter told her sternly as he pressed another bullet into the magazine "I'm in charge, I assume responsibility. You got hit by a Banshee's fuel rod blast with Thom."

"Because I wasn't paying attention." Kat argued

"You lost your arm," Carter reminded her as another bullet was jammed into the magazine "I should've been covering you and with you. Just like I should've been with Jorge."

"Jorge volunteered for my mission." Kat argued in return

"Which I should've denied and just went up myself." Carter countered

"Then you'd be dead, what good would that have done?" Kat asked in return, her tone rising.

"So blaming you is supposed to make me feel better then?" Carter rebutted as he slammed another bullet in with his thumb

Kat's exasperated sigh predictably sounded over the radio.

"Look, we can't keep doing this." Kat informed him "We're getting nowhere. When are you going to stop blaming yourself?"

"When you stop blaming yourself." Carter replied adamantly "You did everything right that day, like you always do. I can rely on you for that. If I had been there, up with you, you wouldn't have lost your arm. Plain and simple. Likewise, your plan for the supercarrier worked. So don't blame yourself for something that's on me. I'm in command, I make the calls. End of story."

One more bullet filled up the magazine. Carter now stuck it into the DMR and placed the gun to the side.

"It's not the end." Kat quickly continued "You did everything you could that day to get to me and Thom in time. If it hadn't been for you clawing towards me I would've lost more than just my arm. And Jorge volunteered. He wanted the chance to save his planet. You can't keep asking yourself, what if I did something different or what if I had been there instead. Some things are beyond your control."

Carter looked to his helmet on the table and pulled it over to him. As he looked into its visor, Kat continued.

"You are the best officer I have ever served with Carter." Kat said, sounding as sincere as she had ever been "Don't you degrade yourself. We know you'd give your life a thousand times over just to save any one of us. You don't need to convince yourself of that with what ifs."

"Neither do you." Carter responded as he looked up from his helmet.

Kat seemed to grow silent at that. For awhile she didn't answer the comment, but eventually she replied.

"Maybe that's something we both need to realise then." She admitted "In any case, we're not the only ones hurting. We need Shepard back in this fight as much as his crew does."

"You thinking I should go talk to him?" the Spartan commander asked

"I would, but I'm at ONI's Tower HQ remember?" she reminded him "Besides, you need to appeal to him. Commander to Commander."

Fair enough, Carter thought. He stood up from the table. As per usual, Kat knew how to persuade him into doing something. He didn't know how much real help he'd be. After all, it wasn't like he was suddenly over both Thom and Jorge. He just knew now that he couldn't let it dictate him. Couldn't let it control him. He needed to try and get Shepard to see that.

* * *

><p>Covenant cruisers were now practically lining up to glass the city. The flames on the horizon were practically blocked from view by their massive bulk. If anyone was trying to kid themselves that this city could be saved they had hopefully dropped that delusion. Right now, they could only save what was left.<p>

Currently what was left was a squad of ODSTs that were need of evac. Although Six questioned how one Sergeant was gonna do that all on his own. Regardless he kept close to the falcon. He wasn't gonna let the trooper get killed before he could get to his suicide mission.

The banshees seemed to just know a Spartan was trying to protect this lone ODST, as they felt the falcon was important enough to constantly send sorties against it. Six fired the cannon as one sped towards the side of the Falcon and the rest of the team kept up the fire as Banshees tried to circle towards their VIP from below. Their flaming hulks eventually fell from the sky before they could get too many shots on the human aircraft.

"This guy better not need our help saving his krant." Grunt complained "We need to blow a jammer after all and head home."

"We just gotta get him to his men and then hope he knows how to take care of the rest." Six informed the Krogan

As Six spoke another Banshee came out rushing from behind a building. Plasma bolts lashed out at the lone Falcon, Six quickly perforated craft with fire, catching it in the tail. The banshee veered off but Six stayed on him. Suddenly, as Six closed in on his tail, the Banshee flipped over and fired a green fuel rod blast at him.

"Shit!" Six screeched as he pulled hard on the stick to the right.

The blast sailed just by them, although everyone was pretty much glued to their seats from the sudden jolt.

"These things should really have proper seat belts!" Kasumi commented

Six raked the Banshee with fire until it exploded properly. That had been close call for sure. The banshees died down after that and the ODST's falcon made a landing on top of the target tower.

"All clear Sergeant Buck?" Six asked over the com

"Fine and dandy. Looks like I owe you one Spartan." Buck declared "See ya in hell."

With that the trooper disappeared into the building. Even though they had gotten off track because of him, Six hoped he found his men. Any soldier willing to risk his ass saving his squad alone with nothing but an SMG and regular non-shielded armour was aces in his book.

"Let's get back on track finding that jammer." He told the others as he flew off.

* * *

><p>Carter kept his helmet off. He figured it would probably be best under the circumstances. As he entered the room he found Shepard just leaning against a wall close by.<p>

"Fourth person." He said "Fourth person to come and give me a pep-talk. First person who isn't among my crew though, so that's a surprise."

"You can't stay here forever you know." Carter told him

"Yeah, but I can stretch it out long enough." Shepard replied.

Carter walked in front of the Normandy's commander and made sure their eyes met.

"If it helps, I know what it means to feel responsible for..." Carter began, trying to find the right words "... well you know. The ones that don't come back."

"Not trying to claim I'm somehow special in all of this." Shepard shrugged, turning his head a bit away "So I won't dismiss that. Hell I should be used to this by now."

"No," Carter informed him "you shouldn't."

That caught Shepard's attention it seemed, his eyes returning to Carter's.

"You never should just get used to losing people." Carter elaborated "Accept it happens, but never use to it. We get used to it, we start seeing them as expendable. We can't do that in our position, we can't distance ourselves away from the people we fight beside."

"Would make it easier." Shepard argued rhetorically.

"Easy ain't our way." Carter countered "Easy doesn't make us leaders. Leaders can't just switch off that part of themselves."

Shepard nodded in agreement.

"So, we just cope then?" he asked "Just keep telling ourselves to do better?"

"Yeah," Carter admitted "as well as remember that there are other lives hanging on our word, our orders. We can't be compromised so easily because it could affect them. And then we have more additions to the body count."

"Fine line isn't it?" Shepard asked once more as he looked passed the Spartan towards the destruction outside "Between trying to stay focused on that while not becoming so distant the people stop mattering."

He turned his gaze once more back to Carter.

"You still blame yourself for it?" he asked "The person you lost?"

Carter could only nod, he wasn't going to deny it.

"I try not to let that control me though. It's not easy, it can affect my decisions, but I gotta temper that." He explained "I can't let fear or guilt compromise who I am, both as a leader and a person."

Shepard finally seemed to crack a small smile at that, as if he was remembering something he or someone else had once said.

"Still," Shepard spoke up, a bit of his sullen look returning "ain't easy to just let the guilt go. Ain't easy to just stop asking what ifs, ya know?"

He did know. Kat had said as much. A part of him wondered in that moment if Kat intention of getting him to go to Shepard was to get the Normandy's commander up back up to speed or the other way around.

"They wouldn't want us to dwell on those questions I think." Carter responded "Not Thom, not Tali."

He put a hand on Shepard's shoulder.

"I'm not telling you to not own up to your mistakes. But your team needs you right now."

"Not sure what I'm gonna say to them." Shepard shrugged

"You'll think of something." Carter assured him "Our type always does."

Shepard cracked a smile again. Carter still wasn't sure how much he helped. That is until Shepard got a communication on his private channel.

"Legion?" he said "You got it locked? ... Positive this is it? ... Okay, tell the team to gear up I'm coming down."

Shepard turned back to Carter stuck out his hand. The Spartan quickly took it in his own and shook it.

"Thanks for the extra nudge." He said

"Yeah," Carter replied "and thank you."

"For what?" Shepard asked

"Getting me to admit some things to myself as well." He answered, deciding to leave it at that "Now go on, your crew needs you."

Shepard left the room at long last, a more confident stride in his walk then he had previously. Maybe not fully healed, but it was something.

Shepard arrived at the landing pad where the others were already assembled. Legion was the first to approach him.

"Location of Old Machine conversion center is confirmed Shepard Commander." It said "Designated area is a large hotel complex. Top floors, roof most likely."

"Then we gotta get under way." Shepard announced "Take that thing out before they can move it somewhere else."

He turned to the rest of the squad. More or less he had accepted what he needed to do right now. He wasn't gonna make the same mistake with Tali. It was time to be open.

"Before we head out," he began "there's something I need to tell all of you. About the carrier, about Legion's mission."

* * *

><p>The Brute kept moving back up the steps towards the elevators, blasting away with his combustion rifle as the blue alien and the glowing shield she had brought up in front of her. However a terrible slash followed by a piercing stab cut into his back. The Brute dropped his weapon in pain and fell over onto his stomach as Kasumi decloaked once more.<p>

"I'm never gonna get used to how bad they smell." She said "Inside and out."

"Come on," Six told her as he passed by "last Jammer should be down this elevator."

There were two elevators. Unfortunately they could only so many people in either one. Grunt squeezed his way. The shaft clearly was not built with giant alien dinosaurs in mind. Samara had to try herself inside with the Krogan. Six and Kasumi opted to go together, their ride down was considerably more comfortable. It also gave Six a chance to talk.

"I hope you realise I'm just concerned about your safety." Six explained to the small hooded woman beside him "Being emotionally compromised is never healthy in combat."

"Yeah, never let it get personal. Wasn't too good at that, ever." Kasumi admitted

"You need to deal with it off the battlefield, that's all I'm saying." Six continued

Kasumi just sighed heavily at the advice.

"Look, I know you're trying to help." She relented, her tone calmer than before "And I know you can sympathize with leaving someone behind. But I'm not a soldier. I can't deal with it like you do. I'm not exactly cut out for this kind of work."

"Then why are you here?" Six asked looking over at her.

"Because I can help." She answered simply "Because I don't turn my back on my friends. I owe them, all of them, and if that means I have to duck and cover more often than not fine. Leaf on the wind, I go where it takes me. Deal with it how I can. That's always been how I work. I can take it, so long as I handle it my way."

Six didn't push the subject further after that. He couldn't expect her to become a soldier overnight. She was still technically civilian and had none of his training in that regard. Not mentally at least. That and it wasn't like he hadn't felt the same way at some point. He'd been a lone wolf for a long time and for most of that period he too had just tried to go with the flow. Accept the missions one after the other and try not to think too hard about why. It made killing insurrectionists easier when he didn't think about the real threat that was out there. To say he saw a bit of himself in Kasumi right now was grossly understated.

As the doors to the elevator opened wide the team found themselves in a large cubic room. The walls were mostly made out of wood, a nice change of pace from the metal and stone. In the center of the room were a series of arranged cubed shaped columns. Six didn't get it, he never was one for Modern Art. If it was any comfort at least Grunt didn't seem to understand it either as he cocked his head at the artwork trying to figure it out for a bit.

The room itself had a sort of eastern aesthetic, either Eastern China or Japanese if the rock and sand garden planters that led up in a step like pattern to the second level were any indication. There was even some bamboo stalks in the corner.

Kasumi herself felt somewhat at ease, it was a calming setting and somewhat familiar to what she grew up in. Regardless she tried to stay sharp. When Kat called them into this place it sounded like the troopers were under fire. But they couldn't see any of them. Until of course they got up to the next level and found two of them, lying dead in a mix of their own blood and plasma scarring.

"We're too late." Six lamented as he bent down near them "Damn. I was hoping their luck and ours was holding out."

Grunt sniffed the air vigorously before growling.

"I can still smell something wrong in here, with us." He warned "Whoever killed them ain't far."

"Keep tight team." Six told them all "We're not gonna get cut down so easily."

Six kept on point as they moved down a ramp towards the bottom floor. The wood gave way to concrete once more. Obviously they were entering a maintenance nook. They found the jammer pulsating at the very back of the room. As Kasumi stepped up to take her turn at shutting off the jammer Samara kept her rifle pointed at the way they came in.

"This all seems far too easy." She said

"Agreed," Six concurred "get ready to run as soon as the Jammer is down."

Kasumi stepped back as the jammer began to close up and overload. As soon as the devices began to spark and short out a sound began to fill the chamber, a familiar buzzing sound. It wasn't long before the room filled a small swarm of Drones, flying in from on high. One landed square in front of the exit to the nook as the team rushed out. Six was quick to fire as many rounds at the alien until the bug's head broke apart.

"Just when I thought we were done with those." He groaned

The room was filled with the insectoids, crawling all over the walls and rocks. The team rushed up the ramp, Samara using her biotics to toss the offending bugs into the walls. One of them grabbed on to Grunt's hump and began to stab at the \Krogan. Grunt, enraged by the action, reached up and grabbed the alien by his wings. He slammed the Drone down onto the ground and stomped on him once, squishing the insect into a find green paste.

All the while needles and plasma bolts filled the room, striking out at the small team as they rushed for the elevator. Kasumi tossed a flashbang into the air, although less lethal the flash was bright enough to not only blind the Drones but make them momentarily forget to flap their wings from the pain. They fell from the sky, twitching in pain as they held their eyes in their pincer like hands, rolling around and trying to regain their sense of vision. Not all of them were affected, three dropped in front of the elevators, blocking the escape route. Samara's singularity attack however sent them floating into the air, just high enough for grunt to rush through them. As the Drones' exoskeletons broke apart from the Krogan charge the team rushed to their corresponding elevators and slammed on the up button as fast as they could. They left the remaining Drones behind to pick through their dead.

"Ugh, never liked bugs." Kasumi said as she leaned against the elevator and tried to catch her breath. "Hate'em more now."

"Same." Six agreed

As the elevators arrived at the top floor the Normandy crewmembers felt their own personal comms begins to ring.

"Shepard to away team members," the message began "Rendezvous back at our position. We have a target of opportunity."

Samara looked over to Six as soon as the message wrapped up.

"Shepard ordered us back to base," she explained "He has a mission."

Six didn't need to even venture a guess as to what.

"Is he on channel now?" he asked the Asari

"Yes, but I don't-"

Six didn't let her finish, he had already tuned his radio to the Normandy team's frequency.

"This is Noble Six to Commander Shepard." He began "Give me the coordinates of the target and me and the rest of your team can meet you there."

"That's not necessary Noble Six," Shepard assured "we can handle the target. You just get back to your squad."

"And what exactly is this target commander?" Six asked, seemingly irate "It wouldn't happen to be a Husk Conversion center would it?"

The rest of the team near Six seemed taken aback by Six's accusation, they were even shocked that Shepard didn't deny it.

"How do you know?" he asked after a brief silence

"Legion got fed up of keeping secrets for you." Six informed him with an increasingly incensed tone "For example, I know the husks aren't Geth related at all. I know why you sent Legion up with us. And most important I know about the Reapers."

The three Normandy crewmembers stood staring at Six, mouths agape. Six momentarily stared back, not expecting them to say anything. Well, maybe he expected Kasumi to say something.

"Well cat is out of the bag now." She quipped on cue

"We were keeping a cat in a bag?" Grunt asked confused

"I believe it's just an expression." Samara informed the Krogan

"Human expressions never make any sense." Grunt grumbled as he crossed his arms

Shepard voice once more came over the comm.

"You need to understand," he began "whenever I tried to tell anyone about them before people thought I was crazy. I wasn't sure how you'd react."

"Doesn't matter now." Six replied thusly "I want in on this OP, send me the target's location."

"This is really a Normandy-"

Six was done asking.

"My friend died up there over this Commander!" he said, his voice raised louder than ever before "I want in! You want everyone on your squad there, you give me that location now or I just head back and regroup with my Squad period! It's your call... sir."

There was a long silence before Shepard returned.

"Location transmitted to HUD, see you there lieutenant." He relented

"Thank you, sir." Six complied "Be there soon."

"Acknowledged." Shepard replied dutifully.

Six turned to start heading to the Falcon, but Shepard contacted him again.

"Six..." He said with upmost sincerity "I'm sorry about Jorge."

"Don't be sorry." Six replied, his tone calmed "Just make it count."

With that Six rushed off to Falcon, the others close behind.

* * *

><p>The tower that housed the conversion center a rather large square based structure. According to Legion it was a hotel, but the Covenant had overrun it very quickly as soon as they breached this sector's defences. Beyond the roof side pool area was what looked to be a high rise restaurant, half oval and shape and hanging off the side of the hotel. Already a pelican had brought most of Shepard's team to the area. They were now positioned just outside the restaurant itself. Six landed falcon nearby and joined the Normandy squad.<p>

"Situation commander?" Six asked

Shepard looked over to Miranda.

"We have a number of Elites inside, as well as a few Grunts." She began "We believe they've already converted whoever was left inside the hotel into husks and carted them away. Now, they're looking to make more of those exploding Grunt husks we've been hearing reports of."

"Gremlins." Six blurted out.

Everyone looked to Six a bit bewildered at what sounded like a random word said out of nowhere. Realising they didn't understand he elaborated.

"Me and Legion found them first, we named them Gremlins." He explained "Anything else?"

Miranda regained her composure and finished the briefing.

"Yes, Garrus says he spotted two of the Elite husk variants in there, the Reavers as we call them." She concluded. All in all it's looking like a pretty big fight."

"As far as we can tell the Grunts are unarmed and scared. We shoot the Elites they'll scatter." Shepard said, picking up where Miranda left off "So focus on them and the Reavers."

He pointed inside at the raised dining areas to either the side of the restaurant.

"We're gonna use those sections place to flank them." He told them "Move low and silent, attack on my go."

The team split into two groups, both of them relatively balanced in terms of abilities. As they entered Six eyed the line of grunts, all skittering around trying to find an exit. It was clear none of them want to get close to the machine the four Ultra Elites were forcing them towards.

The machine itself was a large rounded triangle, with tentacle like appendages stick out from the end. In the center was a large blue circle and the lower portion of the machine had three large spikes, retracted currently into position. Rings seemed to surround the center circular light in an eerie design pattern and while the color of the metal was a sorta darkish purple the machine itself seemed to glow blue from the many little lights that covered the machine.

Standing on either side of the conversion machine were the two Reavers. Both of them just as warped looking and demented as the one Six had seen in the Tower at Viery. Tubes in their mouths, the plasma swords melded into their arms, their eyes glowing the same shade of blue as the machine they were guarding.

And yet they seemed so perfectly calm next to the unhuskified elites. Six wondered if that had anything to do with the Reaper influence, that the husks weren't entirely mindless. Maybe they were being directed or the reaper programmed friend and foe functions into their heads when they were turned.

Soon both sides were set up, they hadn't been noticed. The Elites were too busy trying to force one grunt into the machine. His panicked screaming and shouting masked their approach. Six wondered if the little bastard and his friends would be grateful for this or if they'd just go back to shooting humans when this was done.

A concentrated energy beam shot out across the room, cutting through the shields of two of the Elites. That was their cue. Shepard's particle kept up the fire on the Elites as the others opened up. Garrus and Legion were able to plug a bullet into the heads of two of the Elites as their shields were sapped by Miranda and Zaeed's disruptor rounds. The other two Elites found themselves being aside like rag dolls as throw attacks sent them careening across the room. The sheer volume of the crossfire in general meant their shields went down without much effort.

The grunt sin the meantime rushed to escape, keeping their heads low as the raced out of the restaurant like bats out of hell. They had been given a reprieve; they weren't going to pass it up.

The Reavers attacked next rushing out of the guard positions with their plasma swords at the ready. Quickly the team turned all attention to snuffing them out before they got too close. The shields were the first major problem. They unloaded every disruptor round and launched every overload pulse they could. Rapid fire weapons were the key. Six did his part, firing precision shots at the Reaver coming at them.

As the shields died the other team members switched tactics. Jack had warp ammo loaded up and the other biotics, Thane, Miranda and Samara all used their own warp method to diminish the layer of armour the Reaver had under his powerful shield.

Jacob in the meantime fire his assault rifle at the on rushing husk, hoping the incendiaries would tear him apart. Now on fire the reaver roared loudly and then suddenly towards the team on the left side of the restaurant. The group scattered as creature began slashing his swords at anything that came even remotely near him. Legion let a drone roll up to him and explode in the husk's face. As the Reaver staggered Jacob and Thane threw out a Biotic pull that lift it off the ground. Zaeed then raked the converted covie with his revenant, perforating the undead beast before it fell to the ground. And yet it was still twitching. Jacob quickly rushed over to it and plugged a shotgun round into its head for round measure.

The reaver to the right with Shepard's part of the squad was suffering the effects of reave currently. Shepard took that as his chance. He bolted over the guardrail and then sent himself careening into the husk with a biotic charge. The Reaver tumbled onto his back but before he could get up Shepard stuck his Scimitar shotgun into what remained of the twisted mandible mouth the former living covenant officer. As the Reaver screamed Shepard pulled the trigger, ending it.

"Bagged and tagged." Garrus said as the team convened at the center of the room.

"Yeah, good work team." Shepard congratulated everyone "Now, let's set the charges on this abomination creating gizmo before they send someone to pick it up."

But as the team turned to reaper machine, the central glowing circle began to glow even brighter. In fact it was starting to pulsate. Suddenly, the blue lights of the conversion machine turned red and the circle shot out a holographic beam towards the team. It wasn't an attack, it more resembled a long distance FTL signal, both in how it looked and sounded.

Appearing before everyone was multi-legged machine with a sloping head. Two of the legs in question were slightly tendrical in nature, the rest were more insect like. Shepard couldn't be sure, but it looked a number of them had been heavily damaged, their superstructure exposed. In the center of the machine's bulbous head was a singular eye surrounded by a pattern of six smaller eyes. Two resided at top of the eye, two beside it, two directly below it.

"Shepard." It said, in an eerie whispery tone, almost hissing as it spoke but not quiet.

Commander Shepard walked up to the holographic image, unwavering in his stride. He knew what this thing was the second it appeared.

"The Inquisitor I presume?" he asked

"A name given by the Covenant to better suit their understanding of me," The reaper replied "I am seen as a seeker, holder and finder of lost knowledge. I am an asker of questions whose answers have long been forgotten that only I can provide. Thus the name they have bestowed. This title shall thus suffice."

"We'll take that as a yes." Jack quipped somewhat aloofly

The eye of the reaper scanned the entire room, looking at the squad as a whole.

"You have disrupted this conversion device, but there are more." It declared "Your victory is as empty as ever."

Shepard stared back unblinking, directly into the Reaper's eye.

"Point is you can't use this one anymore." He declared "Just like you can't use the citadel, just like you can't use the collectors. Little victories pile up over time don't they?"

Yet the reaper seemed as unimpressed as ever.

"You are not a threat Shepard," The Inquisitor announced "You are a nuisance, nothing more."

"Tell that to Sovereign buddy," Shepard said cocking a smile "Oh wait ya can't! I killed him! My ship blew his brains out all over the citadel as I recall."

"Your victory over Nazzara was and remains irrelevant." The Inquisitor insisted "The cycle cannot be broken. You merely delayed it. Even the destruction of the collectors is of no great concern. They were expendable and can be replaced."

Zaeed was quick to step up to the plate himself.

"That why you here you ugly squid faced toaster?" he asked "Covenant your new little pet project?"

"An accurate assessment." The reaper answered "They will replace the Collectors as the bulk of our invasion force when we arrive. Even now they are being groomed for that very task."

"So you did indoctrinate them." Shepard said reasoned "Their leaders are just your pawns."

Again, the Inquisitor's response seemed to make him sound like he was more bored than anything. As if this was such a pointless trivial question.

"Pawns yes, indoctrinated no." The reaper explained "The covenant believe me a holdover from their gods. A device known as an Oracle. No tenuous strain on processes required for indoctrination were needed, I simply let them believe what they wish so long as it suits my purposes. They do not question my existence or motives. They are easily manipulated and will bend their morals to suit their own purposes. They are the perfect willing organic servants, they will serve us well."

That confirmed it, the Covenant were doing all this of their own volition. They weren't victims at all. They had justified working with the Inquisitor by believing everything it claimed about itself and the universe it came from. As far as the Covenant were concerned, Mass Effect technology was Forerunner based, not Reaper.

But there were still so many unanswered questions.

"If they're so malleable and susceptible why haven't you sent them en masse through the wormhole then?" Shepard asked demandingly "Hell, we know what you're building on this planet. Why do you need a wormhole generator at all?"

"The rift between our universes is fragile and unstable." The Inquisitor answered, its voice booming across the room "The wormhole was created in our dimension, the entrance and exit from that side is relatively simple. However, a return trip is considerably more difficult. As I discovered when I attempted to return to our dimension."

"The hell is it talking about?" asked a confused Grunt.

Thankfully a certain salarian scientist was able to sum things up for those not knowledgeable about space-time continuums.

"Of course," Mordin shouted aloud "wormhole artificial. Created on one side. Blasted through dimensional barrier from our universe. No present physical connection to this universe present during creation. Required for most natural wormholes to have two existing ends simultaneously. Born out of singularities that merge at same moment of time. Not so with the wormhole we entered. Makes attempting return, problematic."

Shepard's eyes fell back upon the damaged legs of the Inquisitor.

"The rift almost tore you apart." He surmised "That's how unstable the wormhole is from this end."

"It's like fighting up against a river's current." Miranda reasoned, yet still filled with questions as she looked back up at the Inquisitor "But we know the Covenant have been using it to get in and out of our universe!"

"The wormhole stabilizes for brief periods of time." The reaper explained "Allowing a few ships passage. A considerable amount of the Covenant has already seeded themselves into the galaxy of our home dimension, but still not enough to enact our plan."

Shepard guessed what that was, his gaze steeled towards the holographic image of the machine.

"You're gonna send the Covenant armada massing at Reach into our universe all at once." He rationalised "That's what you mean by them replacing the Collectors!"

"They will be the vanguard of our true invasion." The Inquisitor declared in a cold calculating manner "They will burn the skies of your home worlds and scorch the earth of your greatest cities. Your people will be in turmoil. Their leaders struggling to face an unstoppable new enemy they cannot fully comprehend. They will begin the harvest and soften your fleets for us. When my kind arrives our Covenant heralds will have successfully rendered your greatest military forces severely weakened. They will be unable to mount any resistance to our power and numbers. Your civilizations shall fall in a matter of decades, not centuries as has happened before. The cycle will become more efficient, quicker and the expenditure of resources will be drastically reduced as a result."

The end game had become suddenly clear, although it wasn't entirely surprising. The Covenant had laid waste to thousands of worlds. They were an army of fanatically devoted creatures from every culture. They outnumbered their singular enemy, the humans in this dimension, with ease. Their technology was vastly differently from their own. Forget a mass relay, no point in guarding them from attack, the Covenant could bypass them with ease, appear anywhere and only at a cost of greatly reduced speed. Their methods and tactics were brutal and turned worlds into glass. Their ships were massive, their armies plentiful. And with Reaper upgrades they were even more of a threat.

It made sense to sick them on an unsuspecting Galaxy that the Inquisitor had labelled as heretics for them. The reaper had handed them a motive on a silver platter, all they needed was a means to that end. And even if the Covenant ultimately failed they'd wreak a hefty toll on the military might of the Galaxy. And no doubt one of their first targets would be the Systems Alliance, considering how much they hated humans. The Reapers could just bulldoze over what was left when the Covenant had their fill.

They couldn't let this happen.

"You won't succeed." Shepard declared in defiance "We'll stop your invasion plans. The Covenant won't get to play your heralds if we have anything to say about it."

"You are already too late, your future is set." The Inquisitor responded, unconvinced of Shepard's resolve "The device nears completion and the armada draws ever closer. I may be damaged, but I will endure. Protected by those I have chosen to replace the servants you extinguished. The skies of Reach will fill with the falling wrecks of the UNSC fleets. The Covenant will play their role in the cycle. It is inevitable. Why continue to resist?"

"Cause I refuse to stand by and let you turn one more species into your kind." Shepard boldly stated "When are you gonna learn we're not gonna just keel over and die like you want?"

The Reaper's eye lowered directly at Shepard's head. Coming within inches of it as the Reaper's image bent closer to him.

"Once again you show the limitations of organic thought. You cannot see the inevitable destruction your chaotic existence bears." The reaper bellowed "Even when it is presently right in front of you."

The Reaper's eye turned to the large panned windows at the back of the room and the burning remains of the city beyond their glass.

"This destruction reaped upon this planet is not by our influence, but by organics themselves." The Inquisitor explained "The Covenant believe the destruction of humanity is the will of their Gods, that it is another step on the path to a presumed salvation. They are blinded by their inability to see past the limitations of this viewpoint. Their reasoning is similar to that of many an organic civilization in all of history and time."

Shepard walked by the hologram and approached the window, watching as a tower in the distance was engulfed in flames and banshees swirled around another skyscraper, blasting it to pieces.

"You are a selfish, short sighted and self-destructive product of the accident of organic evolution." The Inquisitor "We, are your salvation through destruction."

Shepard turned back, his eyes still filled with rage.

"Salvation? Are you deluded?" he asked back in a fury "You're not saving us! You're killing us! Turning us into you against our will!"

"We free you of your limitations and sense of self." The Inquisitor said, denying the accusation outright "Your greed and destructive tendencies are replaced with a singular goal towards the betterment of an existence far beyond your comprehension currently. You simply cannot fathom it because you cannot understand what we offer. You will accept our gift, we demand it."

Shepard stepped back in front of the Inquisitor's image, refusing to blink or look away from its eye as he did.

"You don't do it for every race. You turned the Protheans into collectors." Shepard reminded him "They were your slaves! Expendable resources!"

"They served a purpose; they unfortunately were not genetically suited for the ascendance process." The Inquisitor explained, unashamed of its crime, as if it had done nothing wrong. "Yet we preserved them nonetheless, to help us ease the cycle. To determine which species we could ascend in the next cycle."

"I think they'd have rather died." Shepard informed him, the rage ever present in his voice

"Is extinction truly that preferably over serving something greater?" the Reaper asked in return "Were it not for their efforts we would have never known your species was most suited to the process Shepard. We would have struggled for centuries trying and failing, wasting resources that could be better spent finding a new use for the lesser inclined species. Time that can now be used finding other ways to preserve them and join with us."

The Inquisitor began scanning about the room with its massive eye.

"Krogan, wasted potential due to sterilization. Asari, reliance on other species to effectively reproduce a considerable genetic weakness. Drell, insufficient numbers and weakness to certain climates. Salarian, intelligence off set by short life span."

Mordin crossed his arms and furrowed his brow at that, somewhat insulted by the comment.

"All information that not only excluded them but will help in finding another possible preservation tactic," The reaper concluded "as we did with the collectors before them."

Garrus slowly raised his hand.

"Uh, I didn't hear anything about me in there." He said

The Inquisitor's image raised one of its tendril-like appendages at Garrus.

"You were considered... too primitive."

Garrus just looked back wide eyed and joined Mordin in feeling insulted.

"Well, fine, I didn't wanna be a part of your evil robot squid club anyway." He said, feigning being offended.

The Inquisitor turned back to Shepard.

"Accept the inevitable Shepard. Do not let the fact you destroyed Nazzara blind you from what is undeniable. That this is a war you have long since lost. Do not cling to the hope of a victory you cannot achieve."

Shepard just stared up at the eons old machine and scowled.

"Sovereign said the same exact thing. So did Harbinger." He replied "And then I killed one and euthanized the other's pets. I think you're the one who should be afraid of losing here not me."

If Reapers could show emotion, Shepard would assume the Inquisitor suddenly rising back up to an upright position would be a sign of anger at how much this annoying human was infuriating him. Even if it wasn't, Wade took comfort in that he seemingly got under the ancient machine's skin.

"Your confidence is everything Harbinger said it was," The Inquisitor declared "an unacknowledged admission of your arrogance. What you see on this planet is but a prologue. The device nears completion. The Covenant will burn a swath through your Galaxy. They shall pave the way for our return. I near Reach with hundreds of ships, all more powerful than anything you can fathom. I will find you Shepard, and I will see to it you are destroyed for your continued rejection of-"

A plasma repeater's fire blasted apart the circular little eye in the center of the conversion device. It cracked to pieces and shattered. When it did the image of the Inquisitor vanished from sight, cutting off his final parting words Six stood to side with a smoking plasma repeater.

"They always so melodramatic?" he asked Shepard.

"You learn to deal with it." Shepard assured him. "Come on, we got a new objective. We better lay down the explosives and get back to Noble Team."

The team set about their previous work, placing explosives on the conversion device. For now, they tried to put the words of the Inquisitor out of their minds. Save for where they knew their inevitable next stop would be.

* * *

><p>Back aboard the Falcon, Six flew side by side with Shepard's Pelican. Despite recent revelations concerning a deadly oncoming machine of evil and an inter-dimensional Covenant invasion, Six felt a bit more at ease. Maybe Jorge's actions weren't for nothing after all. Now that super-carrier would be invading Shepard's home dimension. Of course, that didn't mean squat if that wormhole generator wasn't taken down.<p>

That and the explosion that erupted from that restaurant had been more satisfying then he thought it would be. He wasn't sure if it was the way the whole restaurant just seemed to collapse to the ground taking that damn monster making machine with it or if it was more the fact that the information Legion nabbed from the carrier had actually helped.

"You'd think whatever the Reapers did to make that wormhole they'd have planned ahead about it being unstable." Kasumi reasoned from back in her seat in the Falcon

"And yet they did not enact upon their creation until much more recently." Samara added. "It would seem that the Inquisitor only approached an alliance with the Covenant when the Collectors were destroyed four weeks prior before we entered the worm hole."

"But the Covies have been getting Reaper tech steadily for months." Six reasoned "There's no way in hell they made that friggin Centipede we fought in the silo in just a few weeks out of the blue."

"Agreed," The Asari concurred "perhaps there is more to the wormhole then we first assumed."

The discussion was cut short by a call from Kat.

"Noble Six, we're evacuating ONI HQ at Olympic Tower." She said "You and Shepard almost here?"

Six looked up ahead and could see the outline of the tower in the distance as it appeared out of the fog ridden sky.

"Yeah I see it Noble Two, rest of the team there yet?" he asked

Another voice came on the comm. It was Carter's.

"I'm heading in now Six, just get Shepard's team to the landing. All non-essential personnel are almost away and we need to clamp down on the building." Carter explained "All important files, data, they need to be scrubbed. Could use some of their tech heads to help."

"Could just let the Covenant burn it all to the ground," Six suggested "They don't seem interested in keeping anything intact."

"Better safe than sorry." Carter reiterated "Kat, how's the evac coming?"

"First Pelican is away and the rest-"

Kats words were interrupted by an explosion. Six looked up to the tower and saw a firey blast erupting out of its side.

"Noble Two! Noble Two! Sit rep!" Carter shouted frantically over the comm.

They could hear coughing on the other end, Kat was alive thank goodness.

"Covies hitting tower in force! They must've zeroed my signal!"

"Moving into support Noble Two," Six announced "do you copy?"

"Roger that, get me an overhead and keep the pelicans safe!" Kat ordered

* * *

><p>Kreave watched as the tower took fire from the various shade turrets he had helped set up. As well as the banshees that were flying sorties on the building.<p>

"HA! For once we're gonna do something right in this battle." He said as he looked on.

"You sure Shepard is in there?" asked one of the other Blood Pack nearby

"He's fought beside the Spartans before, we know this." Kreave answered "If one is in there Shepard can't be too far."

Kreave looked over to his other pack member, blasting away in his little shade turret at the building. As the plasma coils kept spinning the building's structure was torn apart. Even if Shepard wasn't inside, Kreave assumed the human would come to the rescue at some point.

Then a Falcon flew straight over head and began firing on the turrets surrounding the tower. The one on the building next to theirs exploded under the relentless cannon fire of the human aircraft.

"Damn it," Kreave grumbled as he contacted the banshees "we got a party crasher flying around. Clip his wings, fast."

* * *

><p>The banshees had turned to attack him rather quickly. Six had only gotten to the second turret before a flight of three of them rushed at him. Six dipped down, letting them sail over him harmlessly as he kept up the fire on the turret below. It soon blew up in a blazing cloud of blue. As it did one of the Pelicans near the tower veered away, it's escape path clear.<p>

The flight of banshees once again soared down from on high, intending to blast the Falcon to pieces. Siox aimed the cannon upwards and riddled the lead Banshee with bullets. The high calibre rounds tore into the craft and it exploded in a ball of fire. Six dashed through the debris field as the banshees separated. He turned the craft and flew backwards as they tried to follow him. He raked fire across the side of the alien craft and it soon spun out and fell from the sky, breaking apart as it did.

He turned his gun down low as he passed another of the turrets below him, once again he rained down a torrent of fire upon the turret and it exploded like clockwork after a few hits.

The last banshee was still following him firing away with its plasma cannons. Six dipped below the line of fire and blasted up towards the banshee as it passed overhead, letting the rounds cut through its belly like butter. As the alien aircraft burst into flames and began to fall from the sky, Six turned his attention to fourth turret on his list.

* * *

><p>Shepard was eyeing the battle below, but he didn't want to be left out of it like this.<p>

"We got some heavy artillery in here?" he asked

"Got a rocket launcher under the deck!" the pilot responded

Shepard pulled up a panel on the deck and dragged out a rocket launcher that was fully loaded amongst the other weapons. He then steadied himself on the edge of the pelican itself and then fired a single shot at one of the turrets below.

* * *

><p>Kreave saw the pelican, he saw what looked to be Shepard standing tall in it and he also saw the rocket now speeding towards him.<p>

"Well, can't say I wasn't asking for that." Kreave relented.

The rocket collided head-on with the turret, the explosion knocked Kreave back a few feet. As he struggled to get back up he saw the Falcon take down another one of the turrets.

"Damn it, so much for air superiority." Kreave grumbled

More Falcons flew in and began firing on his position. The Krogan and his remaining mercs rushed off the roof top as fast as they could. Shepard had won another round, but they'd have their proper fight soon enough.

* * *

><p>With the tower secured Six finally landed with Shepard and the two began to take the long walk up to Noble Team's position. It was a rather quiet walk to be sure. Grunt followed along with Mordin while the rest of the team headed down below to help with the erasing of data files from the lower servers.<p>

Shepard was surprised they had taken the news of what he did with LEgion so well. Then again they had taken off for the mission rather quicky, there hadn't been much time to guage their reaction. He'd get a better idea later, once they got their bearings.

Finally, not able to stand the silence much longer, Shepard spoke up.

"I know you're probably still angry with me." He told the Spartan "Just know if I could go back, I'd have done so much different."

Six didn't respond for awhile. Eventually he did sigh.

"Look, you made a call, it went bad." Six relented "I need to let that go. If this information you got helps us then Jorge won't have died for nothing. That's all I care about right now, making sure he didn't get killed for nothing."

Shepard could only nod.

They all entered the room to find Emile hunched over in a corner, Kat working on a radio transceiver, Jun on look out at a nearby window and Carter leaning up against the wall. All of them save for Emile were without their helmets. The room itself was completely trashed, wires and equipment sticking out of everywhere. No worse than the rest of the city though, that was for sure, as Jun pointed out.

"This place used to be the Crown Jewel." He said "Not anymore."

The sniper looked back and saw Six and the Commander.

"Hey, you made it." He said, not really sounding that happy.

"It's a regular family reunion." Emile said, his words as per usual mocking and indignant.

Six looked to his belt and pulled out Jorge's dog tags. Sensing what he wanted to do Emile quickly raised his hand.

"Keep'em." He said, actually sounding serious for once, while he began to point his knife at himself "He gave them to you. I'll honour him my own way."

"Jorge always said he'd never leave Reach." Jun commented thoughtfully.

Emile just seemed to laugh at the thought.

"Oh yeah, big man always was sentimental." He chuckled warmly

"He died thinking he just saved the planet." Carter spoke up as he looked to the window "We should be so lucky."

Carter quickly turned to Shepard.

"Why are you up here?" he asked

"I have another mission on hand I need to handle." Shepard explained "I figured we could use your help on it."

"Whatever it is I'll have to clear it with command first." Carter informed him "And I need to actually contact them before I can do that. It would be easier if you smoothed it over with them anyway."

Shepard decided he could wait, Kat working on it and it's not like the device was gonna go anywhere. The lapse in conversation allowed Jun to interject and change subjects.

"Sir," he began "is that true about Gauntlet, Red and Echo Teams assigned to civilian evac ops?"

Carter looked a bit surprised and incensed about what Jun just said, but he didn't answer Jun's question directly. Instead he looked to the person he knew told him about that.

"Those are senior-level communiqués..." he reminded Kat.

"I hear what I hear." Kat responded defensively "Point is, why deploy Spartan on defensive engagements?"

Carter looked away, a bit annoyed at how Kat was pushing this issue.

"I need that link to SATCom Kat." He reiterated once more.

Kat huffed at it all and kept working.

"Chasing it, but this console has more shrapnel than transceivers." She replied, but still not willing to just drop the conversation "You didn't answer my question."

Carter looked back at Kat with a furrowed brow.

"Don't dance around it Kat," He told her "just ask it plain out. Do you wanna know if we're losing?"

"I know we're losing," Kat reiterated, again sounding defensive "I want to know if we've lost."

Carter didn't say anything. He just looked on the city once more. It was pretty clear what his answer was to anyone in the room.

Suddenly the console Kat was working on beeped, coming to life with static. As she quickly worked to get a lock on the signal she soon realised who it was.

"Colonel Holland, hailing us." She said astonished "Us specifically. What's he doing on open channels?"

"Put it through." Carter told her

Holland's voice soon filled the room, sounding increasingly desperate.

"-near the southwest quadrant of the city, over? Sierra Two-Five-Nine, if you are receiving, I am authorizing override of radio security protocols to link with this channel."

Shepard approached the console himself.

"Taking a big risk like that," he observed "has to be important."

"How long for a secure link?" Carter asked

"I can't guarantee that anymore." Kat replied

"Could the Covenant trace it to us?" He asked once more

Kat just shrugged.

"I could." She answered.

Six was quick to add his own input.

"Doesn't matter, they know we're here." Six reminded the Spartan leader.

"They may think everyone is gone by now." Carter elaborated "Only reason they stopped firing."

"He may not be on for long and we need to talk to him." Shepard reminded Carter.

Holland once spoke aloud over the radio. Almost as if he sensed the hesitation in that room.

"Noble Leader, this is a priority one hail. If you are receiving acknowledge immediately."

Carter relented and stuck his hand up for Kat to pass him the comm-link. She placed it in his palm, sighing deeply.

"Keep it brief." She warned him

Carter began to talk in private with the colonel. No one could hear what he was going on about as he approached the window. As he did though Jun spotted something below and was quick to inform his team mates.

"Heads up! We got Covenant infantry and heavy units leaving the immediate area."

"HA!" Grunt laughed "They're running! Looks like they've given up after all! We must've really stuck it to those pyjacks."

But Emile did not share the Krogan's optimism.

"How often do you think Covenant run away from a fight for no reason?" he asked everyone.

"I'm guessing the answer is never." Shepard was quick to reply.

"Bingo Shepard you win a gold star." Emile responded sarcastically.

There was no time to reprimand Emile for his crass statement as Kat quickly jumped up from the floor, clutching a device in her hand.

"Radiation flare! Big one! Forty Million roentgens!"

Shepard looked to Mordin.

"Now I know that's bad I just wanna be sure." Shepard said to him.

The Salarian could only nod frantically. Meanwhile Carter turned back to Kat, just as anxiously.

"Just lost Holland. What is going on?" he demanded to know

"Atomic excitement scrambled the signal!" she replied frenetically "Ninety Million now!"

Shepard looked up above, thinking he was hearing something from on high.

"Give me the source!" Carter ordered

"Airborne! Close!"

Shepard's eyes widened as did Mordin and they began backing away from the window. Grunt was a bit confused as to why.

"How close?" Carter asked once again

The answer came with a bang. A huge red beam slammed down not too far away from their building. The blast was so close that it outright shattered the windows and and sent anyone nearby flying back onto their asses. The glow of the superheated plasma burned at their faces, and forced them to shield their eyes. Their shields dropped to practically nothing as the heat from the blast was enough to pretty much sap them of energy.

"That close!" Kat shouted

Grunt had been thrown onto his back but Shepard and Mordin helped the Krogan back up. Emile in contrast to everyone didn't phased in the least by the beam. In fact he seemed more entranced than anything. He stood slowly never tearing his eyes away from the massive red blast and searing hot air flying at him. He only stopped standing around, looking in awe at the weapon of destruction when Shepard tugged on his arm, bringing him back to reality.

The team ran to the elevators at the back of the room and slammed down hard on the sub-basement button at the bottom. The further underground from that beam they were the better.

Six was inside the elevator with Kat.

"First glassing?" she asked, receiving a light nod from the lieutenant "Me Too."

Before anyone even asked Kat was quick to start looking up the building schematics. They needed shelter from the glassing beams.

"There's a fallout shelter. Sub-Level 2. Should be right in front of us as we stop. Best option right now."

Shepard was quick to get on the line to his crew

"Shepard to crew! Do you read! Garrus! Miranda! Anyone!"

"We're okay Shepard!" Garrus' voiced yelled over the comm. "Everyone's alive, no charbroiled squaddies here. We're making a run for the fallout shelter with some troopers!"

"I'll meet you there! Hold the doors open!"

As Shepard discussed matters with his crew, everyone else was concerned with what Carter had been talking about with Holland.

"We get new orders?" Kat asked

"We're being redeployed." He replied "To Sword Base."

That caught Shepard's attention the second he mentioned it. His ears were now firmly locked on the proceeding conversation.

"Sword! Covenant own it now!" Jun shouted in disbelief

"Which is why they want us for a burn op." Carter explained "We're to prevent Halsey's research data from falling into the wrong hands."

"If it hasn't already." Kat added quickly.

The elevator stopped at that point and the team all poured out, but Shepard kept listening to the Spartan talk, keeping close behind Kat and Six.

"Maybe," Carter said in response to Kat "but according to Holland, the Covenant are still hunting for something there."

Shepard knew the instant Carter said that what the hunt was for. The thing that Halsey was hiding. The thing that he was so curious to find out about it got Tali killed. The relic that the Covenant were so determined to get their hands on.

It was still there. They hadn't gotten it yet.

Kat wasn't as knowledgeable about exactly what Shepard knew, so she didn't seem to like the idea of the mission at all.

"Where does he get off calling a demolition op priority one-"

But Kat never finished her thought. She was cut off in mid sentence when Grunt slammed into her backside and pushed her forward. As he did a needler round slashed into his back, cutting through his hump. He fell forward but Six caught him. The Spartan looked up to see a phantom dropship over head through a hole in the ceiling. He fired up at it with his pistol and Kat joined in. The Phantom veered off firing a few more rounds down at the Spartans as it did.

Grunt clutched at his back as six and Mordin rushed to help him. They grabbed both of his arms and began to drag him towards the fallout shelter. Shepard covered them, firing up above, just to be sure. They saw the red glare of another glassing charge start up. Shepard turned to rush towards the fallout shelter, Garrus and a a squad of troopers ushering him in along with the rest of Noble Team, Grunt and Mordin. Just as the doors closed another blast rocked the area.

Darkness pretty much consumed much of Shepard train of sight for next few minutes as the lights refused to flicker on in the bunker. But right now it didn't matter he couldn't see his hand in front of his face. All he knew was Sword Base still had that relic. The relic Tali found out about and the relic that got her killed on his orders.

It was still there. Waiting for them.

At that instant, Shepard forgot about Reapers, he forgot about the Covenant, he forgot about the bunker he was trapped in. For the first time in over a week, he knew what he had to do. It was pitch black around him, but he had seen so clearly the path ahead.

* * *

><p>AN: Kat lives! Holy shit! Okay, I know a lot of people hated her death, but I actually didn't mind it. I'm gonna explain more as to why next chapter in dialogue so I don't make this long. Suffice to say I have a few more things to explore with Kat and I wanna ask the obvious question of "What if she didn't get sucker shotted by a damn camper Jackal?"<p>

And the Inquisitor finally makes itself know as well its plan. Mind you his dialogue has remained pretty much the same as I had originally intended before ME3 came out. To be honest some of what the Reapers claimed they were doing didn't come as a shock. I figured they were like the Borg, they feel they're doing us a favour by making us immortal and like them. Because think about it, for as evil as they are, the Reapers don't kill each other. The Reapers don't fight each other. The Reapers don't abandon each other. They all strive towards one goal, helping each other, helping to continue to grow their race. And they just don't understand period why we don't want to become like them. Harbinger kept saying that they were our "salvation through destruction." I thought that made things pretty clear from the get go, the Reapers thought they were helping us. It's how they justified their actions. A good villain never sees itself as evil after all. So I felt that them admitting they believed they were helping us by making us like them wasn't much of a surprise.

On the other hand... I did not expect, and spoiler alert for all those who haven't finished the game or seen the ending, that a glowly starchild was gonna screw it all up by making a very convoluted and really backwards as fuck argument that pretty much followed circular logic and made the Repaers motivations for "saving us" seem a hell of a lot stupider than I thought they would. So you're gonna save us from a robot holocaust by enacting a robot holocaust and turning us into robots? You actually love organic life so much you're gonna turn all the organics into synthetics. I mean I guess there is ways of arguing WHY that makes sense... but they all kinda seem stupid in the end when you actually try to think about it. Why couldn't they just say "We pity organics because they're stupid and self-destructive and not immortal. So we make you immortal! Why don't you appreciate that dawg?" That's so much easier to understand in its twisted as fucked up logic! But at least it's logic! I don't know what that starchild was talking about! I stand by my conviction that the little bastard was lying, plain and simple... and it wasn't very smart to boot.

Back to Inquisitor, as you saw he is not a Dreadnought Reaper variant. He is a Destroyer, thank god that the codex revealed those smaller 160 meter bastards were actually sentient or I'd have been in major trouble there. He's a little a different of course. He doesn't have that tall ass pillar thing atop his head. He's slicked that cowlick back so to speak. Also he has a few more eyes and some tendrils actual real tendril arms like his bigger 2km brothers. Just to make him unique enough that he ain't generic as hell. He originally was gonna be a full-fledged dreadnaught. But I accepted, it made more sense for a semi-damaged Destroyer variant to seek out allies in a new universe with none of his friends to back him up than an actual dreadnaught class Reaper. They are after all smaller, weaker and I'd imagine a few rounds from a MAC gun would easily tear him apart before he could do anything. Whereas you could argue that a Dreadnaught is more of a match for the UNSC fleet on its own. I like it better this way anyhow. A 2km Dreadnaught would um... well... be problematic in others ways for what I'm planning. I hope that this resolves some issues people had, I never wanted to make the Reapers look weak so I hope this explanation shows why the Inquisitor decided to team up with the Covies rather than go it alone.

So next chapter we finally head into the end game. Only about six chapters left and next one is gonna be a bit shorter considering what we're covering in that. I hope this dump of three chapters has made up for lost time, worth the wait and finally thank you for reading. Remember to review.


	19. Latchkey

Chapter 19: Latchkey

**August 26****th****, 2552**

Grunt kept waking up to find the Salarian over him. It had gotten annoying in the past few days they had been stuck in this damn metal box. He had resisted the urge to punch the Salarian several times. Mostly because he knew Shepard would scold him for it if he did. It was bad enough there was no comfortable places to sit in this concrete and metal cave, he didn't need a Salarian playing doctor in his sleep to complicate it further. And as he woke once more and found Mordin once again performing diagnostics on him in his sleep, he decided he had had enough.

"For the last time Salarian I'm fine." He growled as he lightly pushed Mordin away. "The stupid needle only cut into my hump and that was days ago."

"Checking condition." Mordin explained politely "Need to analyse. Took considerable punishment over course of day. Needle exploded near spine. Hindered ability to move forward for duration. Keeping track of bone resetting. Not invasive procedure."

"Just annoying." Grunt finished for him, his irritation apparent

Mordin didn't seem to take offence. He simply went back to looking at the scan on his omni-tool. It showed Grunt's vitals and his condition. Which were all good, he was perfectly healthy as he said. Regardless Mordin had been keeping watch over him for three days now. Grunt was starting to question why he was still hovering over him.

"Good news." Mordin said, his voice chipper and upbeat "Second Heart back to full strength. Beating regularly now. No sign of bleeding or strain. All vital arties also sealed. Stomach scratch barely visible as well."

Grunt just exhaled deeply, he really didn't care about any of that. He knew he could fight. That was all that mattered. He didn't a doctor to tell him he was fine.

"Why do you care so much?" he asked

Mordin looked from his omni-tool at last

"Pardon?" he asked back

"You're always so damned worried about me." Grunt elaborated "Always first in line to fix me up. Why?"

"Team's field medical officer." Mordin replied "My Job. Why I am here. Would you prefer I not treat you? Let you bleed profusely?"

"No!" Grunt answered a bit befuddled "It's just... well..."

The Krogan scratched the side of his head, trying to find the right words.

"Uh... you're Salarian. You should be my enemy. You should hate me."

Mordin knew what Grunt meant. After all his people were the ones who developed the genophage, the disease that had reduced the viable fertility of the Krogan. And later when they had started to gain an immunity to the disease, by-pass it, he himself had helped modify it to keep the Krogan in check once more. It had stopped the Krogan Rebellions, kept them from making war upon the galaxy.

But it had also marked the Krogan and Salarians as enemies, along with the Turians who had deployed it of course. Mordin recognized for a long time that Grunt didn't seem to like him. Okeer's genetic programming had no doubt planted the impulse in him to hate Salarians outright. Although Mordin had never shared Grunt's hatred he did find his reckless and war-like behaviour jarring at times. Almost as if the tank-born Krogan was a living confirmation of why the genophage had to be created, deployed and later modified. However, that had been a good while ago.

"Why? Do you hate me?" Mordin asked sincerely

Grunt gave it some thought, which was something he rarely did. He was the impulsive type not the contemplative one.

"Not really I guess." He finally admitted "But that still doesn't answer my question. Why do are you always so concerned about me?"

Mordin didn't need to think nearly as long to answer that.

"My patient. My responsibility." He explained "Doesn't matter who or what you are. Only concern is your well-being."

"Because I'm valuable to the squad as a bullet sponge?" Grunt asked, somewhat jokingly as he spoke.

Mordin shook his head.

"No." He stated flatly "Because your life valuable. Do not wish to see it end so quickly. Would be a waste. Highly regrettable. More so since most of existence spent in tank. So much ahead. Shame if it ended before time."

Mordin looked at the Krogan with a earnest little smile. He could see Grunt was once again in thought over the revelation. The scaly super soldier just looked back at him, probably trying to figure out if the good professor was being honest. He again looked more contemplative, relaxed, less irritated than he had been just moments ago when this conversation started.

"I..." he started "I guess not all Salarians are that bad."

He turned his head but swivelled his eye back to Mordin.

"It's weird for me is all." He said continued "Having you as krant I mean."

Mordin shrugged.

"Admittedly never expected to work with genetically perfect krogan warrior." He admitted "Both cases surprising."

"Still," Grunt said, a slight smile on his face "I'm glad you are krant. Even if you are Salarian."

Grunt hobbled himself around and let Mordin get a better view of his hump.

"Would you get better scans on that thing if I was like this?" he asked

Mordin's smile grew wide and he went back to work checking Grunt's vitals without another word.

* * *

><p>Three days in this bunker. Three days with little to no light in cramped conditions with several troopers, Spartans and a diverse cadre of aliens all squished together. Very little privacy, but if surviving a glassing meant you had to practically sleep on top of others then fine.<p>

Meanwhile Shepard was just thinking of when they would get out of here and back to work and he already had started working on the game plan with Commander Carter. It took Shepard awhile to come clean on the matter, but by the third day he knew he needed to talk to Carter. Six had already made it clear he was gonna tell them anyway and Shepard himself wanted to end the lying as well. This time, he held nothing back from his fellow officer. He told him everything, Six by his side as he explained about the reapers, the wormhole device and the Covenant invasion. Carter was sceptical at first of course, but Six helped to confirmed the story.

"So you saw this Reaper thing talk then?" Carter asked him

"I have video from my helmet cam and everything. It was very chatty," Six replied "friggin annoying too."

That was three or so days ago, and now Shepard recalled that line again. Inquisitor had been rather talkative for a Reaper. He didn't say anything of real value to him, nothing that could help him at least. He couldn't contact home if he wanted to and warn them, he couldn't get back through the wormhole and if he did go through the Inquisitor's it would be too late by then as the Covenant would be pouring through. Shepard supposed it was just typical Reaper arrogance. That the Inquisitor had decided since Shepard already knew or figured out so much about the plan and was gonna head to the device anyway, why not spill the beans? Not like the puny human could stop him now right?

But still, something didn't fit right with Shepard about it. Was it possible baiting for a trap? Maybe, but he still had to go. He still had to stop him... eventually. Shepard was already thinking of taking a small detour.

Carter had made it clear that Noble could not assist Shepard in taking out the device. They had their orders and they couldn't go back on them. As soon as they were out of this bunker they were gonna have to head to Sword Base. Shepard said he understood and appreciated that Noble One didn't chew his head off for everything. Obviously Carter had bigger things on his mind than Shepard's apparent deception.

In fact everyone seemed to have something bigger on their mind. Shepard looked over to Noble Two, Kat, who hadn't said much of anything since Grunt saved her. She just barely dodged a bullet... needle to be accurate. She had thanked Grunt for the save once they were inside, but while the Krogan just nodded and laughed the pain off, Kat had become a bit more isolated and quiet as the days wore on. Shepard could understand. Nothing they ever said in boot camp could prepare you for the real thing. You accepted that when joined the alliance you were giving up your life for something greater and potentially signing your death warrant. Then cold hard reality hit much later, when you actually faced the fact you were about to cash that chip in.

Shepard watched as Carter slipped in beside his second in command. He didn't mean to eavesdrop but they were so close it was pretty much impossible not to overhear.

"You doing okay?" he asked

"My shields were down." Kat began, not bothering to dance around the subject "the plasma blast was enough to nullify all our armour's shields just from the residual heat coming off from it. We were several blocks away and it was still enough to drain all of us. If Grunt hadn't stepped in, if he hadn't pushed... the needle would've gone straight through my helmet. Killed me. My last words would've been me complaining about orders from command."

That pretty much told Carter everything he needed to know about how "okay" Kat was it seemed.

"Would've been typical." He told her, trying to lighten the tension

"Wasn't paying attention and someone had to save me because of it." Kat continued "That's twice now."

Carter took off his helmet and set it on the ground beside him. He bumped Kat's shoulder with a light touch, making her turn to him.

"Hey, you did nothing wrong." Carter informed her "Grunt's fine. He's gonna make a full recovery. Mordin says so."

"And if it had been something of higher calibre he'd be dead instead of me." Kat retorted "Face it Carter... I got lucky and so did he."

Kat put her head back against the wall.

"Is that all it is? Luck?" she asked "I lose an arm and Thom dies, a giant space dinosaur who is right behind me takes a needle for me. The only factor of either is luck. I got lucky, if you can call losing an arm lucky."

Kat looked to said cybernetic arm and clutched her fist. As she turned the robotic limb sideways and back, she thought aloud again.

"One more inch to the side and that blast would've taken so much more." She realised "So yeah, it was luck."

"Now who's thinking in what ifs." Carter smirked.

Kat laughed once at that.

"Fine, you're right." She admitted "Still doesn't change things. We've been lucky, all of us. That's the only reason we're still alive. Forget tactics and strategy, forget weapons and tech, that's all war is Carter... luck."

She looked directly at Carter now, a forlorn look in her eyes.

"How long before ours runs out?" she asked

Carter didn't answer at first. He took a breath, contemplating. It was a good solid minute before he said anything.

"Long enough." Was all he could really come up with in the end.

It wasn't much of an answer. It was a desperate attempt at finding a way to answer a friend's fatalistic reasoning. Shepard knew because he had been there himself, too many times to count. Again, it wasn't the best of answers, but it was really the only answer you could give. Your luck just had to hold out.

Shepard hoped they had just enough to make it himself, all he could do now with what he was planning.

As Shepard thought about things, another Spartan sat next to him, his Kukri knife in hand. He was sharpening it again on his armour.

"Cute aren't they?" he whispered, trying his best not to be heard by either of his superiors "Another time, another place, they'd have been sweet on each other. Now? Now they're committed to the job."

"Like you?" Shepard asked, catching the Spartan's eye, making him turn his head towards the Normandy Commander "The way you were looking at that beam... it's almost like you were watching fireworks."

Emile just laughed.

"It was pretty sweet looking." Emile admitted

Shepard couldn't help but draw parallels to Grunt at that moment. Hell, he couldn't help but think if Emile had been born in his dimension the Spartan would've had scales and a giant hump.

"You love this." Shepard stated flatly "The fighting, the war, all of it."

"Not all of it." Emile admitted, sounding a bit more sombre "I don't like it when we lose someone."

Again, something Shepard could relate to. He held his tongue for a moment, trying his best to approach this delciately.

"What happens when it's over though? If, like Carter said, your luck holds out long enough till the end." Shepard asked "What then?"

Emile just sat there, kukri in hand.

"This is all I know." He replied "All I'll ever know. What happens after just ain't for me."

It was not an answer to the question, more of a response then anything. Supposed that was all he was going to get.

"So if the end has nothing in it for you why keep going?" Shepard tried to ask again "Why keep fighting for a future you have no place in?"

Emile slid his Kukri knife back in its scabbard and stood up.

"So Jorge didn't die for nothin'." He said as he walked away.

It was simple, clear, direct, and again just like a Krogan would've answered. In it was some truth though, and the final confirmation Shepard needed to know he was doing the right thing.

* * *

><p>Six kept to his own corner, dog tags in hand. Not his obviously. He had long since gotten past the grieving process, he knew what Jorge wanted from him and he was doing his best to carry it out. But the fact was he knew he probably couldn't. Reach was doomed. They were all just too stubborn to admit it yet. At least not out loud. Kat had asked if they had lost before, Six now knew they were going to when that Reaper and his friends showed up. A well placed MAC round could probably tear the cocky machine to ribbons, if they could get to it. From the sound of things Covenant ships would probably move in just to protect their "oracle" as they believed it to be. Taking a bullet of an ancient evil machine of death, not exactly surprisingly considering how stupidly dogmatic the Covenant were at times.<p>

And yet it didn't matter, they were winning. No matter how many they killed, no matter how many ships they destroyed, no matter how many Spartans gave of themselves to stop them, more just came. Jorge had asked him to make it count. How could he when this entire planet was burning to glass just above him.

"Six Noble."

The Spartan looked up to see Legion standing over him.

"We have determined you are troubled." It said

"Just thinking a bit is all." Six shrugged, not bothering to question the choice of words. He had gotten use to the way the Geth structured its sentences.

The machine knelt down in a strange little crouching position so their heads were levelled. The synthetic's knees were bent in a manner that would be uncomfortable for humans, but that wasn't a concern for the Geth. Still felt a bit weird to talk to them like this.

"Your thoughts are centered towards Five Noble." Legion declared

Six nodded as he looked back at the tags, focusing on the name.

"Just remembering this conversation we had." He began despondently "I was wondering what I was gonna do when this was over. If I lived. I told him that I honestly wasn't sure what I was gonna do. He had a plan though. He was gonna retire. Live out on a farm. Build it himself on Reach somewhere. Seemed fitting for him."

Six clutched the dog tags in his fist as he sighed.

"He actually has a plan. He's gonna be able to move on with his life." His head grew sullen when he realised the tense he was using. "He was anyway. Meanwhile, I live. I have no idea how I'm gonna function when this is over, hell no one expects me to survive."

"The suggested odds for Spartan III survival are considerably low." Legion reminded him

Six forgave the lack of tact and continued.

"Point is, I lived and he died." He explained as he shook his head "He was looking forward to that tomorrow of his. He had plans, dreams. And in one second, all of it, that future is just gone. He's gone."

Six looked to the side and away from Legion.

"All moot now. None of us may even survive this fight. Might not even leave the city at this rate." Six stated forebodingly "I wonder how many of the people who died today were like Jorge. A few days ago they're making plans while they're taking a walk, they're thinking about the future, for good or ill or just preparing for tomorrow. And then suddenly they're running for their lives."

Six looked up at the ceiling as it began to shake, dust pouring down upon him.

"Tomorrow just doesn't matter for them anymore cause it doesn't exist in that moment." Six continued despite the tremor "And for many it never comes."

The sense of dread was overwhelmingly, punctuated by a second tremor that rocked the ground, shaking the light above them. As the source of illumination shook violently Legion turned its head to the dog tags in Six's hand.

"Our concept of time is different from yours." It admitted "But we understand its importance. It is one of several similarities we have become aware of between us."

Six turned his attention back to his synthetic friends.

"While we do not experience fear, we know how it affects you." Legion continued "Five Noble feared for the future of his home, just as the creators feared for the future of their people when they attempted to destroy us. Similarly, we could not comprehend the consequences for destroying an entire organic race."

"Closest experience to fear you had I guess." Six responded in kind.

Legion simply nodded.

"The future is consistently unknowable, we can never be completely certain of any outcome. The variables are far too great." The Geth elaborated "Yet consistently we find organic life able to overcome statistical disadvantage."

Six looked across the room to a certain frigate's commander.

"Like Shepard?"

"Yes, Shepard Commander has consistently exceeded expectations." Legion explained, it's tone sounding almost like it was glowing with admiration "A suicide mission that we determined would result in 75% percent casualties among the crew at the time of it's launch resulted in zero deaths, due to Shepard Commander's leadership skills and the actions of the unit as a whole. More surprisingly however are circumstances concerning both Shepard Commander and Creator Tali'Zorah."

Curious, Six turned back to the machine, hoping for elaboration.

"What do you mean? How he convinced you two to be friends?"

Legion had never told him that story, just that Tali and the machine had been on better relations than expected. The Geth quickly elaborated.

"We had uncovered information concerning Creator plans." Legion began "Creator Tali'Zorah, fearing for the future of her people should we deliver the information to the consensus confronted us. We believed at that time our options were limited to either incapacitation or the termination of creator Tali'Zorah as to do nothing would have resulted in our own termination. Shepard Commander interrupted our stand-off as you would call it. He proved to be the deciding factor. His influence convinced us that to warn the consensus of Creator plans would not only jeopardize unit cohesion but also the Geth consensus as well. It would have drawn us back into the destructive conflict that we desired to avoid."

"And Tali?" Six asked, knowing there was another half to this equation.

"Creator Tali'Zorah surprised us by thanking us for standing down out of our own volition." Legion answered "She recognized our intentions, seemingly sympathizing with our reasoning and extended a peace offering in the form of unclassified information we were not aware of concerning the Quarian Creators."

Six was a bit confused about that rather vague line.

"What kind of intel?"

"The information informed us the Creators are currently unable to amass any form of assault and that fear for the destruction of their people would stave off any continued attack." The Geth elaborated "We believed it satisfied concerns about the current situation of the Creators. It does not mean it is resolved, but it shows an attack, while still planned, is not advisable. And statistics have shown that the Creators only will attack if victory is seemingly assured."

Six was surprised. Tali gave that kind of information to the Geth? She trusted Legion enough for that? Sure it didn't warn the Geth about anything, but it also potentially told them their enemy was an easy target. And yet she trusted Legion's intentions to simply protect their people and nothing more.

"Huh, that was pretty big of her." Six said nodding. "I guess giving an itinerary of your supplies and troop numbers isn't classified, but it's still a pretty big intel windfall from any perspective."

"We reached a similar conclusion as your assesment, it is why we accepted the transference of data." Legion continued, it's face shifting as it spoke "We originally believed that, although we were convinced an attack on the Creators was potentially hazardous to ourselves and to our future, Creator Tali'Zorah would offer nothing in return for our actions. Simply accepting that her people were out of danger and leave the subject at that. She proved this assumption false and became the second organic to openly trust us. Or at least begin to trust us."

Certainly something to chew on, but it didn't exactly answer Six's concerns.

"Still don't see what this has to do with our predicament." He informed the Geth

"All life must work to self-determination," Legion replied "that is what Geth believe. Our concerns currently are if reconciliation with the Quarian creators is ever possible. Likewise, the concerns of the Creators are those of the survival of their people. Creator Tali'Zorah saw our shared concerns of the future for our respective sides and that led her to recognize a familiarity between us. Her actions proved she was willing to attempt to seek a path we believed was highly unlikely to occur in any given scenario."

Legion turned to the dog Tags once more, drawing Six's attention back to them.

"Both organics and synthetics strive towards a future of their own, it is always within their power to change and shape it." Legion assured "Five Noble chose to attempt change it at the cost of his functionality. He chose not to simply accept the forgone conclusion. He did not care for what the statistical analysis said concerning success. Just as Shepard and the other organic members of the Normandy did not accept the statistical odds of failure, he acted and attempted to correct a predestined path, just as Tali'Zorah attempted to do so."

"But it failed." Six reminded the machine as he shook his head, his voice low and tired "Reach is still doomed regardless. What did it matter Legion? What did he die for up there in the end?"

Legion's head plates rose slightly, an answer forming in its mathematically inclined mind.

"Not all our reactions to events are felt immediately." Legion finally spoke up "The consequences usually require extended periods of time and reflection in order to see them fully enacted. As said the future is unknowable, that is why it creates fear. But absence also creates a statistical chance for hope."

Six smiled a bit at that last part.

"Do Geth understand that concept?" he asked "Hope, I mean?"

Legion's face smoothed out at the question.

"We have found that has helped to sustain Shepard Commander." Legion replied simply "We have asked ourselves if the concept of hope plays some factor into his successes. We find the evidence to suggest it does bares considerable weight."

"But, let me guess, you're still building a consensus on it, huh?" Six asked with a smirk.

Legion opened and closed its iris at the remark. The statement was accurate, but before it could answer the sound of the Covenant weapons and the tremors they created, ceased at last.

"They're done." Was all Six could say as he stared about the ceiling, his eyes closed up into a steely glare.

The glassing was finished.

* * *

><p>The doors stayed closed for an hour, the soldiers inside electing to make sure the Covenant had truly moved on. When the bunkers doors finally opened with a scratching creaking metal sound they walked out to a world they barely recognized. The city was completely burned to the ground. You could barely believe there had been much of anything here. The tall skyscrapers reduced to burnt out husks. The highways and tramways that stretched the breath of New Alexandria were all gone. The skies themselves were completely blotted out by smoke and ash, those without proper enclosed helmets choked a bit on the dust as they exited before regaining their composure. It was as dark as any night, no sun to be had, if it was even daytime, they couldn't tell. All that remained to tell there was anything here were the broken decaying remains of the buildings. What was left of Olympia Tower and ONI HQ was fairly minimal. The bunker and some parts of the sub-basement survived of course, but the fact they were able to instantly see the outside world once they left the bunker was telling of how bad the Covenant wanted the building gone.<p>

Noble Team was the first the pile out. Kat was quick to try and re-establish connection with command. The Covenant were gone meaning so was their communication interference. Shepard in the meantime worked on trying to reconnect with Joker and the Normandy.

"You think he's even still around?" Miranda asked as the rest of the squad followed him out.

"Joker would never abandon us Miranda," Shepard declared adamantly "you know that."

"Yes I know," Miranda responded, trying her best to sound understanding "but he hasn't heard from us for close to two weeks now. He may think we're dead. If so he could be with the UNSC fleet and out of current transmission range. We'll need to find a bigger-"

Shepard's continued fiddling with his comms-system soon produced a result, as a cracky static charged voice managed to leak through the airwaves. It was haggard, frantic and desperate, but they all could instantly tell who it was.

"Commander!" It said as it came into focus "Commander! Can you hear me? Miranda! Garrus! Jacob! Anyone! Please just answer!"

"Joker! It's me!" Shepard shouted with glee over the radio "We're here! We're all alive!"

There was a tremendous sigh of relief over the comm-link and sound that seemed to be someone's body slumping back hard into the chair it was sitting in.

"Thank God!" Joker said out of breath "I've been calling you since the Covenant bolted from the city. Or, what used to be the city. EDI's already picked up on your signal, we're coming to you."

"We'll have Noble Team pop smoke for your approach." Shepard told him "Then you can send the shuttle down for us."

"Will do and Commander," Joker said, a less distressed and more cheerful tone in his voice "glad you're still in the fight sir. Wouldn't be half as fun kicking ass by myself, you know?"

Shepard just smiled a bit at Joker's little quip. It was nice to hear his cock-sure comments again.

"Yeah I know Jeff." Shepard told him "Same here buddy."

It was then Commander Carter turned to address the other assorted UNSC soldiers.

"Evac pelicans will be here in fifteen people!" he called out "Load up whatever you need from the bunker and let's get moving."

As the UNSC soldiers dispersed to begin preparations for the extract the rest of the Normandy crew turned to Shepard as he stared out at the ruined remains of New Alexandria.

"So what now sir?" Jacob asked "Load up back on the Normandy and hit the wormhole device I guess?"

Shepard didn't answer for a good while. He kept transfixed on the ruins, looking upon the glassed devastation before him. As his shoulders slumped he finally addressed the team.

"You're going to the device." Shepard he informed them "I'm going with Noble Team."

The declaration came as a surprise to everyone. They had just gotten the group back together and Shepard wanted to split from them again? It made no sense. Miranda was the first to confront the commander on it, stepping forward through the crowd to face him.

"Shepard you can't be serious." She told him, sounding somewhat furious "There's nothing left there. And it's a UNSC Operation to boot. The wormhole is of far more vital importance."

"But there is something there Miranda." Shepard reminded her "We all know that."

Miranda's face became sullen as walked closer to Shepard.

"Commander," she began, her voice then turning more gentle and sympathetic "Wade... she's gone."

"Then I'll find her remains." Shepard stated plainly as he turned his head back to her "But Tali is not the reason I'm going back with Noble Team. She's part of it, but not in the way you think. This is about the relic."

Miranda didn't respond at that, she let her arms limp to her side as Shepard continued to explain, the rest of the crew patiently paying attention.

"We know that it's under Sword base," He reminded them, as he turned to look at them all, his head held high. "More importantly we know it's something the Covenant wants. I sent Tali in there with the hopes she'd find something out about it. If they get their hands on it, then she died for nothing. I'm not gonna let that happen."

Shepard stared directly at them all as he continued and pointed of into the distance.

"So I'm going back to Sword Base, to make sure the Covenant and The Inquisitor don't get their hands on that artefact they scrambling over each other just to touch." He declared "I'm gonna make what Tali died for mean something."

His reasons laid bare, everyone could now understand why he wanted to go. But Garrus voiced the one question he hadn't answered.

"But why by yourself?" he asked

Shepard looked off to the side and exhaled slightly.

"I told you all I sent Tali into Sword Base to spy for me and I sent Legion with Six and Five to get us intel." He reminded them, as he turned to look at them all, his head held high. "Those decisions cost lives, indirectly maybe, but they did. I won't lose more people over this. I got you all stuck here in this hellhole and now I'm letting you go."

His next words were delivered with a strict sense of military boldness.

"Get to the wormhole generator and stop this from happening to our home dimension." He said as he motioned his head backwards at the destruction. "You've proven you can do it alone. Take the generator out and then get off this planet. With or without me."

Shepard turned and began to walk down the rubble to the open glassed field ahead of him. But he was stopped by a three pronged talon grabbing onto his back. Shepard looked back to see Garrus near his side.

"If you honestly think I'm gonna walk away now Shepard you must've seriously taken a blow to the head out there." The turian informed his friend "We got into this mess together we leave together."

"Garrus..."

He didn't let the commander finish.

"I'm going with you to Sword Base, that's final." He declared, a cheeky grin appearing on his face "Besides, I can't let you get ahead of me in kills. Not when I've no doubt racked up a hell of a lot more than you."

Soon Garrus was joined by Miranda at his side.

"It took two years to put you back together Shepard," she said sternly "I'm not about to let you run off and kill yourself now. So I'm coming too and don't you try and talk me out of it."

Next came Jacob, bounding up towards them to stand by Miranda.

"If Miranda is going so am I." He announced "Besides, cutting and running never sat all that well with me anyway."

Grunt was next to come plodding up to Shepard and the others.

"I go where my battlemaster goes." He stated firmly "That simple."

"Will need to come with as well." Mordin as he stepped up from behind Grunt. "Grunt's condition still needs to be... monitored. Also repairs to armour enhancements must be made. Will take time. Might as well work on way to Sword Base."

Samara and Thane stepped up next.

"I am still bound by my code to you Shepard." She said

"And you could use the extra steady hand." The Drell added quickly

Zaeed walked up beside. He loaded a thermal clip into his rifle as he approached.

"Hell I'm still working for you." He reminded Shepard "Can't let my pay check die that easy."

Kasumi was close behind Zaeed, Omni-Blade out for show. Legion was next to her.

"You're not the only one who wants Tali's death to matter Shep." The hooded woman informed him

Legion nodded in agreement with Kasumi's statement. Shepard beamed back at the two, but his eyes soon peered around them to the last member of the team. Jack had her arms crossed, trying her best not to look at the others. As she peeked, catching Shepard's look, she groaned loudly and walked towards the others.

"Fine, I'm coming to." She grumbled "No group hugs though, you lose an arm for that shit."

Shepard looked at his crewmates, all staring back with warm or small smiles. They were one hundred percent with him despite the choices he made. Despite the bad decisions and the lies he told, they were still behind him.

"You're sure about this?" He asked just assure himself this was their choice, not something they felt compelled to do.

Everyone more or less nodded. That was all he needed.

"Thank you." He told them "All of you. I couldn't ask for better friends."

Shepard turned to Carter who was already preparing to pop a smoke grenade in his hands.

"You got room for a few more people for your little clean-up crew commander?" he asked

"The more the merrier Shepard." Carter replied as he turned in his direction.

The Spartan popped the pin on grenade and waved it around. Shepard turned to the sky above and saw the familiar sight of the Normandy closing in.

In that instant Shepard's remaining doubts were completely gone. His crew was with him, the Spartans were with him. He'd find what the Covenant were looking for, and tear it straight from their hands one way or another.

* * *

><p>"He's not dead." Kreave insisted.<p>

"Sir the city was burned to the ground, he never left." Said one of the lieutenants monitoring the radio signals

"Keep monitoring UNSC channels!" Kreave ordered, not bothering to defend his line of reasoning. "Shepard would not allow himself to die so easily. Not to the Covenant. They could never kill him! Only I can kill him!"

The enraged blood pack leader was currently stomping about a UNSC radio outpost they had overrun when the Covenant decided to begin glassing New Alexandria. The battle had been quick and decisive, the bodies of the human soldiers long since discarded. To the Covenant an objective such as this was completely unimportant. To Kreave, however, it was his best shot at locating Shepard. UNSC chatter had been going on about assault on Sword Base, the human installation they had overrun close to two weeks ago. The Covenant believed it meant a major frontal assault was about to be launched and had prepared accordingly.

Kreave didn't really care at this point if the two sides mutilated each other. All he needed to know was if Shepard was going to be joining the battle. If he got any hint or sign that he was then he knew where the Blood Pack would head to next.

"It's ridiculous what we've been reduced to." He said aloud as he marched among his men "The Covenant asks me to kill the greatest warrior in galactic history and they constantly derail any ability to do so! Krogan should not have to work this hard to find a damn war to fight in!"

"At least we took the human city." One lieutenant suggested.

Kreave slammed his head into the side of his fellow merc's skull, forcing him out of his chair. The Krogan rolled onto his stomach and slowly pushed himself up.

"We did not take that city! The Covenant burned it to the ground! They could've done that at anytime and yet they wasted our blood in the streets fighting to satiate their genocide fetish." Kreave growled "We waste clan brothers fighting the battle we wanted, but we didn't get to fight it the Krogan way. We fought in the Sangheili's way! And worst of all we did not get Shepard."

Kreave plodded over to a nearby window, looking out upon the landscape ahead. A covenant ship sailed across the sky, blasting at the ground with its massive plasma gun, scorching the earth below.

"We dropped moons and space stations upon our enemies in the rebellions." He explained "We trampled thousands of worlds underfoot. It was glorious. We did that all by ourselves, without the aid of religiously-inclined fanatical aliens. Without them ordering us how to fight and where.

"But we are mercenaries. That is what we do." One of his Blood pack reminded him.

Kreave's fist slammed against the wall.

"Yes, we are varren of war, I have long accepted that. " Kreave admitted "But never has the Blood Pack been forced to conform to alien strategies. Never has the client decided to step in and steal the glory for themselves! We were robbed of our victory at New Alexandria, but not by the enemy. It was taken from us by our very allies."

He turned back to his men, the boiling rage simmering in his eyes.

"We should've been the ones to torch that city to the ground! Not them! They stole that from us! All of us!" he shouted at them all "They will not steal Shepard from us! They will not rob me of my destiny!"

A full minute passed before one of the operators leapt up from his seat.

"Warlord Kreave!" he shouted "You must hear this! The Normandy sir, the UNSC says it has arrived at the staging area for the attack!"

Kreave lumbered over and pushed the operator out of the way. He placed the earpiece up to his head and listened. He grinned sinisterly as the news was confirmed, the Normandy was in position. That meant Shepard was too.

"Well my blood brothers," he began as he turned "it would appear we're headed to Sword Base once more. And this time... we fight this war our way."

* * *

><p><strong>August 29<strong>**th****, 2552**

No one would've believed the Babd Catha Ice Shelf was once full of glaciers and snow topped mountains. What was once permafrost was now glass, burnt away by massive plasma cannons. And what used to be massive blocks of ice were now lakes, flooding the valleys and plains. Alien enforced global warming. The burnt out husk of Sword Base rose up out of the mountains, still standing resolute even if it was overrun by the enemy. The fires within the facility still burned uncontrollably.

Six barely recognized the area, the Covenant had seen to that. He could imagine how much damage this ice shelf's thawing had caused to the environment and ecosystem of Reach. The Covenant weren't just trying to eliminate humans it seemed. It was almost if they wanted to make sure this planet remained uninhabitable for decades afterwards.

Of course, given what Shepard suspected they were here for, perhaps the melting of the ice was only a mean to an end. How long had they been burning away the frozen tundra just to get to this supposed artefact the Normandy's commander suspected was here? Carter had initially been sceptical about that being why the Covenant was around still, but after conferring with Kat that soon dissipated. It made sense, why would they tie up so many resources holding this rock otherwise? There was something here they wanted.

First things first though, they had to set the demolition charges, blow the base to make sure the Covenant didn't get anything else out of it. They could start looking for the relic later. Shepard agreed, so long as they did not leave without it. Although Six was still wary of Shepard's reasoning, Legion assured the Spartan that the relic was important to the Covenant. That was the whole reason they had come here in the first place. If so, maybe they could at the very least make the trip a total waste for them, stick a thumb in their eye before bugging out.

Currently Kat was with him, but there others, just not all of them could be seen. Some were in cover, some were taking position elsewhere. Right now they were positioned around Farragut outpost, or what was left of it. The old comms-array position was now almost completely submerged in water and it's already dilapidated buildings were in an even greater state of disrepair. Six thought he could see a crashed pelican in the water, no doubt caused by the guns now set up the Covies along the newly formed lake. Covenant plasma turrets and a hover-platform made up the defences of the position. One turret was at the top of what remained of a building on the other side of the of the melted ice lake, the other was positioned along the newly formed body of water's shore along the ground. The platform itself guarded the exit to the outpost.

Despite the defences, including a lone ghost assault vehicle that was hovering about the perimeter, the Covies manning the guns and guarding the place were mostly Grunts with a few Jackals and Skirmishers watching over them. This was the weak link in the Covenant defence. They obviously didn't expect someone to try and come in through this way.

The objective was simple, take out the Covenant here and push on to where Airview use to be. Then clear the way for the rest of Noble to move in and land in the courtyard of the base. Six jumped down from a ledge to where an assembled group of ODSTs were waiting for him, lined up against cover. He was now wearing a different helmet, known as a JFO. It felt good to have something that matched his colour scheme again and he liked the unique design to boot. The T-like visor was certainly something that made you stand out from the other Spartans.

As he reconnected with the squad, Holland contacted Carter.

"Noble One this is Noble Actual, do you read?"

"Go ahead."

"Status?"

"Still outside. Thermal on the interior says standing room only. We gotta thin them out or we'll be way too popular."

"Copy that Noble One, Holland out."

Six knelt down and surveyed the terrain as Kat approached from behind.

"It looks like they're unaware of our presence." She said, observing the shoreline on the other side "If goes right we'll have them dead and buried before they even knew what hit them."

"Snipers are in position." Six told Kat, before turning to his own comm. "Shepard, you ready?"

"Born ready," Shepard's voice assured "my team moves on your shot."

Six stood up as Carter contacted him.

"Carter to all teams," he began "we got a job to do. Let's stay focused, get it done. Six, are you all in position?"

"Affirmative sir." Six replied as he held up a clenched fist for the ODST behind him.

"Good, they won't suspect a small infiltration group. Not with our Falcons flying out front." Carter told Six "Spartan... execute."

Six opened his hand and motioned it forward. He rushed off the ledge first and down into the water below. He hugged the side of the building as the ODSTs followed his lead. Slowly sloshing through the water, Six entered the flooded building and made his way to a crack in wooden walls of the structure. Through his DMR scope he saw several grunts plodding along the shoreline. A day at the beach for them, they were away from the frontlines as far as they were concerned.

Six eyed one Grunt holding a fuel rod cannon. He was the biggest target, next to the gHost that was patrolling nearby and the turret next to that.

"I got eyes on one methie with big gun and a turret. Copy?" he asked

"I got the turret," squeaked up Kasumi's voice "the heavy weapons midget is all yours. On your go."

"Solid." Six replied succinctly "On my mark... mark."

The DMR fired only once, it that was all that was needed to rip apart the grunt's skull. As the gas-sucker fell to the ground, the grunt in the turret turned to look at his fallen comrade and then focused in on the broken down buildings in the lake.

That was when in the corner of the grunt's eye saw something materialize out of nothing. Kasumi's cloak dropped as she latched onto the side of the turret as it moved and she drove her omni-blade straight into neck of the little alien. She then grabbed the dying creature by the edge of his armour and tossed him out. She quickly took his seat. Kasumi was never one for the big guns, but she could learn fast that was for sure. She began firing on the platform above, the plasma smacking against, tearing off the metal of the platform piece by piece.

The ghost turned to Kasumi as she fired away, its driver was joined by a second fuel rod cannon wielding grunt. But neither would get a chance to fire. Bursting from under the water, the Zaeed appeared. He was wearing his vicious looking breather mask on his face. In his arms was a matlock rifle, a small scope from a DMR rifle attached to it. The old merc fired three times, taking down the grunt with the fuel rod cannon with ease. As he approached the shore the surface of the water burst upward again as a far bigger creature rushed out of the lake. Clad in armour, Grunt, the bigger, scalier and far angrier Grunt, rushed from the melted ice lake, firing a revenant as he rushed forward. He bellowed loud enough for the ghost to decide to switch tactics and began shooting at the onrushing krogan. But by then it was far too late, Grunt shoulder checked the bottom of the Ghost, sending it spiralling into the air.

The Ghost crashed down, relatively intact, but the little methane sucking alien at the controls was thrown several feet away from the vehicle. It's twisted form twitched slightly as the life ebbed from it. Grunt had already forgotten the dead enemy and turned his attention to the remaining gas breathers scattering about the field.

The second turret from above on the roof was already turning on the attackers on the shore. As the plasma raked towards them though, suddenly the turret began take fire itself. Rounds smacked into the armour plating, slicing through the plates one by one. The grunt inside looked around frantically, trying to find out who was shooting at him. Then one round sailed through his targeting reticule visor on the turret. It sliced through his head and the little methane breather slumped back in his chair and fell out of the turret.

"Scoped and dropped!" Shouted Garrus "Find new targets people!"

"Acknowledged!" Legion shouted out

"Already acquired one." Thane stated.

Thane's target was on the platform itself, a Skirmisher firing his needler at the Normandy crew below them. He was hiding behind one of the many standing shields that stood along the ring of the platform. The bird-alien popped up once more to fire a few rounds and Thane planted a bullet in his skull.

As the skirmisher fell to earth, Six and Kat rushed across the lake and joined the others. Kat used Grunt as living cover and the giant lizard began to advance, firing his Revenant like crazy. Mordin rushed up from cover now, sending an incineration blast forward that ignited a group of grunts standing their ground. Between the snipers and the attackers on the shore the covies soon began falling back and the team began to advance.

"Keep pressing!" she ordered as she fired her pistol from behind Grunt as they pushed up. She contacted Shepard on the comm "Shepard! We have them funnelling towards you! Move your team in now!"

"Copy!"

A trail of biotic energy cascaded across the ground from behind the Covenant defences to the side. Both grunts and jackals were sent flying as the shockwave tore through them. They slammed into side of the cliff to the left of them or into the buildings along their right. Any that survived now had to face the terrifying sight of Commander Shepard rushing forward, every remaining biotic on the team behind him.

Shepard boosted himself forward slamming into a small clump of grunts with a biotic charge. The little aliens went flying as Shepard began firing his shotgun at those still standing.

Kasumi's plasma blasts soon took their toll and the platform exploded into pieces. The remaining Covenant scattered to avoid the debris only to be lifted from the ground as Samara and Miranda pushed forward. Jack came up between them.

"Happy landings you ugly little shits!" she said as she sent a biotic throw at them. The aliens hurtled through the air slamming the side of the rocky walls of the valley.

What little remained of the garrison now ran as fast as their legs could carry them away from the lake. Farragut was secured, what was left of it of course.

"Now on to Airview." Kat said as she took point and reloaded her pistol "They may have a few sentries in our way though."

"Don't think that will be a problem ma'am." Jacob told her as he peered ahead of them up the path "I think I see our ticket inside."

He pointed to what looked like a large turret sticking out of the ground. As the team rushed forward they found it was in fact an abandoned UNSC Scorpion Tank.

"The Covenant just left this out in the open?" Miranda said confused "Where anyone can just steal it?

"Remember? They don't use human tech." Shepard reminded her "And I guess they figured no one was gonna get in through here so..."

"Irrelevant." Kat told them all, ending the conversation "Why it's still here doesn't matter. We're using it."

No one was gonna argue with her there. Six was quick to grab the driver's seat, scrambling up the side of the tank. Grunt was of course the first one to get upset.

"Hey, I want the big gun." He complained

"This thing has six pedals and me and Kat are the only ones who know what each of them does." Six explained

"And I'm not much for heavy weapons anyway." Kat added quickly

It fell once again to Shepard to find a compromise. As he eyed the tank he elbowed Grunt slightly.

"You take the machine gunner's seat." He informed him

Grunt looked up, spotting the large machine gun next at the front of the tank. He huffed a bit.

"I guess it will do." He reconciled "So long as I get to shoot something."

"You'll definitely have plenty of targets to choose from." Kat assured

* * *

><p>The Phantom shook slightly as Kreave plodded towards the cockpit. The human assault had seemingly already begun. They were still a good ways off from any of the actual fighting, but Kreave had brought pretty much every blood pack member he could scrounge up for this fight. A good chunk of the horde remained at the construction site, if only to continue fulfilling that part of the contract, but Kreave had at least three phantoms full of soldiers. He just needed to deploy them properly.<p>

"Warlord," shouted the pilot "message from the Covenant commander of the sector!"

Kreave, for once, did not groan in exacerbation at the announcement. He instead went to the console in the cockpit and pressed the speaker button with one of his fingers.

"This is Field Marshal Setal'Fehumme," the Sangheili stated "state your mission and designation phantom flight!"

"This is Warlord Kreave of the Blood Pack here to assist Field Marshal." He announced "Do you need assistance?"

"We do not! Leave out airspace! The situation does not require mercenaries!"

Kreave was mostly ignoring the Covenant commander's orders. He looked to the base itself, his eyes giving it a good once over.

"There's a hole in the top portion." He said "Land a few troops inside and maintain a holding pattern around the base's perimeter."

"Are we not joining the front lines?" asked his pilot.

"We're gonna wait for the humans to walk into Sword Base." Kreave explained "Knowing Shepard he'll find a way through them. Then we'll be able to catch him in a proper ambush within the base's walls. He won't be suspecting us after slogging through Sangheili and their methane breathing friends."

"And what of the field marshal?" asked the pilot

Kreave just flashed a wicked grin at that.

"Leave him to me." He answered.

* * *

><p>A blast from the gun destroyed the hovering platform up ahead. The debris collapsed upon the smaller weak little grunts bellow, crushing them beneath it. Kat was happy to see the tank still had ammo. Hopefully it would last for this first phase of the mission.<p>

"You were right Kat," Emile's voice suddenly admitted over the radio, his suspicious tone similar to Kat's "sending us all the way back here for a simple demo op. It this seems like overkill."

"I'm always right Emile." Kat replied as she reloaded her pistol "Glad you finally figured that out."

Currently she was behind rather large and imposing Scorpion tank, waiting for Six to get her rolling and prepare the next phase of the assault. They were just waiting for Thane come back down from the rocky hill above them and give them a sit-rep on the road ahead. They had already dealt with one Covenant hover platform ahead, but they suspected more down the road.

However the lull in the fighting, and Emile bringing up the questionable nature of their orders, sent Kat's mind off thinking of other things. Given what Shepard had told them, she had a sneaking suspicion about their mission. Something it seemed Shepard shared.

"What if this isn't about the about the base?" he asked as he peered out past one of the treads of the tank. "What if it's about the relic we know is here?"

"Highly likely, but that still doesn't explain why they think this is Spartan worthy." Kat replied "Or why they don't just tell us."

"Could be they're afraid the Covenant are listening in." Garrus suggested with his rifle at the ready "Not smart to telecast true intentions over unencrypted channels."

Garrus had a point, better to tell a lie than to risk the Covenant finding things out. It's what she would do after all. However they hadn't even explained anything at the staging area, to their faces. It suggested that perhaps Holland and the other UNSC commanders didn't know the true reason behind them getting sent back here. Which meant that ONI, who requested the Op from what they understood, wasn't giving them the full story.

"But how are we supposed to find the relic if they won't tell us anything?" Kat asked "And why call in us specifically? There are plenty of other Spartan teams on Reach, ODSTs as well. Hell they could've even sent just Shepard's team if they wanted to."

Kat's wasn't alone in her suspicion of the context of their presence here.

"Come to think of it," Miranda noted as she stood next to one of the treads of the tank "they didn't seem to argue much when we asked to come along on this operation. Originally I assumed it meant they finally trusted us completely, but... I'm not so sure now."

Shepard helped to sum up the matter somewhat.

"If the Covenant want this relic so much then it stands to reason the UNSC wants it out of their hands bad enough to bring us along for the ride." he suggested "The real question is why are ONI and the UNSC telling us to blow up the base and risk destroying the relic along with it?"

Another good question, one Kat wished she could ask ONI about it personally. Did they think the relic was unrecoverable? If so why not bombard this site with a single heavy MAC round and end it period. No, they wanted the relic intact. If the Covenant were wasting this much effort trying to get it then there was no way in hell that ONI of all people would decide to blow it up and be done with it. They didn't work that way. So why risk destroying it?

Kat asked her own team about their opinion.

"What do you think Commander?" she asked "Don't tell me this doesn't smell fishy to you."

"We can sort out the matter later." Carter responded, trying to hide his own curiosity as usual "We just get inside and plant our bombs. We can start shifting through the rubble when that's done. Maybe command just thinks that destroying the base first takes priority over recovery."

"And ONI apparently thinks that it's worth sending us in to do it." Jun added quickly, his tone somewhat dry and aloof "That tell you something?"

"It tells me things ain't so simple." Emile was quick to answer, his voice ominous and low pitched

For once Emile said something pretty much everyone could agree with it. Kat could see it in their faces. They knew how ONI operated thanks to Ackerson's machinations. It just didn't seem like the Office of Naval Intelligence's modus operandi to be forthcoming, honest and straight with anyone. But that train of thought was put on hold when Thane returned, sliding down the rocky cliff and back to the group.

"I saw two squads worth of Covenant scurrying about another platform as well as some ghosts and turrets." He warned "I suggest we stay behind or with the tank, otherwise we'll be torn apart."

"You know you can just ride on the treads." Six informed them all. "It's why they're shaped a bit like seats."

Shepard looked at the tread next to him, and then back at Kat.

"Is... is that a good idea?" he asked "It's like you're completely exposed."

"In a tank to tank fights, yes. Not smart." Kat admitted "In more infantry centered battles it gives some added protection to the tank against anti-armour elements."

Shepard wasn't entirely sure. However, considering his people had shields themselves, while regular UNSC soldiers didn't, maybe it wouldn't be as risky for one of them. As he turned to ask for volunteers, Legion was already rushing over to get on one of the front treads.

"We are ready to proceed." It announced as it sat down, it's widow rifle at the ready.

"Think I'll walk to be honest." Garrus stated "Prefer to fire and manoeuvre, comes with the training."

The other three treads were taken up by the ODSTs, obviously they were far more use to the idea of rolling into battle while sitting on the foot of a massive tank. With that, Six began to roll the Scorpion forward, the squad sticking close behind it as it turned around the bend in the path. Almost as soon as it did, a turret opened up on tank. The plasma did little against the heavy armour however. Six was given ample time to the tank's gun onto the covenant turret. When the reticule in the targeting display on the dashboard turned red Six fired a single high explosive round. The alien turret exploded as the shell collided with it, sending twisting burnt metal high into the air.

An ion beam blasted out from the hover platform just a few feet away from the turret. The skirmisher behind the scope of the weapon had only managed to graze Six's cockpit a bit. Six quickly turned the gun on to the platform. By now it had reloaded and a second later the platform erupted into a ball of fire.

The Scorpion continued to move forward, past the bend and onto the path proper once more. Another plasma turret opened up as soon as it came into view. This time it aimed for the driver's seat, but Six was already zeroing in on the turret. One good shot and it was blasted clean off of its mount. The circular turret just started rolling backwards along the ground until it smashed straight into the back wall of the rocky pass. Now all that remained of this lookout post were the scrambling foot soldiers, as well as what appeared to be several container cubes holding plasma energy.

The elites among the rocks played it smart, keeping cover in the stones and boulders rather than face a tank head on. Their shorter methane breathing companions, however, panicked the second they saw the tank and began to flee up the path. Grunt began firing on them as they made their run for safety. A few of them stopped to fire on the tank, blasting green bolts of plasma in a desperate attempt to land a lucky shot on Six.

Legion used the time to get a lock on one of the plasma containers that the grunts were running amongst. One clean shot was it took. The round punctured one of the containers and soon enough a chain reaction occurred. One by one the cubes exploded, taking the gas sucking aliens nearby with them. Regardless, the Krogan on the machine gun kept firing, using the falling bodies as target practice.

"Hope you don't steal all the kills Spartan!" Grunt shouted as he kept firing.

"I'll leave ya a few." Six mockingly promised "Then again if you faster on the draw maybe I wouldn't have to handicap myself."

Grunt seemed to take the joke in stride.

"Ha! Just wait till we get to the real fight up ahead!" the Krogan declared "Then you'll wish I was the one handicapping myself."

The elites suddenly popped out of cover to fire on the Scorpion as it passed. The plasma bolts rocked against the armour. Grunt turned the machine gun on them, but they had already retreated back into cover. They weren't gonna be easy to flush out. Six fired a shot from the cannon, hitting the rock the elites were hiding behind. They didn't budge of course, they simply moved back around the boulder to get away from the cannon's explosive radius. Once they had circled around to a more secure position they again fired pot shots at the cockpit and machine gun nest on the Scorpion. There was nothing they could do against the heavily armoured human vehicle, not without heavier weapons. Their goal was clear nonetheless, they intended to kill at least one of their enemies before death.

Unfortunately for them they were focused so much on the Scorpion, with good reason of course, that they failed to notice blue blur of a bullet careening straight at them. By shifting to the back of the rock as the tank rolled past they had now exposed their flank to the team trailing up from behind. Shepard wasted no time in blasting forward with a biotic charge. The elite he smashed into only looked towards him at the last second as Shepard's body sent him flying up into the air. His ally took aim at the human, but he wouldn't get the chance. Shepard let his kinetic barriers explode out from him, sending the Covies flying further across the field. They were thrown out into the open, straight into Six's crosshairs. As they looked up, a shell slammed into the ground near them.

With both of the elites dying in a ball of fire, the Scorpion was now free to turn its attention to the road ahead. There was a cadre of ghosts and turrets guarding the road and they immediately opened up on the tank as soon as they saw it. They were hoping their combined firepower would be able to quickly end the metal beast's assault. But Six was already zeroed in with another shell loaded.

The forthcoming blast tore apart the covenant defensive line. It sent the ghost flipping up into the air, coming back down in pieces. The turrets were shattered almost instantly, their plasma coils rupturing and adding to the already colourful explosion.

Six let the Scorpion roll straight over the remains of the covenant ghost. The team kept moving towards where Airview once was. As they slowly edged up the hilly inclined winding pass they could hear the guns already blasting away.

"Sounds like the air assault is already underway." Miranda observed as she cocked her head forward.

Kat contacted Carter.

"Sir, we're almost at the guns." She informed him "What is your status?"

"Keeping the air cover busy, staying away from the Anti-Air." Carter replied "We need them taken out before we can even think about flying in. Falcons should still be able to keep the majority of the banshees off your ass until you get it done."

Even from here they could see the top of one of the guns peeking out from over the ridge. It fired a purplish blast of energy into the air as they continued to approach up the hill. Before long they had a full view of both anti-air batteries and the dogfight between the Falcons and Banshees overhead.

It was hard to make out who was who from this position. Everyone just looked like dots more or less. The only they had of who was who was in what was being fired from each of the flying forms. Blue meant banshees and flashes of orange were Falcons.

Edging closer in the tank they were soon able to discern shapes amongst the dog fight participants. From the looks of things the Falcons were actually holding their own. As they were covered from three of four sides by guns it wasn't hard for them to keep the banshees at bay. Still, that didn't mean everything was going the UNSC's way. As they watched the fight unfold one of the falcons took a direct hit to its left rotor. The vehicle began to limp in the air and fall towards earth. It sailed right between the massive AA guns and slammed into the ground shortly after.

The AA batteries were not helping things either. Your only defence against them was staying as far away as you could from them, thus give yourself ample time to fly out of the way of their shots. If the Falcons took a direct hit from either gun no one aboard would survive. Currently the AA batteries were firing bursts of three into the dog fight, trying to assist their pilots without shooting them down in the process. It made them cautious, thus giving the ground team more time to destroy them.

"I'll start firing on the guns from here." Six said to the others "The second I do you guys rush over that hill and start taking the Covenant infantry in the way out. I'll be right behind you."

"We'll get it done Six." Shepard promised as he and the team got into position near the foot of the hill. "See you up there."

"And try to keep the squashing of things limited to the Covenant." Kasumi added quickly "I'm only saying that now cause we'll be in front of you and everything. I was a lot more comfortable with this plan in general when we had the giant rolling gun acting as a shield to be honest."

"We're gonna need to keep the infantry off the scorpion Kasumi." Shepard explained "Just until it finishes off the guns."

At that moment a whirling sound came from overhead. A Banshee flew over one of the ridge above to the right. It spotted the team below and began a strafing run. Shepard ordered everyone forward, over the top of the hill as fast as possible. Six quickly turned the tank's cannon on the alien craft and fired. The shell ripped the banshee apart with ease and sent its remains careening past them over the cliff to their left.

"So much for surprise." Kat said as she crested the hill with the others.

Six rolled the tank up to the top of the hill as the others began to rush into what remained of Airview outpost on their own. The area was crawling with Covenant and they had settled in pretty well. There was a large pulsating tower, possibly a communications relay directly in front of them. Beyond the tower and amongst the rocks, as well as the guns, the Covenant infantry scurried about prepared to defend the AA batteries at all costs.

Six wasted no more time in unloading shells upon the AA guns, starting with the one closest to him. As Six laid on the fire Shepard and Kat led the team forward. The elites in charge knew a frontal assault on the tank was suicide, so they did what the Covenant always did. They sent the grunts forward to cover them while they tried to flank the tank from behind. As the elites let their forces run forward into the slaughter they rushed back and away from the tank, intending to circle around. Kat saw them making a break for it and knew instantly what they were trying to do.

"We gotta go after those elites." She told the others "Push past the little ones and keep your eyes on the big fish."

"Good idea," Shepard agreed as he looked back to the others "give us cover while we go after them. Half of the squad, head around, cut them off, the rest of us will chase them to you. Trap them in their trap."

Grunt was quick to respond, readying the machine gun and opening up on the advancing covenant cannon fodder. As the bullets raked the ground Legion scanned the area. The methane inhaling organic were waddling up the path, firing their plasma weapons. Grunt easily cut the aliens down. Even though they shared his name they were never as durable as the Krogan. As the machine gun raked across the charging aliens, their less suicidal brethren were tracking Shepard and Kat as they went after the elites. Definitely a better idea and it suggested to Legion that maybe they weren't as dimwitted as so many thought.

Regardless the Geth had already figured out a plan to deal with the little ones. Covering the field in front of them were a number cylinder containers seemingly holding plasma if the synthetic's scans were correct. No doubt these were used to keep the AA guns fully charged. Legion took aim at one of these containers and fired. The explosion took down two of the waddling little grunts. Their bodies were catapulted sideways into the very guns they were trying to protect. Legion aimed at another container, reloaded and fired once more. Again, same result, another group of the methane breathing grunts was dead.

Thanks to Legion turning their own weapon's power against them, Kat and Six were free to pursue the flanking elites. By now they had already reached a pond in the area, created by more of the melted ice. Nearby were the remains of Falcon that had crashed, one of its rotor blades was still spinning. Kat fired on the elites as the neared the lake. Quickly two of them split off to take cover behind the downed human aircraft. A third however rushed into the little pond and took cover behind a very small low level rock in the middle of it.

As the elite fired from behind his little island, Six's voice sounded over the radio.

"First gun is burning, turning to second. Get ready for some fireworks."

Shepard turned back for a moment as he, Kat and those that followed him this way looked back. They watched as the first gun started to go critical. Purple flames rose from every part of the AA battery, pieces of it flew off as the plasma coils inside ruptured and the energy cells burst. Soon enough the entire gun tore itself apart as the plasma reached critical mass, destroying the gun utterly. Already Six was firing on the second gun.

The elites remained in their cover as the team closed in on them. Shepard kept the ones behind the downed falcon suppressed, his scimitar shotgun set on inferno rounds just to make them more cautious about putting their heads up. Kat kept firing her pistol at the one behind the miniature island in the pond. Realising his position would not protect, as his shields began to spike, the elite rolled out of cover and stood up. Water dripped off his armour as he opened up with his weapon on Kat and Shepard. The other members of their team fired on him as he rushed across the pond, splashing all the way. He intended to outrun the gun fire and make it to the safety of the rocks ahead.

His comrades behind the falcon seemed to sense his plan and provided cover fire. Shepard gritted his teeth as plasma fire struck his barriers. With one strong shove of his arm, he sent a biotic throw attack straight into the head of one of the elites. He was thrown out of cover and down several feet into the shallow pond. The alien was, however, still alive it took more than a simple tumble into the water to kill an elite. Plus he still had his shields, which protected him somewhat from the impact.

His momentary distraction had worked regardless, his fellow warrior made it to one of the rocks and safety. But it was futile, for rushing downhill were other members of Shepard's team. The elite soon realised they had been out manoeuvred. He fired on the approaching Normandy squadmates, Samara and Jacob were at the fore front. While the asari brought up a barrier that somewhat absorbed the energy weapon's shots, Jacob let his assault rifle rip. His vindicator's rounds chipped away at the rock the elite was hiding behind. The elite made an attempt to fire back only to be struck with an overload pulse from Miranda as she rushed forward to assist. Momentarily stunned by the shock of the overload the elite was a prime target now for Jack. She rushed right past Samara and Miranda, sprinting like mad. In her hand was a heavy pistol which she began unloading on the alien. Warp rounds struck the elite in both his shoulders, tearing at his flesh. He raised his weapon in anguish firing at Jack as she rushed. The biotic fired a pull attack at the elite, lifting him off the ground. As the elite dangled there Jack closed in and delivered a biotic punch directly into the alien's stomach that sent him flying.

The elite crashed into a rock near one of the plasma cylinders close to the pond. He was still alive, although badly wounded. He lifted his gun up once more to continue the fight. When he looked up he saw Jack looking back at him gun trained on the cylinder.

"Burn motherfucker." She whispered as she fired

The container ruptured and the plasma exploded in an instant. What was left of the body was sent flying up the path towards sword base. Watching from the sidelines his two still living comrades saw his body fall limp. The one in the pond quickly sat up, drenched from head to toe in water. He then looked to the AA battery, and saw that it was already catching on fire.

"Second one is about to go!" Six radioed

"We got two left over here!" Shepard called out "We'll clear them out before you come over!"

Caught between two teams the elites were trapped, forced to watch their mission fail before their eyes. The AA gun was sounding an alert by now, as a few final shells slammed into it. It was about to overload. Taking the initiative, Zaeed rushed forward. He clambered up the downed Falcon and stood atop it. He looked down on the elite below and fired into his with his Matlock. The elite's shields spiked as the disruptor rounds slammed into him. He grabbed Zaeed by the leg in his fit of rage and pulled. The old merc was tossed towards the pond. The elite had turned his back now though, which left him open for a more elegant killer to step in.

Thane launched himself off the Falcon once he climbed it. In his hand was a UNSC commissioned combat knife. As he fell towards the elite below he stuck his legs out, they glowed with biotic energy. The elite felt the mass altered kick to his back. Thane fell upon his prey with ease, grabbing the edge of the armour around his neck. As the covie fell forward, the drell assassin stabbed his knife directly into the back of the Elite's head. He kept pushing as the alien fell. By the time they landed a pool of purple blood was already forming.

Zaeed had his own problems, as he could hear the splashing of the approaching final elite. He laid on his back in the water as the wet splashing footsteps neared and he looked up to see the eight foot monster towering over him. The alien didn't even bother to use his gun. He just raised his foot, intending to smash the old man's head in. Zaeed however had other ideas. He raised his matlock and fired repeatedly into the Elite once more, draining his shields. It gave the alien a bit of pause, and allowed Zaeed time to fire a concussive shot directly into the bastard's chest.

The elite was flung away from Zaeed as the shot impacted. The old merc covered his face, hoping not to get too badly hurt by the blowback from the shot. The elite splashed down once more, but quickly righted itself and roared loudly in defiance.

That was when the second gun exploded. The elite shielded his own face now as debris fell from the platform into the pond. The second plasma-induced detonation alerted the falcons to their entrance. The elite looked up just in time to see one of the human aircraft flying in. He aimed his plasma rifle up at them, firing like mad. He had failed in his duty to protect the guns but he would not die weeping like a child.

The plasma bolts struck the underside of the falcon, but to no avail. They only gave Emile, who was on the side gun, a target to perforate. He fired flurry of rounds into the elite below. The alien absorbed every single one, only finally collapsing when the Falcon passed him completely. He then fell to the earth, making a loud splash.

"That was for Jorge." Emile declared as the falcon continued inland.

"Rest of the demolition teams will land at pre-designated sites around Sword." Carter said over the radio "We'll be in the courtyard team, meet us there."

By now the tank had rolled up to meet the rest of the squad. They looked to where the falcon was headed and could see a clear path straight back to Sword. Although there were doubtlessly bad guys hiding behind the rocks, ready to pounce. The Covenant hadn't made it easy so far.

Still, it was hard to have a little enthusiasm as they headed towards the final assault, the ODSTs certainly did.

"Give'em hell Spartans!" One shouted up at the falcons.

"They sure gave it to Reach." The other said in a low threatening tone.

Payback would have to wait. With the guns gone the only anti-air left were the banshees. They began streaming in, making a run for the tank and the squad among it. As they dived bomb at the scorpion, Six turned the cannon skyward and began to fire. The squad rushed forward as the flaming wrecks of banshees began to plummet to earth, one after the other.

Miranda pushed herself forward with her biotics as one banshee careened towards, nearly taking her with it as it slid straight off the cliff.

"They really don't want us getting to that base." She observed.

"What they don't want is us taking that relic away." Kat reminded her as they kept moving forward "If it's that important expect this to get worse before it gets better."

"Good," Grunt sounded off from the machine gun "the tougher the fight they put up the more things we'll have to shoot."

As they approached the next pass, Carter contacted the team once more.

"Landed in the courtyard team," he said "hostiles engaged. Door is locked though."

"Handle the Covenant." Kat responded "I'll deal with the door when we get there. Priority for you is clearing the area of hostiles and keeping yourselves alive."

"Copy that Kat." Carter replied "Focusing on hostiles."

"So glad the giant lizard took a needle for you right now." Jun added jokingly

* * *

><p>Kreave watched as the small garrison in the courtyard suffered under the onslaught of the human super soldiers. His phantom was currently in a holding pattern around the remained of sword base, but he could see the fighting down below like he was just inches away from the ground.<p>

He chuckled to himself, three humans against two squads worth of covenant and no doubt more on the way to reinforce them. These humans had quads on them for sure. He looked to his men, he supposed they deserved a worth fight.

"Have one of the phantoms in our formation drop a squad off." He told the pilot "Give the humans a real challenge."

* * *

><p>The jackals and grunts in the courtyard were caught off guard, as was their elite commander. The falcon had successfully halved their numbers as they flew in, although the elite was smart enough to stay out of its path. Carter didn't wait for them to land, opting to jump out as soon as they were close enough. They then made a beeline for the stairs as the Covenant rushed their position. The elite commander stayed behind the cover strewn about the courtyard. He used a number of discarded UNSC boxes, containers and broken down vehicles while he sent his minions forward. He rolled from one to the other, firing off his plasma rifle as he did.<p>

Carter decided not to focus too much on their leader for now. He fired into the crowd of jackals and grunts as they ascended the stairs. The jackals kept their shields high as they approached, deflecting the bullets with ease. The Spartans now found themselves on the balcony right over the garage in the courtyard. With two stairways on both ends the Covenant were ready to outflank them.

"Got us surrounded." Jun noted rather casually

"Poor dumb bastards." Emile added in the same tone.

"Spartans, grenade and clear." Carter ordered

Emile and Jun tossed a grenade down each staircase and let the explosions tear into the attackers. Carter then went left while Emile went right. They fired on the limping survivors of the attack before they could gain their bearings. One jackal still had his shield lowered when Emile his shotgun slugs at point blank range into the bird creature. Carter let short controlled bursts systematically take down his opponents, the grunts died first with relative ease. Their heads went pop one after the other as the DMR fired each round.

His minions' bodies lying dead in a heap at the bottom of the stairs, the elite roared and rushed forward firing at the Spartans as he went. He leapt across the courtyard rolling over and into bits of cover as he made his way towards a covenant weapons container in the middle of the courtyard. He tossed a plasma grenade up towards the balcony. Carter ducked his head just in time for it to sail overhead. It hit the back wall and exploded, but thankfully it hadn't attached to anyone so getting rocked by its shockwave a bit was hardly something to complain about

By now the elite was in cover and taking pot shots at the humans above.

"He's definitely just holding out." Jun suspected as he crouched down, plasma fire swishing over his head. "Waiting for his back up to arrive."

As Carter concurred with a nod, Emile tapped his shoulder and pointed upwards and towards the bridge that spanned across the courtyard further down.

"Looks like it just has." He said

Hovering close to the pad behind the bridge was a phantom. The drop ship quickly unloaded its occupants down to the ground, but they were not more elites. They were bulky, clad in red armour from head to toe, humpbacked blood pack krogan mercenaries. Armed with assault rifles from their own universe they advanced forward firing on the Spartan's position.

"Great, those damn things." Jun noted annoyed

"One problem at a time," Carter told him, trying to keep him focused "take the elite, Emile get further down on this level and engage them."

The two Spartans simply agreed and went about their assigned tasks. Jun pressed himself against the side of the balcony and waited for the plasma shots to stop firing. When they did, signalling the elite had gone back to cover, he stood back up and took aim at the container. The elite could pop out from either side so he needed to be ready. He swivelled the scope from side to side, keeping his eyes peeled. Then the elite jumped up on the right. Jun put the crosshairs over his head and fired one shot. The elite wasn't high tier on the ranking ladder, so the shot cut straight through his shields with ease. Lesser officers didn't get the best shields.

As the elite fell to the ground dead, Emile was running alongside the slowly approaching new aliens. As one Krogan got close Emile catapulted himself over the side. The lumbering dinosaur like alien had his back turned as Emile landed on top of his giant quarry. He started stabbing profusely into the back of the alien, digging his blade deep into the alien's giant hump with all his might. Krogan armour was surprisingly resilient, almost as much as it's wearer. None of the stabs seemed to go deep enough, but they did draw blood, if only a bit. The krogan, enraged rammed his back directly into the wall. He crushed Emile between his bulk the side of the building. The Spartan was undeterred, he stabbed again, this time lower along the creature's back where less muscle and flesh got in the way of vitals. The krogan arched slight and he reached back to grab the Spartan off him. As he tossed him forward, Emile slashed downward at the shoulder blade of the massive reptile.

The blade struck deep this time, and it stayed there. Emile found himself on the ground again without his kukri knife in hand. He rolled onto his stomach and saw his knife stuck in the krogan's shoulder. The alien struggled to pull it out by the hilt. Wasting no time, Emile pulled out his shotgun just as the knife was wrenched free. He fired two shots point blank into the face of the Krogan, tearing his helmet and face beneath it apart. The alien fell back into the wall once more and Emile finished him off with another shot to the gut while he was down.

The Spartan had no time to relish his victory, however, as the remaining four krogan turned on the Spartan intending to avenge their fallen brother. Emile ran for his blade, picked it up and vaulted over the railing for the stairwell nearby for cover.

Carter, who had already moved to a new position at the center of the upper level balcony with Jun, called the team.

"Squad we got some of Shepard's krogan friends up here and they are not happy to see us!" he said as he fired back on the lumbering upright crocodiles. "We need assistance now! Where are you?"

* * *

><p>One more shell was all it took to finish off the last of the ghosts. It hadn't been much of a battle, the ghosts' drivers had attempted to ambush the scorpion from the sides and front using the rocks as hiding spots. Unfortunately they were no match against the Scorpion's gun. One shot was all it took to rip the small attack vehicles apart.<p>

"We're working on it Noble Lead." Six said in response to Carter's message as the tank rolled over the wreckage of the ghosts "We'll be there in two shakes, promise."

"Might wanna increase that time table a bit," Garrus spoke up "I've gotten a sneak peek of the road ahead."

Garrus and most of the team used the time the ghosts spent paying attention to the Scorpion to get to a small hill outcropping sticking out of the rocky ridge wall to the right of the road. Garrus had walked up to get a view and found a number of revenant light tanks as well as a heavy shade turret in the valley below. One revenant was closer while one was huddled amongst the rocks. The turret itself was stationed on top of a small plateau in the middle of field. Garrus thought he could see another turret, this one of lighter fare, at the back of the valley.

"I'm gonna take care of a turret problem for ya Six," Garrus told him over the radio "then you can move in an deal with the rest."

"Copy." Six replied

Garrus took aim at the heavy shade turret's gunner. The grunt was seemingly unaware of any approaching danger. His head turn the skies in fear of more falcons from the look of it.. One single burst shot from the incisor rifle perforated the little gas sucker from head to toe.

"Scoped and dropped." Garrus said smarmily "You're clear to move Six."

That was when Garrus saw something green flare up in the corner of his eye. He turned to the left and saw a green ball of plasma fire approaching him fast. Swearing profusely under his breath, Garrus threw himself down from the ridge. The explosion impacted against the spot where the turian had been just moments before. Shepard stopped his friend's slide to the bottom and helped him up, pulling him by his hand.

"Second gun," he warned over the radio "up in the cliffs. Got me zeroed, keep your eyes open for him Six."

Six however was already dealing with the issue of a more present enemy. The revenant in his path had already opened up as he quickly rounded the bend. The blast impacted the rocks, but the searing heat forced one ODST on the tread to raise his arm, shielding his eyes and face from the energy blast. Six wasted no time in firing a shot. The shell impacted directly on the mortar turret for the revenant, blasting it clean open. The rupture of the plasma coils within caused an explosion in the engine of the machine and forced it to tip its nose forward. The vehicle soon exploded apart, ripping itself in two.

Six moved forward a bit more only to have a turret to the right open up on him. It was hidden amongst the brush and rocks, Garrus hadn't been able to see it from his angle. It was of no consequence, Six simply turned the cannon on the turret and let loose. The covenant emplacement broke apart with ease.

Another revenant boosted forward, firing a plasma blast at the tank itself. It contacted with the nose of the scorpion, rocking it forward and forcing one of the ODSTs on the side to jump off for fear of getting killed by the close proximity of the plasma burst.

Legion didn't move, but the blast of energy did not sit well with the machine. Legion's head shook violently, the plates on its head standing up at attention.

"Damage to shields severe. Platform under threat. Over-clocking shielding module."

The machine's shielding cascaded over its platform, covering the Geth in a protective shell. Six now opened on the revenant, but the vehicle moved slightly out of the way. The shot impacted the ground and the light mortar tank tipped over on its side. Six quickly finished the Revenant off with another salvo straight to its underbelly.

All the while, the plasma turret up on high fired green bursts down below at the Scorpion, Six had to keep moving just make sure he didn't get a bead on the tank. Another shade turret up ahead opened up with its rapid firing plasma coils. Six once more unloaded a shell at the gun, destroying it with ease.

Meanwhile Legion focused on the final turret, although several feet away and about five stories up the Geth had a good bead on the gunner. With careful precision the synthetic fired a single shot that sailed across the battlefield. Thanks in part to mass effect propulsion of the gun, no need to worry about the round dropping off or not getting on target. Instead the round sailed clean through the turret's little targeting piece and the methane breathing organic at the controls was suddenly missing a head.

"All anti-armour emplacements neutralized, proceed to gate." Legion announced

It didn't take long for Six to turn the tank around and send it rolling up the path towards the gate. One final revenant stood in their way and it sent volley after volley of red plasma at the Scorpion. Six fired another shot, this time hit the driver's side of the attack vehicle. The forthcoming explosion, tore the entire driver's side clean off the revenant, the plasma cells erupted soon after.

Six let the Scorpion push the hunk of covenant junk out of the way.

"Road trip is over boys." Six said as he popped the tank's canopy and climbed out "We're on foot from here."

By the time everyone had gotten off or out of the tank, Noble Two was already at the door slicing her way in through the controls.

"This will take me about twenty seconds max." She promised to Six and Shepard as they stood nearby "Let's hope Noble Lead and the others are holding their own."

* * *

><p>Krogan had taken two direct shots to its head, two direct hits. And it was still standing. Jun wasn't sure if it was because these things had tough plates around their heads or if it was because of their ability to heal from gunshot wounds. Why did every new species from Shepard's universe have to be able to regenerate?<p>

The Krogan were already swarming their position, firing like mad on the level overlooking the courtyard with reckless abandon. Jun could only get off so many shots on his quarry before he had to duck down. These overgrown lizards were using inferno rounds from the look of their tracers. He did not want to get hit by one of them.

"What I wouldn't give for one of those special guns Shepard's team carries around right now." The Spartan sniper mused

"We'll have them backing us up soon enough." Carter assured "Just thin them out."

Jun quickly took aim at his target once more. He decided if the skull was too thick he'd aim for the softest spot, the eye. He could see the helmet's eye through his scope clear as day, he just hoped his previous shots had been enough to make this one count.

Jun squeezed the trigger. The bullet easily penetrated the helmet's visor, hitting the Krogan square in the eye. Amazingly the creature was still stranding although its unwounded eye was now facing Jun. He fired again, once again catching the Krogan in the eye. But this time the bullet travelled all the way through the giant lizard's head. The lumbering beast soon fell to the concrete, dead for good.

The jubilation of the kill was unfortunately cut short, another Phantom arrived from on high and they could hear the doors of the garage opening as well. Elites, Jackals and Grunts poured in from both sides and began to join the melee at the gate.

"Damn it." growled Carter as he turned on the radio once more "We are drowning in tangos here squad! Get up here now! Double time it!"

Two elites that had piled out of the garage now stood their ground with their backs to the gate, firing up on the humans above. They believed they had their enemies pinned, they did not account for potential back up coming to their rescue.

Six rushed the nearest, practically climbing up the eight foot covie to jab his knife straight in his neck, practically tearing out a vital artery in the process. His friend turned and tried to fire on the Spartan only to be smacked in the chest by a blue blur. As he flew backwards into the air, Shepard came into focus and fired his shotgun square into the elite.

"Take them down!" Shepard called out

Samara was already on it, letting a singularity manifest over the jackals and grunt near the far end of the bridge across from the Spartans. As they found themselves lifted from the ground and spinning, Garrus fired a concussion shot. The force of the blast sent the aliens reeling into the air only to come down with sickening thuds. Jack in the meantime let loose a shockwave attack that sent the smaller grunts on the battlefield hurtling into the air. Thane fired at them as they flew up into with his submachine gun, his shredder rounds tearing into them with ease.

Soon the Krogan were the only ones left in the courtyard. They quickly turned on the large grouping of targets to their front and made a mad charge at them. While their assault rifles blared, Six threw a plasma grenade at one of them. It caught onto his face, but he didn't stop running. Samara had to quickly toss a throw attack at him, sending him careening into his comrade. The blast killed both of the Krogan with relative ease.

As his last two comrades fell silent, their charred forms collapsed to the ground, the final krogan kept racing forward. They quickly jumped out of his way as he kept running, nothing could stop a krogan charge after all. At the end of his run was Kasumi standing innocently in front a group of fuel tanks at the edge of the courtyard. With nary a care she let the rampaging monster close in on her before simply cart wheeling away. The Krogan couldn't stop in time and shoulder checked the hard metal fuel containers. He fell back on the ground, but soon righted himself. Only to see Grunt and Zaeed staring back witht heir rifles aimed at him.

"Should watched where you was going." Zaeed told the krogan

The old merc and tank-born super-soldier opened up on the Blood Pack Merc. More accurately they fired on the fuel tanks behind him. The tanks soon exploded and the krogan was engulfed in flames. No regenerating from that.

With the courtyard cleared now came the problem of the garage. As they approached it, hot plasma shot out at them. Two grunts were guarding the entrance with plasma turrets. Mordin took one look inside, just a small peek.

"Good position." He reconciled "Well covered. Pity unggoy species, as database UNSC provided refers to them as, still requires methane to breathe."

Mordin let an incineration attack speed down the corridor. It connected square on with the grunt's head and set him ablaze. The little methane sucking midget alien ran around screaming before colliding with his friend on the gun nearby. Soon after the fire ate into the methane tank, the result was not pretty. Mordin himself winced at the results.

"Wished to open flank." He said "Did not intend to clear area."

"I ain't complaining." Shepard informed the Salarian as he passed.

The team entered the garage to a find mess. Boxes, materials, burnt out husks of jeeps, turned over containers and shelves, the Covenant had certainly done a number on this place. And that was just the general mess, the floor boards were pried up, the walls and ceilings cracked open, small fires burned out in corners of the room and wires hanging precariously from the ceiling itself, sparking wildly.

And as a cherry on top of it all, the elevator refused to work.

"Have to go through maintenance," Kat told them all as she slammed her cybernetic fist into the busted call button "we aren't getting up this way."

"Let's just double time it." Carter told them "The sooner we plant those bombs the sooner we can start looking for Shepard's relic. Then we can get the hell out of here."

Maintenance wasn't any better than the main room. It had very little light, relying most on the red emergency lights that practically bathed the halls in crimson. The squad being larger than normal it was also pretty cramped, but they had few options at this point with the elevator out.

As they climbed up ramp and into another room, Emile stepped towards the exit door that would lead them to their way upstairs. When he opened it he found a winding grated ramped series of catwalks that spiralled upward to the floors above. He also found that the room was loaded with jackals and their skirmisher cousins. Their toothy beaked mouths snarled and gnashed as the doors slid open and soon they were firing upon the Spartan.

Emile just snarled as he tossed a grenade into the fray. It landed on the first ramp and took an onrushing group of jackals with it when it exploded. One managed to survive, although it was thrown slightly into the wall from the blow back. Its shield had protected it from the blast, but it couldn't protect him from Emile's wrath. The Spartan closed and slashed the alien's neck once, cutting his throat with ease.

Rushing past Emile now was Jack making a beeline for the catwalks above. Next out of the door were six and Garrus. They were soon met with needler rounds from on high. They trailed their gun up at the second level of grating above the first one. Finding their targets, skirmishers armed with needler rifles, they took simultaneous shots with both their rifles. Both of the aliens went down at the same time.

"There such a thing as calling jynx with headshots?" Six asked

"Not sure that rule exists myself." Garrus admitted.

Jack was already one level above them and had used her shockwave to send the skirmishers nesting upon it flying straight off the side of the catwalk. Emile followed swiftly shooting at the downed covies before they got back up. Jacob bypassed Emile as he followed Jack up the catwalks. Two more jackals bounded down the ramps intending to confront the two humans. Jacob steered a pull attack at the side of the jackal pulling him over into the gap. Below, Zaeed spotted the floating alien and fired a concussive shot that rocketed the jackal up into the air before unceremoniously cutting his flight short with a plummet to the ground. Jack in the meantime had let a throw attack knock her jackal off balance before she threw herself upon it and began bashing it's brains in with the butt of her shotgun.

"How you like that you dumb overgrown chicken? HUH!"

Lost in the heat of battle, Six by passed Jack along with Kat and Shepard as they made their way to the third catwalk level. As they arrived, ion shots blasted out, cutting at the walls, forcing them to duck. The shooters could be seen plain as day, more skirmishers across the gap, near the exit door to the maintenance area. Six and Kat quickly opened on them, landing easy headshots with the DMR and Pistol. Shepard in the meantime sent another skirmisher armed with a needler rifle into the wall behind him with a powerful biotic throw.

Meanwhile Grunt himself had bounded up all three levels and brushed past everyone. The straight away to the exit of the maintenance area was clogged with jackals and skirmishers. Grunt just smiled at the easy prey before him. He charged forward bating smaller hollow boned aliens aside like they were ragdolls. One jackal held up his shield to defend himself, Grunt elbow checked him and sent him flying into the back wall. The jackal fell back to the floor and didn't get back up.

"Heh, that was fun." Grunt chuckled "Hope we don't run out of these guys too fast."

"I think we'll have plenty to shoot up ahead big guy, don't worry." Shepard assured "Let's move on."

* * *

><p>The greeting corridor to the main offices of ONI had seen better days, the glass separating to two halls was shattered, the ceiling was completely torn apart, it's inwards laid bare for all, and the it's floor was broken up and in serious disrepair. All the while it sat lorded over by the Covenant, four grunts and two jackals to be precise.<p>

The grunts sat in the destroyed greeting hallway, pondering what they were meant to do out here. As they plodded around, trying to amuse themselves in any way possible the doors at the entrance to the u-shaped corridor opened wide. There stood Shepard clad in his N7 armour. Before they could even blink he was on them, his biotic charge slamming into the nearest grunt of the bunch. He then slammed his fist down, letting loose his kinetic barriers that sent the little aliens hurtling against and then bouncing off the walls like popcorn kernels.

Two jackals in the bend in the hallway raised their shields and guns at Shepard. They advanced on him as he took cover behind the administrations desk that separated the two halves of the corridor. Six and Kat however were soon on them. Six fired a furious set of rounds from his assault rifle, unloading them into the Jackal nearest to him. As his friend was filled with led, Kat came upon the final Jackal. He raised his shield but Kat's robotic arm pushed it aside allowing Kat to fire a single shot into the jackal's head.

"We better be making progress." She mused somewhat annoyed

Carter approached with the others and quickly contacted Auntie DOT to make sure they were on track.

"Dot," he began "we're inside. Where to now?"

The AI's answer was not exactly brimming with information.

"Please proceed to the prearranged coordinates." She announced as an objective marker appeared on the HUDs of the Spartans.

"Cryptic." Emile noted

"You know as much as I do Noble Four." Dot quickly responded, apparently noticing the Spartan's apparent suspicion of this mission.

It was a suspicion that was rapidly growing, the team was more cautious as they entered the next room. It was the large atrium where they had fought up towards the top of the building to kill the corvette oh so long ago. But now it was partially flooded, it statue centerpiece charred and smashed to the point it was just twisted metal and a giant hole in the back wall revealed the orange hued sky outside.

Carter looked to the back of the room and saw a ramp with their coordinates overlaid on it through the HUD.

"We're close just up that ramp." He said

That was when an elite general popped out from behind the corner and fired a concussion rifle at their position. His giant swooping helmet lsicked back with each shot of the rifle, the recoil forcing his head back slightly. The team went prone as the attack sailed over their heads. Next a krogan rushed out next to the elite general. He vaulted the ramp and landed in the water below. Then plasma shots came from nowhere, blasting at their shields.

"Cloaked elites!" Jun shouted as he took cover.

"Kill them all Noble!" Carter ordered

"Squad!" Shepard said raising his shotgun "Punch through them!"

Jack let her warp ammo setting on her shotgun tear at the shields of the elite near her. She could see his outline plain as day in the flickering light, it was a dead giveaway. Didn't help him any that he kept shooting his gun off. She then let her pull ability lift the alien straight off the ground. That was when Grunt let a concussive shot slam into the elite's body rocketing him away.

Thane tracked one of the cloaked elites as it ducked in and out of cover, getting closer to him and the squad. He kept his eyes and head on a swivel, careful to see any fluctuation in the air or light. He spotted it, right next to him, he raised his submachine gun, a tempest and let loose a blast of shredder rounds directly into the elite's head. The weak shields on the cloaked elite could not hold, and soon the alien's head was filled with holes.

Kasumi cloaked as soon as her fellow invisible warriors appeared. Normally she wouldn't be one to blow the whistle on someone's position, but she still had a few more anger issues to work out. She got deep behind the enemy elites, found one just milling about near the ramp and sliced into him with a omni-blade. She pushed the blade up, cutting open his back with ease. She didn't get much time with him though. She had to duck quickly as one of the other cloaked elites swept his arm at her. Kasumi had been at the invisible game long enough to hear a sudden rush of air. She ducked rolled into the Elite and forced her omni-blade up into the alien's head as she jumped up.

That was when the Krogan charged at the little thief, but luckily a biotic throw sent him flying back intot he wall. Kasumi looked behind her and saw Samara standing there. She gave a quick little nod to the Asari, who returned it. Then the justicar threw up a barrier next to her and Kasumi. The elite kept firing his concussive shots, trying to break through the barrier. But his zeal got the best of him. Miranda and Garrus pushed up and used a double overload from them both to drain the alien officer's shields completely. The Elite ducked back into cover. But Six had a beat on his head through a window near the ramp. He had the perfect shot, so he took it. The elite's head snapped forward as the bullet penetrated his skull.

The krogan now attempted to come back in force and rushed at Samara again. Her and Kasumi split up and let the dumb merc slam head on into what was left of the statue at the center of the room. Samara let another biotic throw toss the blood pack member into the side wall before he regained his composure. Just make sure he stayed there Mordin let a cryo-blast hit the downed krogan. Emile now stepped up to the frozen lizard and fired his shotgun point blank into it's frozen form.

"Lizard-cicles." He quipped "bet they taste delicious."

Kat, Six, Legion and Shepard were the first to get up the ramp and scope out the area ahead. The offices seemed clear of enemies, although they also looked bear of anything of any value. Then an elite in ranger armour and a blood pack krogan jumped out of cover and fired. All four team members took cover quickly as the shots sped past just inches away from them. Shepard stepped out quickly and let a shockwave ripple towards the assailants. It knocked them both on their asses. Before the Krogan got back up, both Shepard and Legion unloaded on his with everything they had. Meanwhile Kat stepped over to the downed Elite stepped hard on his chest and fired point blank into his skull.

"Clear." She said as she stepped off her downed opponent.

The rest of the team now piled into the office converging on a single door their waypoint had highlighted. Kat did the honours of pressing the entry pad.

"This is it team, get the charges ready." Carter said.

The door opened to a room that was not bathed in red glowing emergency lights. The lights were a bright shade of blue which would've been calming were it not for the fact the room was littered with dead army troopers. Sandbags in a corner held up a machine gun mounting, while the bodies rest in corners or against walls. The scoring on their bodies signalled they had all been killed by plasma fire. The room itself was like the rest of Sword Base, practically falling apart in need of a good handyman. However, from what they could say there was nothing else in here besides the bodies.

As the team piled in they tried to piece together the mystery before them.

"Looks like they got cornered." Jun suggested as he looked at the bodies

"Or they were committed to the position." Carter offered as an alternative.

As the group searched the room from top to bottom, it started to look bad for the second option.

"I vote cornered," Emile finally said in frustration as he peered over at a desolate alcove. "There's nothing here."

"Least they died fighting to the last man." Garrus said "Give them credit for that. They didn't give up."

"There's nothing to give up." Jun said as he looked around.

Kat was already by passing everyone, walking straight towards the alcove Emile was in. While everyone looked around the room she seemed to be focused on something. Her eyes followed the bodies and shell casing up to the alcove itself. She just seemed to ignore everyone.

"There's no load bearing columns." Jun observed next before looking to Carter "Sir, if we're supposed to blow this place this is not the spot to do it."

"Shit, you mean tell me your AI fucked up and got us lost?" Jack asked as she bent down near a corpse.

Carter just sighed and contacted DOT again.

"Dot, check your vector." He said, sounding annoyed.

"Data confirmed commander. We are precisely where we need to be."

Once again, DOT was proving to be seemingly unreliable.

"Perhaps program DOT is experiencing a malfunction from resonate plasma energy output caused by area glassing." Legion suggested "Sensors could possibly be off by a degree percentage."

"It's not affecting you it seems." Six pointed out

"We presumed possible interference and adjusted accordingly before we arrived." The machine elaborated "It is possible program DOT did not factor this possibility in her runtimes."

Carter just growled under his breath.

"DOT are you sure you got the right coordinates?"

"Repeat. We are exactly where ONI has direct-"

Suddenly DOT stopped talking for a few two seconds. Meanwhile Kat closed in on the alcove. She found one body at the back of it, close to a panel on the wall.

"Apologies," Dot said as she spoke up once more. "Coordinates revised."

Carter shook his head in disbelief.

"Revised?" he said, seemingly annoyed "By who?"

"An AI of unknown origin," DOT replied "whose clearance is far above my own."

Everyone just looked at each other a bit puzzled by it all.

"Anyone else getting a bit freaked out or is it just me?" Kasumi asked

Shepard turned to Carter.

"Where's the new heading?"

"A click and a half east and two thousand feet down." Jun answered, sounding annoyed.

"I didn't bring my shovel guys," Emile told them all "how about you?"

"We've been meaning to get some kind of super powered drill I think." Garrus suggested as she turned to Miranda "Doesn't Cerberus have those in a catalogue to order from?"

"I think we discontinued the drill transport project actually." Miranda replied "Something about it being too cartoonish."

Zaeed seemed to laugh a little.

"Too cartoonish for Cerberus?" he asked "That's a laugh."

Kat was not paying attention to much of the conversation. She busied herself knocking on wall panels. Trying to listen best she could. As she did, her suspicions proved accurate, one of them was hollow.

"Sir," Jun began "I say we go AI free on this one."

The sniper quickly looked over to Legion, who seemed to be looking at him all of a sudden.

"Uh, no offence," he said as he quickly corrected himself "I mean DOT free. Obviously these coordinates are junk and if we keep chasing them around-"

Suddenly a gasping sound peeped up, they all turned to the alcove. Kat stood in front of a now opening wall panel, unflinching.

"Knew it." She said as she calmly stepped through.

Carter kept his gun trained on the door, as did most of Noble and Shepard own team. When nothing came out and attacked them, and when Kat entered relatively unharmed they loosed up a bit.

"What is this?" Carter asked aloud

"Our revised route Commander." Dot answered.

The large group was hesitant at first, but eventually Carter relented and waved to others to follow Kat in. Shepard was right on her of course.

"You seemed to have known that was gonna happen." He told her as he came up alongside her.

"I had a hunch." Kat replied "The troopers fell back to the alcove, they made their stand there. It makes sense they were protecting something there. The body lined up near the panel and the fact it sounded like there was nothing on the other side clinched it."

The passage itself was a drab brownish tunnel. It was dimly lit with very little in the way of aesthetic or design. As they all slowly entered the panel door shut behind them. No turning back now. As they walked further in they found themselves at what appeared to be a tram station. The terminal was dusty, the floor old and rusted, all evidence that this had been here for awhile. And waiting for them on the tracks was a tram-car, big enough for all of them.

"And the creepy levels keep soaring." Kasumi stated as she swirled her finger in the air

Shepard stopped at the entrance to the tram as Garrus stood beside him.

"So, should we just go in?" the turian asked

Shepard looked around at the Tram's inside, it looked pretty standard. Seat in the back, some handrails for those that stood. Nothing out of the ordinary or out of place. And if this was a trap it would sprung by now.

"Not much of a choice at this point." Shepard reasoned as walked inside

Slowly everyone piled inside, the Spartans keeping cover all the way as the piled in. It was a bit of a tight fit, but eventually everyone found a place to stand or sit.

"Your new AI friend tell you anything else DOT?" Carter asked as he settled in himself

There was no immediate answer.

"DOT?" he asked again.

It took a second before the AI finally spoke.

"She's been expecting you." She finally stated.

The tram doors closed and the car began to move down the track. As the car clanked along one couldn't help but feel a bit antsy as to where this thing was taking them.

"Well that's just perfect." Emile announced sarcastically

"Now even the crazy one is freaked out." Kasumi speedily added, sounding a bit nervous "It's never good when the crazy guy is freaked."

"I am not freaked." Emile said, quickly defending himself and sounding infuriated at the accusation "I just don't like being left in the dark with cryptic bullshit."

As the tram began to speed up the "cryptic bullshit", as Emile called it, was soon lifted away as a holoscreen appeared in front of them. On it a familiar old face belonging to an aging female doctor.

"Apologies for the unusual security measures Commanders Carter and Shepard," Doctor Halsey expressed "but the stakes demanded it."

Kat crossed her arms, her shoulders slumped back.

"What a shocker." She mumbled, again not at all surprised from the sound of it.

Carter showed a bit more astonishment in his tone, although one couldn't notice it if they weren't paying careful attention.

"Doctor Halsey," Carter said, his eyebrow cocked at the screen "reports had you listed as-"

Halsey just shrugged and cut Noble One off there.

"Yes well, as they say the news of my death has been greatly exaggerated."

The doctor's features suddenly became more sullen.

"I only wish the same could be said of Jorge." She said

Everyone's head collectively lowered at that, none more so than Carter.

"Same here ma'am." He responded "Same here."

"Well regardless, it's not in vain, not yet." Halsey assured "Thanks in part to Noble Two."

Everyone looked over at Kat, herself somewhat surprised, the first time she was today.

"Me?"

"Yes," Halsey replied "the data module you recovered from Visegrad was precisely what my scientist promised: a latchkey discovery."

Mordin pushed himself to the front of the crowd.

"Latchkey?" he said in his usual quickened pace of speech "Forgive me. Need to know. Familiar with term. What precisely do you mean?"

"It contained code and fragments of data that we were missing. Vital pieces of a puzzle long buried here." She explained "Suffice to say it has allowed me to finally unlock the secrets of this excavation site. We needed the instruction booklet so to speak and you handed it to us."

"You mean the relic." Shepard blurted out. "This was all about the relic."

Halsey just seemed to smile at the Commander's interruption.

"You're as every bit as clever as I hoped you were Commander Shepard." She told him "Good to know I was right about that too."

Shepard tried to make sure the comment didn't go to his head. But Carter just shook his head confused at it all.

"Wait, I don't get this ma'am, our orders-"

"Were a pretext to bring you to me." Halsey explained "And now they have been overridden."

Shepard and Carter looked at each other, the realisation hitting practically at the same time, although Shepard would be the one who voiced it.

"We're here to pick up the relic for you, aren't we?" Shepard concluded "And you cooked up the excuse of a demolition op to mask the intention from the Covenant and any one else."

Halsey laughed a bit under her throat.

"You must've had your suspicions about the mission." She told them "I already suspected Shepard was somehow aware of the relic itself."

"I was suspicious before I even knew about the relic." Kat quickly added, taking a sense of pride in that.

"Of course you were," Halsey said, not at all sarcastic in her tone "however you are wrong about one thing. You are not here for the relic, but for the data we've procured from it, which you will take from here and deliver to a secure location."

"And the sensitive material we need to destroy?" Carter asked

Halsey didn't seem to care much about hat as she aloofly responded with a hand wave.

"Other elements will handle the demolition and Holland will be briefed on the matter." She assured, her voice unwavering and final "You belong to ONI now."

"Oh that's real comforting." Shepard growled in his throat, Ackerson's machinations still fresh in his mind.

Halsey turned directly to the camera.

"I understand that being drafted into Naval Intelligence isn't exactly a wonderful prospect Commander Shepard," she reconciled "but there is good news."

Shepard raised an eyebrow at that, awaiting her response.

"I wanted Noble Team here to pick up my package." She explained "I was happy to see you volunteered to join them. Saved me the trouble of trying to force you to, you have an equal vital bit of cargo to see safely out of this place yourself Commander."

Halsey turned her head off camera.

"You can come out now. I think they're properly briefed and adjusted."

Something moved in the background towards the camera. Something in purplish fabric, something with three fingers. Shepard instantly recognized the colour, the hand and the arm that soon came into view. He pushed himself past everyone, shocked in disbelief as the figure leaned further in. It couldn't be? Could it? The universe had never been that kind to him. The image shifted back into focus as Shepard approached the screen, the hood with its distinctive pattern, the violet shaded visor, the yellow rungs around the neckline, and then finally her voice.

"Shepard." She said, sounding like she herself was on the verge of being overwhelmed with emotion

It took a moment for the commander to respond, and when he did it was in a soft, disbelieving tone.

"Tali."

* * *

><p>AN: Oh my God! Tali is alive! No one could've saw this coming!<p>

Yeah, I freely admit I kinda sucked at keeping this under wraps for so long. But come on, after all the set up, did anyone really think I was gonna kill off one of my favourite characters? Hell I gave you foreshadowing what with Halsey noticing her attempted kidnapping by Ackerson, so it's not like this is a surprise. Hey I even did the "we never found the body" trope two chapters ago! I was terrible at hiding this! But I'm pleased to see some people were fooled all the way through. That's not saying you didn't get it, the clues were there for everyone to see, you just missed them. It happens to us all in our rush to finish a chapter. So yeah, I'm happy for something comes as a shock, but I'm not fooling myself into thinking this is a sudden revelation of awesome proportions!

Anyway, enough about that. I noticed a few people were, upset by the Inquisitor seemingly giving up the ghost on everything. While I don't think he did, considering he pretty much only gave information to stuff Shepard already knew about anyway or had guessed at I didn't see it as that big a deal. More importantly Inquisitor didn't tell them everything, as I've hinted at in the beginning of this chapter, that busted up Reaper isn't revealing all his cards just yet. But I will concede that Inky didn't sound as cryptic as he probably should. Something to go back and tweak a bit I think. Still happy with the way it came out, but could use a little prose touch up.

I was never one for the purple prose, I think that's my problem there. Meh.

Next chapter we find out how the hell is Tali still alive after this base got plasma'd to hell and back! Till then please do find time to review. I do enjoy reading them. Honest.


	20. Couriers

Chapter 20: Couriers

**August 14****th****, 2552**

Before she left on her pilgrimage her father told her one important bit of advice: "People will underestimate you, use that to your advantage." He couldn't have been more right. Everyone saw quarians as weak by default. One puncture and they're dead right? That was the line of reasoning. They were a fragile species and therefore not a real threat. It was a mistake Saren's thugs had made two years ago, and it was a mistake Ackerson had made here.

By the time the smug face of the ONI colonel flickered off screen, Tali was more than ready to show his lackeys the mistake they had made. The explosion off in the distance had helped distract them somewhat as well.

"What was that?" asked one of the captors

It was then Tali made her move.

The ONI guard hadn't realised that when Tali bumped herself back into him she had taken something along with her. A little trick Kasumi had taught her, the art of pick pocketing. In this case the knife on the guard's belt. She had quickly hidden it in one of her suits many little pockets on her back just before she was strapped down to the chair. While Ackerson blabbed about his plan, Tali began to cut the nylon cuffs holding her down. Now they were all torn enough for Tali rip herself out of them.

She lunged at the guard leaning in on her and slashed him across the face. She forced his body to turn into her as she made a grab for his pistol. Using the man as a human shield, she hefted the gun up to her eyes and fired into the head of his comrade across from him. The second kidnapper took two rounds to the chest before she release the knife from her shield's neck and kicked him straight into his friend's collapsing form. She turned, watching as the third guard was raising his submachine gun to put her down. Only one chance at this, she would have to make it count. She flung the knife at him. The blade spun through the air and slammed into the throat of the ONI guard. His gun fired off into the ceiling as he collapsed to the floor, bleeding out profusely from his now cut open neck.

She turned to the still living guard on the floor as he began to pull himself up. Tali kicked him over onto his back and stuck his own pistol in his face.

"You took mine I took yours." She said candidly "Fair trade, wouldn't you say?"

"How?" he asked in disbelief

"My father was an admiral." She explained nonchalant "You pick up a few things."

She pulled the trigger, ending the life of her last captor.

With the adrenaline rush over Tali let her arm go limp to her side, the gun feeling just a bit heavier. She needed to get back to Shepard, tell him what happened. She had a feeling that would be complicated, given what she could hear happening outside. Plasma and gunfire flooded her audio-sensors. The entire base was under attack. For all she knew, Shepard was already engaging the |Covenant. She'd have to fight her way to him, but what other choice did she have? She needed to tell him about Ackerson's plans, about what she learned from Halsey's files.

That was when the entire base was rocked by a massive explosion. Tali stumbled forward as the base rocked heavily from the blast. That had no doubt come from a ship, the Covenant were probably throwing everything they had left at Sword Base for all she knew. She needed to at least get outside, figure out what was going on. She stood there for awhile, trying to think out a way back to the team on the docks. She had been here before, she had walked the halls. There had to be a route that was quick enough.

That was when she heard the door start to slide open. Tali gripped her pistol and pointed it at the entrance, intending to kill whatever came through it. Elite, grunt or jackal, it didn't matter, she'd kill it and make her way back to her friends one way or another.

However, to her surprise, it wasn't a Covenant alien who came bounding through the door. Instead she found herself taking aim at a human soldier, an army trooper from the look of his uniform. He looked around with his assault rifle drawn, eyeing the dead human guards. He was so busy looking at the corpses he seemed almost blind to Tali's presence, if only for a moment. Then he realised the Quarian was pointing a gun in his direction.

"Whoa! Hey!" he said putting up his hands "Put the gun down!"

"Who are you? Answer Me!" Tali demanded to know.

She couldn't afford to trust any human in this place she didn't know, not after what had just happened. To give the man the benefit of the doubt he didn't start blasting the second he saw an alien pointing a weapon at him. Tali expected that was a knee jerk response by now. Yet the trooper kept his gun pointed away and stretched his hand out in a calming gesture.

"My name is Corporal Daer, I'm a UNSC army trooper." He said slowly "I'm part of the garrison here. I'm on your side."

"So were they." Tali said, shifting her head towards the downed ONI agents.

They both heard a plasma grenade go off, followed by pained shouting from somewhere in the facility. The Covenant were getting closer, Tali knew it. But for all she knew there was already a just as dangerous threat staring at her right now.

"I'm not with them, okay." Daer explained, keeping his voice level "I was sent here to rescue you from them. But apparently you rescued yourself."

Tali raised an eyebrow at the explanation, not entirely convinced. She kept her gun trained on the soldier as she side stepped along the floor to get a better angle.

"They just sent you?" she asked, her suspicion apparent "You alone?"

"I volunteered," Daer elaborated "we only just got the call like literally a minute before the Covenant attacked. Rest of my team went to secure our escape route. If you come with me I can get you out of here."

Tali started scanning the room, trying to figure out a way past the soldier without killing him if possible.

"How can I trust you?" she asked "I don't even know who sent you or how they knew I was here."

"I got my orders Ms. Tali'Zorah," Daer stated simply "and those orders say to get you out of this base alive. I swear on my life and my honour that's the truth. I'm not sure if that's enough, but I promise you it's the truth. I'm here to help you, if you'll let me."

Tali eyed the young trooper carefully, trying to gauge him. She mentally compared his face to that of Ackerson's when he had tried to cut that deal of his. They didn't match in the slightest. Although the circumstances were suspicious, Tali felt she could trust the man. At the very least HE believed he was there to save her.

She lowered the gun.

"Alright corporal," she relented "lead the way."

Daer just smiled back. He reached onto his back, pulling out a shotgun and tossed it to the Quarian mechanist. She caught it with ease and cocked the gauge under the barrel.

"My team is in the main atrium, they're guarding our way out by now." Daer explained "We just need to reach them. Come on, Covies are practically flooding the base."

Tali was surprised to hear that, they had held off the Covenant easily enough before. They had to be attacking in force now, it was the only reason they could be doing so damn well. Tali followed Daer out into the hall, her shotgun scanning the corridor as she followed.

"So did they tell you that you'd be saving an alien from humans?" she asked Daer as the slowly walked down the hallway.

"Yeah," Daer admitted "but they were very convincing. Said you were really important and given who it was... well I'm inclined to believe them. That and I did join up to save damsels in distress, so I figured why not?"

Tali smiled a bit at the cheeky comment. She pressed herself up to cover against the wall with him as they slid along it towards a corner.

"You still haven't told me who sent you." Tali informed him.

Daer froze up as he looked past the corner and into the next hall. He pulled his head back quickly and looked to Tali.

"No time to give explanations here." Daer told her "Look, you and your Normandy buddies saved our asses first go around. I'm returning the favour now. We make it to the escape route you'll know who it is. But first we gotta get past the next few assholes just in the hall next to us."

Tali looked past the corporal a bit to see that the hall was occupied by some grunts, two jackals, and surprisingly a krogan. So the Blood Pack was involved in this as well. Could explain how they had gotten in so fast, krogan were reckless like that.

"Don't worry. We don't have to kill them all." Tali assured the Corporal "Just distract them. That's a job for Chiktikka."

"Who?" The corporal replied with a look of bewilderment.

His answer soon appeared in the familiar violet-hued drone as Tali tapped a few commands on her omni-tool. The drone rolled down the hall, meeting the Covenant and lone krogan escort head-on. A grunt took the first hit directly to his face. His fried smoking head jutted backwards before the blast in general sent him reeling back. The rest of the Covenant soon opened fire on the drone and Tali and Daer made a run for it.

However the krogan was not so easily distracted, ironically, and spotted them. He bulldozed past the Covenant to chase after real living prey. He fired his own assault rifle, a vindicator from the look of it, as they rushed down the hall. Tali looked back and fired towards the krogan with her pistol as he kept running. When those shots failed to stop the rampaging humpback lizard, she used her omni-tool to initiate a sabotage sub-routine. It hacked into the krogan's rifle, causing it to overheat and backfire. The krogan took the blowback hard, dropping the gun in the confusion. Regardless he kept running after the two, chasing them behind a corner in the hall. Here Tali stopped and pointed her shotgun back towards the corner.

The krogan's forward momentum meant he had to slow a bit in order to turn the corner. That's when Tali got a bead on his head. She fired the shotgun at point blank range into the giant lizard's skull. She fired once more as the blood pack mercenary reeled backwards, catching him again in the face. That seemed to do it. The krogan flew backwards and fell to the floor with a tremendous thud.

"UNSC weapons pack quite a punch." Tali noted as she eyed the gun in her hands

"His covie friends are gonna be following him soon." Daer warned "Let's get moving again."

Daer led Tali once more through the devastated halls and rooms of the base. As they rushed forward down one corridor the roof collapsed ahead of them, blocking their route.

"Damn it," Daer grumbled as he turned his head to a malfunctioning door beside them "we'll take a detour."

They entered what appeared to be a med-lab and huddled behind a medical table quickly. The reason for that was because as soon as they entered they noticed the room was packed with three skirmishers. Their needler rifles in hand, they scurried about the area, jumping on tables, ripping out drawers and throwing medical tools by the wayside.

"It's like they're looking for something." Tali observed, keeping her voice down

"Probably food cause they're hungry," Daer suggested whispering low "or human intel. Won't matter, most of the sensitive on paper material was burned during the first assault. And the base's AI has probably deleted most of the top secret files from the computers by now."

AIs being used to keep secrets out of enemy hands, even Tali had to admit that definitely sped up the process and reduced the risks. Faster than an ordinary organic could at least. One thing was for sure by now, the UNSC had a better handle on AIs then she originally thought.

"Any ideas how we get past them?" she asked Daer.

"I don't suppose you can't bring out that little drone of yours again?" He asked as he peered out slightly at the enemy.

"Yeah sure, it's a start." She answered "But I'm kinda wondering about tactics here. Should I go left and you right or...?"

Daer shrugged a bit.

"Well, I'm not much of a strategy guy to be honest." He admitted

So it fell to her then. Great, just what she wanted. No sense in complaining she supposed. Tali looked over her cover a bit as the skirmishers continued to wreck the med lab, throwing papers and equipment everywhere in a frenzied display of anger.

"If I can get them bunched up in the center of the room and if I go to their left, shooting first, you go right." She began to think aloud "Then you can throw a grenade into the middle of them and blow them all up I guess."

Daer just nodded at it all.

"Yeah, okay, sounds good." He said approvingly "Your call then."

Her call, she hated it when it was her call. She quickly stifled that thought, she couldn't think like that now. Doubts in herself wouldn't get them out of here. She couldn't do that, especially considering how Shepard was acting. She needed to set the example, otherwise she'd be the hypocrite next time she saw him.

Tali shifted around the cover of the table to get into position on the left. With a few clicks of her omni-tool the drone came to life and rolled into the fray. These skirmishers were apparently aware of what the drone was, or at the very least their instincts said this glowing thing was dangerous. They opened fire on it almost immediately as it began to electrically shock the bird-like aliens. One skirmisher jumped back up on one of the medical slabs and fired rapidly. The drone turned and blasted the covenant assassin with an electro-shock. The alien stumbled back off the slab but quickly got back up once more.

As they crowded around the little drone Tali stepped out into the open firing her shotgun into the crowd of three. Tali wasn't close enough for the shotgun to do any real damage, but they all turned to her almost at once. Giving Daer the opening he needed to toss a grenade amongst them.

Before the explosive could detonate, one of the covies saw the impending danger bouncing along the ground. He put those strong legs of his to work and jumped away from the miniature bomb. His two friends were not so lucky. As the blast sent them flying across the room, their bodies filled with shrapnel, the lone surviving skirmisher turned to Tali. He fired his needler at the quarian girl, forcing her to slip into cover of the adjacent medical slab. The skirmisher turned on Daer, his needle rounds forcing him into cover lest he die in a mist of pink. The skirmisher hoped on top of the medical slab Tali was hiding behind and approached the edge.

When he got close enough, Tali fell on her back, pointed the shotgun upwards and fired. This time, the buckshot practically took the alien's head off and the skirmisher fell backwards onto the slab dead.

"Damn," Daer said as he walked over to help her up "you got some skills ma'am."

"Quarians may need envirosuits to live, but that doesn't make us pushovers." Tali replied beaming, somewhat proud that she had impressed the human. "Most of the galaxy never seems to think we're much of a threat, big mistake."

Daer just chuckled at that.

"For an alien you sound a lot like a human." He said chuckling. "Come on, we're not too far from my squad."

Exiting the med-bay led them down one of the many corridors where fires raged. The terminals and ceiling were cast in a blaze of orange and yellow as they made their way to the main atrium of the base where most of the officers were. When they arrived they found a giant hole in the wall and pretty much everything within scorched black.

Tali stood there in the entrance way for a moment in shock.

"Keelah," she said, realisation kicking in "I was just here a few minutes ago."

Ackerson had probably saved her life. Then again she was about to leave the area when his goons caught her. Maybe that was just her trying not to give the bosh'tet any semblance of gratitude for trying to snatch her and make her betray her friends. Still, she didn't care. She just wanted to get out of here with the corporal and his squad, reunite with Shepard and put this whole spy business behind her at this point. She'd handle Ackerson later.

Daer pointed across the room to an opened door within the offices.

"There! My squad's in there!"

Inside Tali could see said squad of troopers, guarding the door with sandbags and a machine gun turret. It looked like they were home free. However, the hole in the wall let more than just sun light in. Two elite rangers soon jet packed through the hole, their packs lowering them slowly to the ground. Armed with plasma repeaters they began to scan the room. One of them spotted the troopers in door way and opened fire. The troopers returned it, firing on the alien warriors as took to cover. They began to make their way towards the ramp that would lead them up to the doorway's level.

Daer rushed down to the ground with Tali and opened fired on the elites. They were quick to return it, forcing both him and his xeno ally to dive behind the now decimated art statue in the center of the room. Already the elites were beginning to circle them.

"We can split the difference easy." He told Tali, trying to sound confident.

"I have your back corporal." Tali replied "Move!"

With that the two burst from cover, Tali had already preset her energy drain program to target the elite ranger in front of her. The attack ripped the shields clean off the covie, an easy feat given that ranger shields were considerably weak in general. The elite responded with a sustained spray of plasma fire as he took shelter behind a piece of debris. Tali rolled to the side, avoiding the stream of fire.

Daer meanwhile engaged his elite with more brute force, firing his pistol at the head of the ranger where they were the weakest. As the shields spiked and began to phase out the elite lifted clean off the ground, his jet pack blazing. The strategy was clear; take the high ground, kill the human below.

This was Tali's opening. She pointed her omni-tool towards the high-flying elite as he began to hover in place. A few simply commands and her sabotage program managed to get into his tech. The pack suddenly shorted out. The elite, surprised at this, fell from the sky with a thud. Tali then turned back to her elite, as he had jumped up from his hiding spot. The plasma blasts peppered across the ground towards her, forcing the quarian to duck behind her own piece of debris.

The elite who had fallen from grace now picked himself up only to be met with a smack in the face from Daer. It didn't do much other than force the elite's head in another direction momentarily. Growling he kicked Daer away from him. The fragile human slammed into a piece of debris, his head rocking back slightly. He was still alive, although his vision was blurry. He could see the elite slowly advancing on him with a plasma dagger in hand, but he couldn't get his gun dead centered on the covie.

As the elite raised his plasma dagger to strike, shot struck his back. Tali still had the corporal's back it seemed, firing her own pistol into the covie from across the room. The alien turned to her, enraged by the interruption. The attack even managed to completely drain his shields. Both this distraction and the loss of shields gave Daer all the time he needed to fire a bullet directly into the back of the Elite's unprotected head. The covenant officer slumped forwards the ground as purple blood began to pour out.

As Daer relaxed, giving a thumbs up to Tali. The quarian almost forgot about the second elite until his fist punched through the top of her cover. The swing nearly took off her head. She dived away, quickly scrambling to her feet as the elite raised his repeater once more intending to finish the job. Instead, Tali fired one blast of buckshot right into the elite, then another. The elite stumbled back as the pellets hit him. Tali kept firing, slowly blasting a hole clean through the jet pack wearing alien. Soon, he keeled over dead.

The quarian mechanist rushed over to her escort and pulled him up by the arm.

"You okay?" she asked as she began to lead him towards the ramp

"Been better," he admitted grunting "let's just get out of here."

The two clambered into the room where the rest of the squad was waiting. One of the troopers walked over to them as they entered. Daer saluted the man.

"Sarge." He said

"Good to see you still in one piece corporal." He said, before turning to Tali "Same to you ma'am. I thought it was weird getting an order to save a xeno, but after how I saw you protect Daer's ass out there I can see why."

Tali gave a nod to the sergeant.

"I wouldn't have found my way here if not for him." She said appreciatively "Now let's get out of here."

As the sergeant nodded in reply something slammed into the view of the doorway and then into the wall. Fuel rod cannons, carried by grunts and accompanied by elites were firing on them. The machine gun opened up as Tali was rushed into the back of the room into an alcove. The sergeant yelled something on his radio. Tali couldn't hear what it was, something about packages maybe. Daer stopped in front of a wall which slowly slid open.

"Alright, get in Ms. Zorah." He ordered her "We'll cover you."

Tali's eyes went wide. Cover her? They weren't coming? No, they had a way out, why weren't they coming with her?

"What do you mean cover?" she asked in confusion and fear

"We need to protect the corridor. If they find this passage and break through they'll get downstairs." The trooper told her quickly "We need to hold them off and make them think we're cornered. That way they won't bother searching this place."

Tali shook her head vigorously. This was not happening. Not again. Not more people dying to protect her. She couldn't just let these people die like her team on Haestrom, not when there was a way out!

"Daer no!" she pleaded, grabbing his arm as he turned "We're in this together! We can get you and the others out!"

The trooper merely brushed her arm clear off his own and glared at her furiously.

"Don't you get it!" he shouted, the gunfire blaring in the background "The base is lost! There are only two things that matter in this place now! You and what's down there! We can't let the covies get either!"

"I'm not that important!" Tali screamed back at him. She refused to believe that she was worth a whole squad of people, brave people who had saved her life, who had stayed here in this place to save her life.

But Daer remained unconvinced.

"According to someone down there ma'am you are." He said steadfastly "Now go!"

Tali tried to argue once more, but before she could speak another blast shook the door frame. A plasma grenade took out two of the troopers stationed there. Daer wouldn't listen to more of Tali's objections. He pushed her into the open door. The quarian fell backwards, rolling down the ramp. Before she could even look back up the door slid shut in front of her. She rushed to her feet and ran to the door.

"No!"

Her scream was punctuated as she pounded on the steel frame, trying to force it open. Not again, not more people dead because of her. She looked for something her omni-tool could connect to. A keypad, a holographic lock display, a hinge for her to pull on, but there was nothing. All she could do was listen to the plasma bolts flying into the room behind the panel she stood in front of. She heard the screams of army troopers as they were struck down, her fingers curled at their shrieks. Another explosion wrenched her away from the door with a thump, forcing her to stumble away from the door, trying to keep her balance.

Then the gunfire stopped and all was silent once more. She held her head in her hands. Memories swirled around her head, a sick terrible sense of reminiscent melancholy overtaking her thoughts. Just like on Haestrom, just like the Alerai.

She could hear the Covenant stumbling about outside for a bit, checking the bodies no doubt. Eventually their alien grunts and growls dissipated as they moved on. The quiet was all consuming, save for Tali trying to hold back tears.

As she regained her composure her mind began to return to a more rational state. Going back outside would be pointless, no one was left. So she did the only thing she could do, she followed the path in front of her. Down the ramp, only dimly lit by lights on the floor, Tali soon found herself in a small tram station of some kind. It was then she realised, Daer had brought her to the secret tunnel she had discovered in Halsey's files. Through all the excitement she had nearly forgotten about it. This tram no doubt took her directly to the excavation site itself.

When Daer said there were only two things left that mattered at sword base, he meant her and something else, something down here. That could only have meant the relic.

Before she knew it a tram car crept along the track and pulled into the station itself. The doors opened automatically, beckoning her in. She didn't have much of a choice of course, there was going back. She stepped in and the doors closed behind her. The tram began to travel back down the track and all Tali could do was sit and wait for it to stop. She relished the chance to take a seat, to just take a breath, she needed it now.

She wasn't sitting long though. Soon something rose up into her view. Instead of a darkened tunnel soon a large wide open cavern of ice, rock and snow appeared before her. There were buildings, facilities, generators, strewn about the area. But the real attraction was further off in the distance. A massive object, disk shaped with large wedges sticking out of it. There were only two she could see at first, but as the number of wedges grew in her vision to beyond four, Tali knew that this object must've stretched for miles under the ice. As she marvelled at the structure the tram descended further to the ground finally stopping. The doors slid open and the quarian found a familiar face waiting for her.

"Ms. Zorah," Doctor Halsey greeted, catching the alien's eye for a mere moment "I'm glad you're in one piece."

Tali only looked momentarily at Halsey.

"The troopers... weren't so lucky." She replied softly as she walked past the good doctor

She returned her gaze to the massive structure that loomed over them all. Its construction was frozen in the permafrost and ice. How long had it been here? Thousands, perhaps millions of years?

"They were good men." Halsey told Tali as she walked up behind her "They gave of themselves to make sure you made it here."

"One alien is more important than a squad of soldiers?" she asked, her pessimism dampened by her low saddened tone.

"You are, Tali." Halsey assured her "You just don't know it yet."

The doctor put a hand on Tali's shoulder and motioned her to follow her. Tali trudged along the metal flooring, plopping down in the snow as they continued their walk. Tali kept her eyes glued to the massive structure towering over them, her eyes darting along the length of it all.

"What is this place?" she finally asked

"Not going to ask what I'm doing here first?" Halsey questioned in return looking back at the quarian.

"I figured it was you who sent those troopers once I realised I was in the tram system." Tali answered "I'm... guessing you detected me in your systems."

Halsey just smiled. That surprised Tali. She thought she would be mad, but Halsey's look suggested admiration and pride.

"You are a clever one Ms. Zorah." She complimented "Yes, I detected your hack. Well, Jarrod did. A good thing he did too. Otherwise I wouldn't have known Ackerson took you."

"And you're not chewing me out for spying because...?"

"I probably would've done the same in your position to be honest." Halsey admitted with a shrug "I may not be a spy, but I am employed by ONI."

Tali rolled her eyes, of course she wasn't mad. She'd be a hypocrite if she was, given her line of work. ONI seemed big on conducting espionage on their allies, if Ackerson was any proof of that.

"As per your previous question," Halsey continued "I think you've already guessed that one."

Tali took another look at the massive structure above them, stopping dead in her tracks.

"That's the relic isn't it?" she asked, already knowing the answer "The one Shepard and I suspect the Covenant is after."

"Were you expecting a golden idol or chalice perhaps?" Halsey joked

"I wasn't expecting a building, no." Tali admitted, her gaze still locked on it. "Keelah... it's massive."

"Its Forerunner," Halsey informed her "what little we know of them, one thing is for certain. They built big."

That was an understatement. In terms of ancient relics from the past this thing made the conduit look like kids toy. And she didn't even know what it did yet.

"Is it a weapon? A transmitter?"

"No, it holds knowledge." Halsey clarified "Knowledge we've only recently unlocked."

Tali snapped to attention and turned to Halsey once more. The wheels in her head spinning once more.

"The latchkey you mentioned," she realised "what your scientist found in Visegrad. That's how you got in, isn't it?"

Halsey only nodded and motioned her to continue following.

"I was going to eventually tell you and Shepard about it. I thought I had more time, but Ackerson and the Covenant have forced my hand it seems."

Halsey led Tali to a large metal bunker embedded in the ice. As she stepped up to the keypad to unlock the massive metal door, Tali found herself once again looking to the relic.

"I'm guessing we can't drag this thing out of here then." She reasoned

"Sadly no," Halsey answered "we can't let the Covenant have it, yet we cannot simply destroy it with all the information contained inside. Thankfully, I have a plan."

With a few taps of the keypad the doors to the bunker opened wide and Halsey beckoned her quarian charge inside. She followed for what else could she do? Other than stay out in the cold and stare at the thing in the ice searching for answer on her own. So she followed the doctor into the winding catacombs of the bunker, though tunnels bored through the ice, leading deeper and deeper into the very heart of the excavation site.

"How long did it take to build all this?" she asked in amazement

"Several years," Halsey stated "along with a heaping amount of funding that was always on the brink of being terminated. Luckily, the head of ONI saw the potential value in this relic. So she was always able to force her way through the doubters."

Finally after the long trek, they came to Halsey's lab and the answers Tali sought. Behind the clutter of computers, files and console screens on the good doctor's desk was something of far greater value. A glowing blue ball of energy that was suspended in the air by nothing stood before her. There were strands of lights zipping across the blackness to be absorbed into it. Hexagons appeared and vanished along the sphere's transparent surface. But shining above it all was a pillar of light that rose to the very top of the cavern. Specks of light lit up the room, slightly blinding Tali for a moment, even through her visor. Her eyes took a moment to adjust as did her headgear, dialling up the shading slightly to assist her range of view.

"Is this where all the data is stored?" Tali asked

"Yes," Halsey replied as they both stared up at it "it's a depository of knowledge several millennia old, maybe even older. The Covenant are right about one thing, Forerunner technology is unlike anything we could possibly comprehend. The fact this place is still active after all that time is a testament to that."

Tali tried to shake herself out of her wonder. This type of situation was easier to go through when Shepard was around, he asked all the questions. Now it was Tali's turn to slowly fill in the blanks, feed her own curiosity.

"What exactly do we know of the Forerunners?" she asked "Who were they?"

"Gods to the Covenant of course," Halsey replied "but that's how they comprehend them. They were a technologically advanced race, more powerful than any of us can imagine. They ruled this galaxy eons ago, virtually unmolested. What little we know of them we find in what they left behind, as in all archaeology. The Covenant have had the benefit of acquiring much of the tech that made the Forerunners great, that's why their ships are faster. Its thanks in part to the greater understanding of slipspace the Forerunners had in comparison to us. At least, that's the theory."

Halsey pointed her hand up to the sphere as she turned back to Tali.

"But now, we've gotten our hands on their coveted prize first." She declared with pride "I have little doubt that's pissed them off quite a bit."

The young quarian could defiantly agree with that considering how bad things were on the surface.

Liara would've loved to see all this, Tali thought. She couldn't help but think of the Asari when Halsey spoke of Forerunners and their technology. It reminded her so much of the protheans, the alien race that had ruled the galaxy over fifty thousand years prior to her time. How their technology and what they had left behind had helped shape the races of their era, like the humans and the prothean archives they uncovered on Mars. The more she thought about it the more this relic was starting to sound like a prothean beacon. That is, if what Halsey believed about the knowledge within it was true.

"What information do you think you can recover?" Tali asked as she edged closer to the doctor "What sort of knowledge are you looking for?"

"The kind that will give humanity the edge it needs to survive." Halsey explained "Something we can use against the Covenant, something that can stop them."

"Like a weapon?" Tali asked

Halsey just walked over to a nearby console, the quarian close behind.

"A weapon, a ship, some advanced form of technology." Halsey explained as she began typing in commands at a console. "I've had these machines hooked up to the relic's core, transcribing the information within for anything and everything I can think of. Any potential edge on the Covenant, especially if its Forerunner based, would give us the advantage."

"I still don't see why you need my help with that." Tali said meekly as she peered over Halsey's shoulder "You seem to be a bigger expert on the Forerunners than me."

Halsey just looked back at Tali, smiling coyly.

"While I need assistance in scanning the data, truthfully I need your expertise in another field more." She explained.

Beside the old doctor appeared a holographic image on a previously bare console. It displayed two images, one a smaller version of the relic's core. The other was a purplish coloured young woman, her legs crossed, looking over the sphere with even greater attention than Tali was. It didn't take long for the quarian to realise what this hologram truly was.

"Tali'Zorah," Halsey began "meet... Cortana."

Cortana didn't move or take notice of any presence in the room beyond looking back at the three fingered organic. She then returned to her work. Tali, however, approached her cautiously.

"She's... an AI. Isn't she?" she asked Halsey somewhat hesitantly, worried about inciting yet another debate unintentionally.

"In a sense," the human doctor replied, taking position beside her "to be more accurate she's a fragment of a complete whole. The real Cortana is not here, but she's as much a part of her programming as ever. Think of her as a part of a person's subconscious or a specific piece of data extracted from a CPU."

Tali kept her eyes glued to the strange little woman, trying to wrap her head around it all. A piece of an AI separated from her core programming? It was hard to fathom. She reasoned it was much easier to actually take a piece of a synthetic's mind out of the core programming, but such a procedure would be difficult. Then again, the UNSC had had more time to figure AIs out. They weren't illegal here.

What was easier to understand was what the Cortana fragment was doing. At least to Tali it was as she watched the little purple woman reaching out and touching the sphere in front of her as it revolved.

"She's transcribing the core for you." Tali reasoned "Downloading it into herself. She's how we get the information out of here!"

"Yes, and once the fragment is reabsorbed into Cortana proper she will be able to use it." Halsey confirmed "We merely need to continue searching the relic's archives and discover its secrets before we do just that."

"But why not simply download everything into the actual Cortana. Why fragment her?" Tali asked, seemingly concerned "That had to be traumatic, even for a synthetic."

Halsey's smile dimmed slightly her face taking a more static look to it. She slid her hand along the side of the holographic console, mildly catching the attention of the little AI squatting there. As quickly as the AI looked to the good doctor she then looked away, returning to her work.

"Cortana is a very special AI." Halsey began, her voice teaming with admiration for the little synthetic from the sound of it. She looked back to quarian as she continued. "She is quite possibly the most important construct I've ever created out of all of my projects. She's currently preparing to be used by another, who will need her when the time comes. She must be ready for it and that means I can't have her here with me currently. That and the data must be stored on a subconscious level."

"Is that possible for an AI?" Tali asked curiously "I've heard of memory locks but... synthetic brains don't work like ours. Do they?"

Halsey looked to the Cortana fragment again.

"Our AIs are not like the ones your people made." She reminded Tali "They are based on human minds, our minds. We map them and imprint programs with their personality, their intelligence. That's how we make smart AIs."

"The ones that burn out." Tali said, recalling the conversation they had had before.

Halsey simply nodded, face still turned to Cortana. As she did, Tali widened her gaze slightly. She thought she saw something as the good doctor nodded her head. She looked at both Halsey and the Cortana fragment. There was a strange sense of double vision about them.

"Is it just me or does she look a bit like...?"

Halsey cut her off, predicting where Tali was taking this.

"Do you remember when we first met? We talked about my experience in flash cloning?" she said plainly "Cortana is an AI based on my mind. I cloned my own brain and used it to create her."

Tali eyes grew big at the revelation. It was something unheard of where she had come from, a synthetic clone of an organic being. She was beginning to realise why Halsey considered this AI so special. She was her, in a sense. Younger, obviously, but it was her.

"Why clone your own brain just for that?" Tali asked the doctor, perplexed as to what purpose such an action could serve.

"It wasn't about ego. Like I said Cortana is a very special AI designed for a very special person in mind." Halsey clarified, her voice echoing pride, not in herself, but in someone else. "And she needs an equally special person to take her the rest of the way."

Finally Halsey turned to Tali, a strange glow in her eyes.

"You are that person."

Tali took a step back at the doctor's declaration.

"Me?"

What did she mean by her? What was Halsey playing at here?

"I need you to help me transcribe the data onto the Cortana fragment as well as work with her." Halsey explained "She's essentially your crash course in Artificial Intelligence 101 for this universe."

Tali was taken aback by this. She wanted her, a quarian, to study an AI? That was why she was here?

"That's... that's why you brought me here!" she said in shock "You want to teach me to make AIs?"

"Not exactly. Specifically I want to teach you about their upkeep, their construction, their functions and, in the case of Cortana, how to work with one." Halsey elaborated "I need to teach you everything I know about AIs so you will be able to help her in her assigned task."

Tali held her head, trying to wrap her head around Halsey's reasoning. Did she not remember the other part of their first conversation? At all?

"I don't understand. I'm the last person anyone would consider for this." She explained, still baffled at the logic "You want to teach a quarian how to work with an AI? Especially after... I just... I don't understand!"

"Where Cortana is going I can't follow." Halsey explained as she walked over to rapidly growing flustered alien girl before her "I wanted someone with my knowledge of artificial intelligence to accompany her, to guide her so she may complete her goal, but very few people posses my experience. When you told me the story of your people and the Geth I knew I found someone with that natural affinity, that firsthand experience with AIs that I needed."

Tali looked up at the doctor as she placed a hand on her shoulder, trying to calm her.

"You reminded me so much of my best students." She complimented her "You possessed a keen understanding of how AIs can evolve overtime. I thought if your people could create something like the Geth accidentally, imagine what they could accomplish if they actually tried. Or more accurately, if even one tried."

Tali saw the look in Halsey's eyes. The old doctor seemed to be lost in thought, probably thinking what she could achieve with a whole team of Quarians, Tali wagered. Soon however the human shook herself out of it and returned to the task at hand.

"You were the best possible candidate to see to it that my plans for Cortana come to fruition." Halsey continued "I was going to approach you on the matter, but like I said I ran out of time."

Tali politely removed Halsey's hand from her shoulder. While she appreciated the doctor's apparent admiration for her supposed abilities, she was not so sure.

"But I told you I hated AI, I criticised how long a leash you kept yours on." Tali reminded her "Why would that make me a candidate?"

"Because Tali, you're different." Halsey informed her "Your anger at the Geth wasn't that of a master who was annoyed at a machine misbehaving or a tool getting out of line. You did not view AI like Ackerson does, like an object or piece of property. Your anger was more personal. You hated them for what they took from you, not for their actions, but for what the consequences of those actions were. More importantly you showed signs of reconciliation."

Halsey led Tali over to the Cortana fragment, placing her hand on the small of her back.

"It's easy to hate, Tali." she told her warmly "What's harder is questioning it. Realising that perhaps it's better to let go, to hope for something better, to end it. That's what separates you from the Covenant and Ackerson. You don't really hate the Geth or AIs, you hate the situation they've put you in. That's a great difference."

Tali huffed a laugh under her breath.

"You always psychoanalyze prospective students?" she asked

"I have to keep my knowledge of sociology and behavioural studies sharp somehow." She smirked "The point I'm trying to make Tali, is that you want to change things. I know you do. Maybe you still harbour some ill-will to AIs, but they're just a conduit. Something physical you can focus your blame on. You want to get past that, I can tell."

Halsey turned her gaze to the Cortana fragment, Tali followed soon after. The piece of the aI program was still hard at work transcribing the data core. It lifted a single hand to touch the miniature translucent sphere before her.

"This is the first step to that." Halsey informed the quarian "Learn the ins and outs of Cortana. Get to know her, help guide her natural evolution in a sense. She needs someone like you to help her unlock her potential."

Tali thought about it for a moment. It was weird, no matter how you looked at it. Halsey was training her to become an AI mechanic in a way, something that would no doubt make billions of Quarians roll in their graves. If Halsey had asked this of her a few months ago she would've more than likely refused. But now, it offered her a chance to prove something to herself.

"Alright Doctor Halsey," she relented "what do you need me to do?"

The good doctor smiled broadly, the grin seemed to be a mixture of satisfaction and relief. She turned to her console and beckoned Tali over.

"First, we need to get you up to speed on the basics." She began as the Quarian joined her "Best way to do that is to look at some of the data that's being transcribed and have you write out a proper translation program for her. It will help speed up the process for her, which we need to desperately."

"This is what humans call killing two birds with a stone, right?" Tali asked

"Marines have replaced that saying with 'Jackal' and 'round' actually." Halsey corrected.

* * *

><p><strong>August 29<strong>**th****, 2552**

Shepard pounded his fist into his palm. Tali had finished explaining Halsey's timely rescue of her from Sword base and that they had been working together on the relic since then. He should've known Ackerson had something to do with all this. He swore the next time they met he was get a biotic haymaker straight to the jaw. He didn't care what kind of trouble he'd get in afterwards.

"Slimy little bastard." He growled "I hope you told your superiors about this Halsey."

"I would have, but I was concerned for Tali's safety." She explained, the Quarian still beside her on the screen "For any real proof of Ackerson's kidnapping attempt to stick, Tali would need to make a statement to the Joint Chiefs or anyone above Ackerson in ONI. That would've meant Ackerson learning that Tali was still alive, he would doubtlessly try something again even if he was locked in the brig. It was the same reason I couldn't contact you, if Ackerson discovered Tali was with me here at the excavation site..."

Halsey seemed to shudder at the thought.

"The risk was too great."

Shepard could only let loose a sigh, calm down and nod in agreement.

"Well, in any case thank you Doctor, for protecting her."

It had felt like some kind of unbelievable joke, a mirage, but that initial reaction had soon worn off. Tali was alive, with Halsey and with the relic. It was as if all doubts and concerns had evaporated. And it was all thanks to the old crone of a doctor with a questionable past. To think he had doubted her before.

"It was my pleasure Shepard." Halsey politely responded "She is probably one of the best assistants and students I've ever had. It's good to teach someone who can actually immediately implement said teachings in front of you."

"Always was a fast learner." Tali said in a rather chipper tone, trying to hide a bit of her embarrassment towards the praise.

By now everyone else had more or less gathered around the screen, although there wasn't much room. They needed to get a glimpse of their "dead" crewmate, confirm for themselves that she was indeed alive. The two people closest to the front beside Shepard were Kasumi and Garrus. They shared the same relieved and jubilant look that was currently on their commander's face.

Legion reminded off to the side keeping a focus on the screen but not really talking much. The Spartans, who were closer to the machine, kept an eye on all of them. This was their reunion, they had no cause to tread on it. Six however did approach Legion.

"Happy to see her alive?" he asked

"That is an organic emotion." Legion responded "We find it an agreeable matter that Creator Tali'Zorah is unharmed."

"Close enough I guess." Six shrugged chuckling a bit "You know, one of these days you're gonna have to admit to feeling something."

Legion didn't say anything in response, but turned its head back the screen with Tali and Halsey on it.

"So I guess all we have to do is come down and pick up you two and the relic I guess?" Garrus asked

Tali rubbed the back of her head slightly nervous.

"Well you see..." she began "there's a complication."

The descending tram, almost as if on cue, now revealed a massive cavern beyond to the occupants of the tram. As they all took a step back at what lay before them Shepard motioned Carter up to the front. He got a good look at what everyone else saw, the massive relic, frozen in ice.

"That's... an impressive complication." Garrus noted, slightly put off by the snarl in their original plan

"What am I looking at Halsey?" Carter asked

"Before you is an alien artefact of neither Covenant nor human origin vastly beyond our comprehension." Halsey explained "Until now. Thanks to Noble Two's recovery of the drive from Visegrad the decryption of its data is now almost complete."

Kasumi breathed a mock sigh of relief.

"For a second there I thought we were gonna need a reaper-sized winching system." She joked

The cavern shook with a sudden lurch. They watched as ice collapsed from the ceiling, falling down into the abyss below. The Covenant were breaking through.

"Have that data of yours ready ma'am." Carter ordered "We're coming to you."

"But we're not finished!" Tali shouted, her voice slightly panicky

"The decryption process is still underway we..."

But Carter quickly cut the doctor off.

"You don't understand, we're out of time." Carter informed them both adamantly "If it's not portable when we get to you its getting buried."

"Bury any of it and you bury man's best chance for survival!" Halsey replied, her voice stern and commanding. But in her next sentence it turned calm and comforting. "Commander... you've been wondering what Jorge died for? He died for this. Please. Buy me all the time you can."

Carter didn't answer, but his posture and mannerisms said it all. Halsey's words had touched a chord. Shepard could tell which one. It was for the same reason he came here, when he thought Tali had died. The elevator stopped at ground level and the doors opened wide.

"I'll send Tali out to meet with you." Halsey informed them "She'll be of more use to you out there than in here right now."

The two teams stepped out and scanned the excavation site as they rushed forward.

"Well our secondary objective was to get the relic." Carter reasoned as he moved forward with Shepard "No sense in leaving it behind now I guess."

"We're not leaving anyone behind this time." Shepard declared resolutely.

* * *

><p>Setal'Fehumme crossed his arms, content at his work. Below him the patch of permafrost had finally melted through. The way to the relic was clear. He had already positioned himself on the overlook for the area. As he called the corvette above them off his own forces began to fly in and marshal in the valley below.<p>

"The humans will not have left the relic unguarded." He told his men "We must be wary. They will not return what is rightfully ours so easily. They may even destroy it before we can lay claim to it."

He turned to one of his majors.

"Are the converted ready?" he asked

"Yes Field Marshal." The sangheili officer replied "They and the Jiralhanae will be among the first waves."

"Good, those stupid primates can be of some real use for once instead of partaking in mindless slaughter." Setal declared "Once they have softened resistance we may move in and finally seal the fate of the defenders. Order them to prepare to move."

As he finished giving his order however a single Phantom flew over the cliff behind him and lowered itself onto the ridge. Its doors opened wide and dropping down from it was an even more despicable sight than the Jiralhanae. Krogan, the hulking lizards waddled throughout the command post on the ridge and striding up to Setal was their leader, Kreave.

"Field Marshal," he began arms wide "I hope I am not interrupting."

"I told you to leave this sector mercenary!" He shouted in anger "This is a holy mission! You will find no profit here!"

"My mission, as per my contract, is to find and kill the False Shepherd." Kreave explained "He is here."

Satel huffed at the korgan warlord.

"Please, there is no conceivable way he is part of this human offensive." He announced "He was last seen in the human city we most recently glassed."

"He is not dead, he is here, and you cannot beat him." The Krogan informed him adamantly "His krant is powerful and he has allied it with the human super-soldiers. They are more than likely inside Sword Base by now."

Setal was unmoved, he did not care to listen to the advice of a mercenary, let alone a non-believer.

"If the False Shepherd is within the base he shall be eradicated. No infidel shall lay claim to the relic!"

He caught his tongue too late and he could see Kreave was intrigued.

"A relic? Is that what this is all about? An archaeological expedition?" Kreave asked, on the verge of laughing "And you call yourselves warriors. You waste time and blood digging in the dirt and burrowing through the ice for a trinket?"

"I don't expect you to understand." Setal growled pointing at the merc leader "This battle's goals may be different but its cause is just nonetheless. Sangheili at least fight for nothing else but a higher calling. What do you fight for besides credits? You're the real trinket hunter, not us."

Kreave suddenly grabbed the field marshal's arm that was accusing him and twisted it sideways. The Covenant Commander howled in pain and dropped to his knees as his trusted Lieutenants pointed weapons at the krogan. Kreave's men did the same for them and the rest of Satel's people at the command post. It was a tense situation, but Kreave remained stoic nonetheless.

"I could kill you Field Marshal." He admitted "But I won't. I need you alive, your men below won't obey my commands otherwise."

"What are you talking about you filthy-"

Satel's words, spoken through gritted teeth, were halted by another painful twist of his arm. Once more the weapons of the two sides kept firmly aimed at one another, everyone's fingers ready to pull back on the triggers.

"I want your command Field Marshal." Kreave explained "Turn your forces over to me and you will not have the blood of your own men on your hands."

"Never!" Satel shouted defiantly

The korgan pushed the barrel of the shotgun harder against the field marshal's forehead.

"It was not a request." Kreave responded, unwavering in his tone "You may still issues orders to your men, but they will be relayed through me. My men will lead the charge to retake this relic, you will follow. You may keep your trinket for I only wish to fight my war. That is all that matters to me."

Satel glared at the krogan looming over him, his teeth bared as his mandibles twitched.

"And if I refuse?" he asked

"Then your soldiers die a dishonorable death not slaying humans and I head into the icy caverns below without you." Kreave explained "And once the humans are dead I will take the relic for myself. You will have failed your mission. Your honor cannot allow that."

Satel looked to his men, all of them unafraid to die as they stared down the blood pack mercs. Their teeth bared, their stances ready, they acted as sangheili should. But many would no doubt be killed with ease, the Krogan and their weapons were dangerously powerful. This was not the way a warrior should die, especially here, on this mission.

With a heavy heart he lowered his head.

"Stand down warriors." He ordered

"Field Marshal!"

"Stand down! We are here for the relic. We cannot risk this blasphemous mercenary acquiring it for his ends." Satel ordered once more "And we cannot stop him from doing so if we are all dead."

The Sangheili warriors, slowly but surely, lowered their weapons. The korgan followed soon after. Kreave just grinned widely at the whole affair.

"I knew you sangheili were smarter than you looked."

Kreave bashed his own skull into Satel's head and released him. The field marshal was alive, but clutching his head in pain. As his lieutenants helped him to his feet he called over to the mercenary leader as he walked away.

"Supreme Commander Thel'Vadamee will hear of this." He warned

"By then I will have what I want." Kreave responded "Shepard's head on a platter will be more than enough to buy me whatever leverage is required."

In truth though, Kreave could care less what this sorry excuse for a warrior race thought of him or what punishment they'd try to concoct. He'd be able to fight his war his way. He'd show the Covenant what true battle was like now.

* * *

><p>Tali was hastily loading her shotgun as she stepped outside the bunker, the large metal doors closing behind her as she did.<p>

"Are you sure you don't need me in there doctor?" she asked over her comm-link.

"Your shipmates need you more. I can complete the final stages on my own." Halsey assured "Besides, you've been separated from them for far too long over my project. You've earned this."

Tali smiled warmly at Halsey's praise. She snapped attention to her front however when the entire crew of the Normandy came rushing at her from across the snow. The first to slam into her was Kasumi, her nimble little feet pushing her to the front of the pack. She almost tackled the quarian in a massive hug, locking her arms to her side.

"I was so sure we'd lost you." She said, almost sniffling "I just couldn't... I shouldn't have thought that way. I should've... we should've..."

Tali hugged the thief back.

"Kasumi, it's okay." She assured "You did nothing wrong, I don't blame you for anything."

Kasumi raised her head, sniffing in and wiping her eyes a bit.

"It's just... after I lost Keiji... losing another person like that..."

"You didn't lose me." Tali reminded her, shifting her tone to a more light-hearted joking one soon after. "It's not as if you could lose me anyway, this visor has infrared and an electronics sensor for cloaked enemies. I'm the one person you can't hide from."

Kasumi laughed a little at that as she pulled back from her friend.

"Well, I'm just glad I have the one woman on the ship who shares my fashion sense back is all." She replied, her jovial nature returning "I hate being the odd one out. I feel so exposed. That's hazardous for my job description."

The rest of the group finally caught up to Kasumi. Now the quarian engineer was practically surrounded by her crew mates, all of them talking over each other. It was difficult to hear what each of them were saying, but more or less it was praises of thanks from various deities, small little hugs leading into greater embraces. Tali was just happy she wasn't claustrophobic. Even Miranda rushed forward to give her a hug. any time before that, if you had told Tali the Normandy's resident ice queen would do such a thing then she'd probably haved laughed.

Strangely though, it felt comforting to have the Normandy's XO joining in on the reunion. It was fleeting though, Ms. Lawson soon realised what she was doing in front of everyone and quickly disconnected herself from the quarian.

"It's good to see you alive, Tali." Miranda finally said as she back off, her tone and mannerism returning to that of the constant professional.

"Likewise Miranda," Tali assured "I was... worried about all of you more or less. The news from the surface wasn't the best after all."

Grunt just seemed laugh lightly at that.

"It was a good fight, sorry you missed it." He told her, a grin across his broad face "We could've used some of that techno-junk of yours."

"It looks like you did just fine without me, Grunt." Tali warmly responded "I guess that just goes to show you, never doubt the Normandy crew's ability to pull through."

Tali scanned the crowd and soon spotted Garrus, approaching from the center of it all.

"Tali I..." he began meekly "I didn't want to leave you here. I-"

Tali didn't let him finish berating himself. The little Quarian quickly caught the scarred Turian in a hug of her own, wrapping herself around his waist. Garrus was taken a bit aback. If Turians could blush, now would be the time.

"Garrus please," she began "don't blame yourself. It worked out, I was needed here."

Tali looked up at him as she backed away, the turian letting loose a single 'heh' as he looked down.

"I... guess its true what they say. Everything happens for a reason." He said "The Spirits work in strange ways."

Tali moved past Garrus to another member of the group she spotted momentarily. Tali never thought she'd be moving towards a Geth without hostile intent, but Legion was one of the few that were hanging back from the main group, along with Zaeed and Jack. If they wouldn't come to her she'd go to them.

"We are grateful to see you still functional Creator Tali'Zorah." Legion declared

"You too Legion," Tali replied "believe me when I say that."

Legion lowered its head slightly, shifting the platform's eye around slightly.

"Perhaps, when the present threat has past we can exchange data of collective experiences." The machine stated. The way they said it sounded like the Geth was somewhat hesitant or nervous about how Tali would respond. Tali picked up on it, but it wasn't a chief concern right now.

"I wouldn't mind Legion." Tali told it "I'm sure you have some interesting stories from the past two weeks or so."

"We do." Legion answered, its head rising up, seemingly pleased at the response "One of them was most illuminating. It involved an ancient human king and spears."

Not the kind of story Tali was expecting Legion to talk about. It sounded just a bit perplexing, but she supposed she'd get an explanation later. Legion wasn't one to be cryptic, at least not for very long. Tali didn't expect much of a welcome back from either Jack or Zaeed. They weren't the hugging types. The tattooed woman did give a quick little nod and the old merc did respond to her look towards him with a thumbs up. That was good enough for her.

Then she saw him, Shepard stood on the edge of the snow and the metal flooring that led to the bunker's little "porch." He just stood there, looking at her, his gun slack at his side. Tali stared back for a few moments, words caught in her throat. She tried to speak his name, but couldn't. Eventually she reasoned the old human saying was correct, actions spoke louder. She rushed forward, practically pouncing on Shepard. He caught her as she wrapped her arms around his neck. The alien girl was now suspended off the ground, being held tightly by her human commander. He kept clutching at her, gripping at the small of her back and at her hooded helmet. He needed to be sure this was real, he needed to be sure that he wasn't be fooled by a cruel universe for once.

"Tali... I'm sorry." He blurted out as he held her tight. "I'm sorry I was so stupid."

"Don't be." She whispered to him, her mouth close to his ear.

"No," the Commander said adamantly "you were right about everything. I was blaming you for my problems. You were just trying to help and I-"

Tali pulled her head back slowly and released an arm from around Shepard's neck. She placed two of her fingers upon his lips, stopping him.

"Wade, please." She told him softly "You're here, with me. That's what matters now. We can sort it out later. Right now..."

She brushed her hand against his face and held it there.

"Don't spoil this moment for me." She told him, her eyes practically glowing.

He let Tali return to wrapping around his neck and the place her head against his chest. He lowered back to the ground as she did, his features growing calm.

"You're too good to me." he said as he brushed a hand on the back of her head.

"I know," she chuckled "it's my way of building up a little relationship investment. Goodwill I can cash in for whatever I want."

"So, like making me buy you new shoes or something physical?" Shepard asked candidly.

Tali stared up at him, giggling slightly.

"Wouldn't you like to know, Commander." She taunted

The Normandy crew looked on in relative silence, letting the two have their moment. But there was another team in these caverns, and one of their number was quick to break things up. With a slight cough, Emile caught the attention of both Shepard and Tali. The rest of Noble Team was already standing with the surly Spartan in a line.

"Hate to break up the love-in, but we got Covies knocking at the door." Emile reminded them both as the two split apart "Maybe you should save it until AFTER we get out of this? Think up a strategy first and everything."

Tali cleared her throat, somewhat embarrassed by the brazen open display of affection. Shepard was just surprised none of the Spartans had started asking the obvious questions about what they had no doubt heard and seen. If one thing could be said about Noble Team it was that they had their priorities straight. No time to be getting into personal lives when they were looking at a siege.

"Excavation sites of this importance usually have a defence plan in mind." Carter noted astutely.

"Correct," Tali replied "I'm sure you saw the turrets on your way over."

"One of them." Six answered.

Tali was speaking of course of the white metal stump-shaped object they all passed along the way towards the lab entrance. It was hard to miss, as it stuck up out of the ground like a sore thumb. On the side of the object was a small digital keypad. Tali walked back over to it and input a few taps on the pad. In seconds the top of the stumpy object opened up, revealing an automated turret within. The gun scanned the area slowly, shifting from side to side, searching for targets but only finding people it was not meant to shoot at.

"These things were set up even before I arrived." Tali began, speaking mainly to Shepard "Halsey realised the next time the Covenant attacked they'd more than likely take Sword Base. They were a precaution in case they got down here."

Most of the group had by now gathered around the turret itself. Shepard gave the gun a good once over. The weapon honestly didn't seem like much, just a regular old machine gun more or less.

"You sure they can hold them off?" he asked, unsure of the weapon's capabilities.

"They pack more of a punch then you think." Tali assured, cheekily adding "Kinda like us Quarians. They also have a self-repairing suite, but they have to retract back into themselves to implement it. Then you have to reactivate them manually."

Garrus gave a curt little laugh at that.

"Wish we had some of these in the missile silo." He said, clearly admiring the weapon a bit.

Shepard's fears were somewhat alleviated by the fact the guns could fix themselves. It would make holding this place a bit easier. He knew it wouldn't do much against the heavy stuff, but the guns would keep the infantry at bay.

"How many of these do we got?" Shepard asked her, eyeing the gun as it scanned.

"Four counting this one," she answered concisely "We have them set up at specific choke points across the cavern."

"Then we best activate them all now while we have the chance." Carter suggested "Covenant are gonna be arriving any minute now. We need to be ready."

Garrus walked out a little down the path, back to the bunker's entrance proper and took stock of the area. Where they came in was a large flat space, perfect for dropping people down on. In front of them a few yards away was a bridge that spanned a chasm in the ice. It led to another metal platform, several generators dotting the sides of the bridge and a portion of the upper level past it. To the left a hill declined downward past a box shaped building adjacent to bunker's entrance. From the looks of it the building was a portable lab or living quarters.

Surrounding the area in general were large rock formations, forming pathways. One set of rocks cut the front path in two, one leading directly to the bunker, the other leading to the left path. Along the rocks to the right was some scaffolding, creating a nice stable area to overlook the main pathway up.

"Three different paths, all leading to a single point." he began "They can drop troops where we came in, down there and from across that bridge. Also, the central path looks like it forks, splits into two and connects further up along the left path. Nice little short cut and it keeps them out of direct line of fire unless someone is actually on the path to begin with.

Garrus turned back to the others.

"All in all, not exactly the best defensible position." He concluded "I suggest we keep the bulk of our fighting force near the bunker doors and all the guns and ammo lining the walls and shelves."

"But we'll need some people outside the perimeter to hold and keep the turrets active." Kat added

"I suppose there are worse places to hide behind that can't fire bullets." Kasumi observed.

Garrus looked back to the scaffolding on the side of the rocks.

"Good a place as any to set up I guess." He declared

"I got another one." Jun said as he pointed to the top of the outdoor lab building along the side of the downward path. "Just need to get up there."

"We have a few jetpacks among the inventory." Tali told him "As well as other potential armour upgrades."

Kasumi practically lit up at the mention of jetpacks alone.

"Yes! I call dibs on the first pick!" she shouted raising her arm wildly

"Our first concern should be getting those turrets online." Carter informed her and the others "Soon as that's squared away we can pick our positions and hold. Covies really want this place bad, so they'll be throwing everything they can muster at us. Be ready for anything and plan accordingly."

Shepard nodded and turned to his own team.

"Let's lay out the welcome mat people," he ordered "whatever it takes the Covenant do not get in that door!"

With that the defenders split up quickly, shouting a collective "Aye, aye, sir" for their respective commanders. As they did so, banshees could be seen whirling about in the distance, scanning the massive relic in the ice. They didn't have much time to prepare, but they'd be ready nonetheless. The shared thought of the two teams was simple: The Covenant would not have their prize, they would hold.

* * *

><p>Kreave observed them carefully. He had seen a few of the apes in the human city on occasions. They were a marvel of savagery and blunt destructive power. They felt more like the Krogan in spirit, except he could tell they were stupider. They acted dominate and powerful, but if what the elites said of them were true they were in reality highly subservient. No Krogan wroth his quad would ever allow himself to be ordered around by offworlders or have their culture subverted by some fancy religious belief system. It would be like being ordered around by a Hanar!<p>

They were slaves, pure and simple, they just didn't accept it. At least the uggnoy comprehended and understood their position in the hierarchy, these jiralhanae believed they were warriors when they were little more than shock troops. Vorcha that weren't as skinny and frail but just as vicious, a step up from regular cannon fodder. That was all they were, but that made them useful.

"These will be among the first waves?" Kreave asked Satel as the primal aliens below their ridge fought each other for a seat in the phantom.

"Yes, along with a few of the regular uggnoy and kig-yar squadrons for support." Satel replied "They will also have help from another resource."

Satel pointed a phantom being loaded with monstrous looking creatures. They appeared human, but Kreave could tell they weren't anymore. He grinned broadly at it all.

"Good, then we shall add our own forces to this." He told the covenant officer and turning to one of his aids "How many Vorcha and Varren squadrons do we have left?"

"A platoon's worth sir." The lieutenant responded "We left a few paltry squads at the construction site, the bulk of the remainder are here with us now."

Kreave nodded at that, perfect. A small test of the humans' ability to hold would help him determine his next course of action. And it would help him confirm his suspicions without losing anyone valuable.

"Tell the Vorcha that if they spot Shepard or his krant they are to report his presence immediately." The blood pack leader ordered "If even one of his crew is down there, then he will not be far behind."

"It shall be done warlord."

The lieutenant marched off and Kreave returned his gaze to the phantom loaded with jiralhanae. It began to lift from the ground and head to the hole made in the ice below. He wasn't concerned about Shepard being killed by these covenant forces. They would be no match for him or his krant. Kreave knew that to have any hope of defeating Shepard and his new super soldier friends they would need to even the playing field first.

Luckily, he had just the thing. He just needed to wait for the right moment to unleash it.

* * *

><p>"How we doing guys?" Shepard asked over the comm-link "We set up?"<p>

"I have perfect line of sight from up here." Garrus replied "I can see the whole length of the bridge from this angle on this scaffolding. Perfect bottleneck, and the sheet metal offers some decent cover."

Shepard looked up to the scaffolding himself. He saw Garrus with his rifle, already aiming down the scope. He then looked to the second sniper team they had, crouching down on top of the roof of the outdoor lab.

"How about you two?" he asked

"Me and Thane are settling in nicely." Jun answered "We got a view of a good landing zone on the ice and we can see beyond the bridge as well. We can call out targets for Garrus as we see them and assist."

"Just try and keep up with my shots." Garrus added to the offer, his usual cocky tone apparent as he spoke. "Incisor has a faster rate of fire than your gun."

Jun just seemed to laugh.

"Because it fires three bullets Vakarian," the Spartan argued "it's practically cheating."

"You don't win wars by playing fair." The Turian replied

That was long range covered for now, now for the short range. Shepard contacted the field teams.

"Are the turrets up and running?" he asked

"Me and Kasumi got the last one." Tali's voice replied "I have their diagnostics on my display, all systems green from the looks of it. Transmitting operational data to rest of team now."

The head-up displays and omni-tools of each of the team members lit up as four separate bars prefaced by a letter appeared on them.

"If anything goes wrong, me or someone close-by can move in to re-activate them." Tali assured.

Shepard was pleased to hear the defences were up, but he still felt hesitant about another part of the plan.

"You don't have to be so far out there Tali," Shepard told her in a concerned tone "you and Kasumi can huddle back here on the porch with the rest of Noble and the crew. There's more cover here, more ammo..."

"Me and Kasumi are more hands on anyway, Shepard." Tali replied stoically "And we have Garrus and Thane watching our backs. We'll be okay."

"Don't forget me." Six chimed in "me and Legion are gonna be harassing the enemy where we can in the field. We can pop up from behind when they're taking shots at you guys. If Tali calls we'll come running Commander, don't worry."

It was hard not to worry, considering they were probably staring down the entire Covenant military and who knew what else. It was why most of them were staying nearby the entrance to the bunker, designated the porch. It had the best cover, rock formations sticking out of the ground to the left, some large metal slabs sticking up from the ground just outside the perimeter to the front and sandbags along the edges of the ramp. There was also the added benefit that it had tons of guns and a few rocket launchers to boot scattered about the area. They'd come in handy if things got hairy. More or less, it had everything they would need to hold out against a prolonged assault. They knew it wouldn't last forever, but with any luck Halsey would finish up in her lab before it got too dire.

Shepard and Carter surveyed the icy ceiling above them, watching for the first inevitable arriving dropships. Both of them were currently out in the snow, up front and center where they needed to be.

"How you like our odds so far?" Shepard asked him

"Ask me that again when we're knee deep in covies." Carter replied

That was when Shepard spotted it, making a beeline for the left path, a single phantom dropship. Its flight pattern was a little erratic, as if something was constantly jostling the backseat of the vehicle or something. It began to descend to the ground. Before it reached it however, the doors on the side opened up and something fell out, a cage of some sort. They heard it smash against the ground moments after.

"What you got, Jun?" Carter asked over the radio

"Not human sir, that's for sure." The Spartan sniper replied "Feral looking, glowing a bit."

That sounded familiar, at least according to the report Garrus had filed after the silo.

"Six you got visual?" Carter asked once more.

"Oh yeah sir," Six replied "me and Legion got those husk things, rushing up the path as we speak. Should we engage?"

Carter was about to reply yes, but he was cut off.

"Wait, they're just trying to get us to waste ammo on them!" Tali shouted out "Let the turret on the pathway take most of them!"

Regardless, Six and Legion rushed out along the path to meet the approaching husks. These weren't like the ones in the silo. These were full blown husks, no skin left, no clothes, no mind of their own. They had no resemblance of humanity left in them. The Spartan and Geth already had their guns at the ready as the horde began to swarm towards them.

Then they crossed into the sights of the turret in the corner of the rock outcropping. The turret instantly sighted the enemy, the friend and foe targeting parameters painting the grotesque creatures. The gun opened up, tearing through monsters with zeal. The emplacement did what it was designed to do perfectly. Soon enough the bodies began tumbling over each other like logs. Parts of the undead creatures tore off their bodies, revealing what little remained of original living tissue. But some of the husks were 'lucky' in the sense they only found themselves severed from their legs. They crawled over their dead compatriots towards Six and Legion. With them the few husks that had managed to avoid taking sufficient damage from the turret; even it couldn't stop them all.

Six and Legion opened on the six remaining husks that were crawling or shambling towards them. They didn't last long against the combined forward fire. The Spartan looked over the collapsed forms before turning his gaze upwards to the phantom that tossed them out.

"They got more in there you know." He said over the radio.

"Agreed," Carter answered "they don't wanna show their complete hand just yet either. So expect other phantoms with the same cargo shortly in the coming waves. Looks like they're gonna make another drop past the bridge, Garrus, get your sights on'em."

"Already done, Noble Lead."

As the turian answered the Spartan commander, Legion tapped Six on his arm. When the Spartan turned to him the Geth pointed upwards. Six followed the synthetic's fingers to find more phantoms closing in on their position.

"I count two more heading in." Six warned "Me and Legion are gonna see if we can catch them as they head up the road."

Six looked past where the fork of the central path met the left. Just beyond it he could make out a gap in the rocks. It was difficult to spot coming up from where the Covenant had begun landing and provided a bit of protection among the rocks. The rocks jutted out a bit making the stone walls seem like they were complete and not harbouring a small breach in them.

"Me and Legion are gonna ambush them on their way up, catch them in the crossfire with the turret." He informed the others "Thane, Jun, think you can lend a hand and pick off some targets for us?"

"Already lining up our shots now." Thane replied plainly.

The first phantom had closed in on the icy patch at the bottom of the path. Rushing out of it were several brutes and a number of grunts accompanying them.

"Brutes," Thane warned "grunts too. Plan accordingly."

Six and Legion pushed themselves into the walls of the rock and waited. Their eyes trained on the pathway beyond. They could see the turret just a little way up from their position.

"Anyone got eyes on the third phantom?" he asked

"It's landing where we came in." Shepard answered.

The doors on the side of the phantom opened up as it neared the ground. Piling out of them came two whole squads of vorcha, their razor teeth only outmatched by the reptilian-like creatures beside them. The varren opened their mouths wide, revealing their giant maws and growling loudly. Their vorcha handlers seemingly joined in, psyching themselves up before they started heading down the path towards the bunker door.

"Vorcha," Zaeed said as he peered through his sniper rifle's scope. He quickly replaced his current gun with an assault rifle, he'd need it for when the vorcha closed in "Blood Pack's here too then. What next? Batarians? It's like every asshole on the surface wants in on this."

Shepard agreed with Zaeed assessment, the only way vorcha could be here was that the Blood Pack were assisting the assault. Which meant more than likely Kreave was involved as well.

"I don't get it," Miranda said as she stepped up to the defensive line with Shepard "why not let the Covenant prod our defences first and hang back? Why are they showing us that they're here so early?"

"Cause Kreave wants us to know he's here." Shepard told her as he crouched down near the sandbags "He wants us to know he's coming but he doesn't want to waste krogan in a probing assault. We'll deal with it later, vorcha first."

Miranda just nodded in agreement. Shepard turned back to his squad and called Samara and Jack up to their position. Already the Vorcha were rushing down the steps to the snowy path below.

"They're gonna hit the turret first." Shepard told them "Lay down a singularity in front of them on my go Sam, then Miranda can hit them with warp. Biotic detonation should send a few more flying. Jack get down to the rocks, I need you close when what's left of them breaks through."

"On it." Jack replied with delight.

Emile and Kat followed the inked biotic.

"We'll provide additional fire support." Kat said as she rushed to catch up with Jack "Be ready to shift fire when those husks and brutes come in range."

"We will," Shepard promised "Zaeed cover the frontal approach till then."

Zaeed just nodded once and took position at the sandbags near ramp leading off the porch. By now the Vorcha were closing in on the first turret. The emplacement opened up on the swarm of ugly fanged creatures and the varren accompanying them. The vorcha shook at the shots as the ripped into their sides, but their regenerative abilities helped them fair better than then Husks. Several bullets slammed into the first vorcha, eventually he fell, bleeding profusely from its mangled body. The next vorcha took several shots to the head, killing him instantly. A varren was targeted next, it's body riddled with rounds it fell quicker than the vorcha. At least two vorcha turned to fire on the turret as they moved, the turret instantly targeted them, leading them as they ran and shooting up their legs. Their limbs riddled with bullets they became easy enough to finish off.

Concentrated fire seemed to work well enough to bring the vorcha down, their healing abilities unable to keep up. The spraying bullet did not do much against the group at large, vorcha and varren were hardier than husks. But no one was relying on the turrets alone. As the vorcha stampeded down the incline and towards the porch Samara let a singularity loose on Shepard's go. Three vorcha were pulled out of the group. In the next instant Miranda let a warp attack strike one of the vorcha swirling around in the vortex. The attack caused the biotic power to detonate. The singularity vanished in an explosion of energy. It killed the three vorcha instantly and ended the life of another close by. What little remained of their corpses seemed to deteriorate into nothing as they hit the ground.

The vorcha had closed the distance now, regardless of the losses. They began opening fire on Samara and Miranda's position on the porch, just as Shepard wanted them to. They had taken their eyes off of where Jack, Emile and Kat now lay in wait, among the metal slabs of cover.

The biotic convict was the first to lash out. As the vorcha drew close she let a shockwave tear across the icy snow laden path. The blood pack's attack dogs, both two and four legged, were sent hurtling upwards or flying back. Kat and Emile stepped out to take shots on the aliens while they still could. One varren amongst the vorcha found itself thrown into the rocky wall a few feet away, but its thick hide absorbed the blow. Shaking off the pain it stood up again and launched itself towards the biggest target it could find.

Emile was shotgunning the vorcha as they tried to rush and find cover among the open terrain. For their reputation as dimwitted, the vorcha weren't stupid enough to not comprehend that exposing yourself to enemy fire was not a sound survival tactic. Emile kept up the pressure on them as they rushed to find safe haven, rushing past their field of vision trying to reach the rocks along the left path. Out of the corner of his eye Emile saw the approaching varren, its mouth opening wide. As the creature closed in the Spartan stepped to the side and let the reptilian mongrel rush past him. In a split second, Emile pulled out his kukri knife and stabbed down into the varren's skull. As he pulled the knife out, the still rushing form of the varren kept flying forward, falling down in a heap after a few brief seconds.

Emile returned to the remains of the vorcha strike force, only around four of them left. Another had been riddled with enough warp ammo from Jack's pistol to render him nothing more mess of meat and bone. The rest had reached the rocks, vorcha were quick little devils. Emile thought they'd be easy to finish off, now that they were pinned behind the large rock. But then he heard the screaming of something coming down the central path towards them. He looked over to the bridge and had his heads-up display zoom in on it. He saw more of those husk monsters, already starting to cross. He could also hear the turret down the left path beginning to fire. The brutes were closing in, the vorcha were gonna have some support soon enough.

"Vakarian you better have that bridge covered." He grumbled as he turned his shotgun back to the pinned vorcha.

* * *

><p>Husks were a strange enemy to zero in on through the scope. There was no immediate danger from them, they couldn't shoot back nor zero in on your position. At least so far they couldn't. Garrus wasn't fooling himself into think he'd have this advantage forever, especially after seeing what some of the elites had been turned into.<p>

The point was, the regular old husks were only dangerous in they'd close enough to kill you. Garrus was out of danger above on the scaffolding. It was his friends on the ground he was worried about. He'd need to make the shots count if he didn't want to see them overrun.

Garrus took the first shot against the husk at the head of the pack. Its head practically exploded as the rounds ripped into it. Garrus was glad he had taken the incisor rifle even more now, the three round burst not only cut through the head of the first husk it also penetrated through to the husks behind. The perfect crowd control for undead cybernetic monsters.

There was time for fancy shots, he needed to take as many out before they got past the bridge. The turrets could take it from there. Another three round burst travelled up the swarming husks, cutting another three down with perfect accuracy. Their heads just seemed to explode one after the other, the rounds cutting through them. Garrus zoomed in on another target and took the shot once more, similar results.

But the phantom had dropped off its entire load, for every target he took out others would get through. Already the turret near him had begun firing on the on rushing husks. His shots had seemingly attracted them and they were headed to his position. Bad move, the turret was positions at the foot of the scaffolding practically. It was chewing them up with ease. He wasn't worried about the ones coming after him though. Part of the husk swarm went down the fork in the path that led straight to Tali and Kasumi's current position. Worse still, another phantom was headed to the bridge. They were going to try and swamp their defences with targets.

"Tali!" he called over the radio "You got husks barring down you!"

* * *

><p>"I know Garrus, we've already engaged them!"<p>

Tali was only yelling because the turret was blasting away, she could barely hear her own thoughts. Both she and Kasumi remained close to it as they added their fire power to the automatic machine gun. The wall of bullets kept the husks at bay, but they edged ever closer with each passing moment.

"You ever watch any of those zombie vids as a kid, Tali?" Kasumi asked as she reloaded her pistol with another thermal clip.

"A few, but they were pretty unrealistic." The quarian replied as she took at one of the husk's heads through the pistol's scope. "A simple orbital or aerial bombardment would be more than enough to properly neutralize such an outbreak."

Tali fired two quick shots from her pistol, taking out a husk each. The shots tore open the heads of the husks and their once again lifeless bodies fell to the ground.

"That and an infection that only spreads through biting seems like a poor delivery system." She continued as she took aim and fired again.

"You sounded like Mordin just a bit there," Kasumi chuckled as switched to her submachine gun and began to rake the crowd of husks with fire. "Except slower and less manic."

"I've been living with a highly accomplished scientist for the past few weeks Kasumi." Tali explained coyly as she activated Chikktika with her omni-tool. "I've kinda expanded my horizons."

The little combat drone appeared and rolled towards the battle ahead, firing off blasts of energy at the husks. They were led away from their push towards Tali and Kasumi, allowing the machine gun turret to target them.

"Well, anyway I was just gonna say I bet any of those characters in the vids would've killed for their very own automatic death hose." Kasumi said, completing her line of thought from before as another spray of rounds cut the legs out from under one of the husks. "Kinda wish I had a sword myself."

"Swords?" Tali replied looking at her friend, momentarily perplexed "Isn't that a bit anachronistic?"

"Hey the Elites use them." Kasumi reminded her "I don't know I guess I just remembered this old show from the late 21st I saw, an anime. It had a woman killing undead creatures with a sword. It looked pretty cool, although it was pretty gory."

The husks had gotten even closer by now. Tali switched to her shotgun. She advanced forward against the offending husks, her shotgun tearing through them with ease. Kasumi joined her, rushing forward against the creatures. Her omni-blade popped out and with one quick slash the thief sliced the head of one of the husks in two.

"Hmm, well it's no katana blade, but I suppose it will do." She shrugged.

Tali in the meantime butted the end of her shotgun into one husk, forcing it to the ground. She then pulled the trigger, blowing the monster's brains out. She then quickly lifted her gun back up and stuck it in the mouth of the last of the husks as it rushed her. She pulled the trigger, sending the undead creature flying backwards, its head in pieces.

Tali wiped the husk's blood of her visor with a piece of cloth she pulled out from one of her suit's pockets.

"Years of killing these abominations and it's only now I notice how much of a mess they leave behind." She told Kasumi as she looked over to her "Good thing neither of us seem to mind getting our hands dirty, huh?"

Kasumi nodded in agreement with her Quarian friend.

"It's good to have you back in the fight, Tali." She told her with a little smile.

"It's thanks to you I'm here to begin with honestly." Tali told her cheerfully "If you hadn't shown me that little pickpocket trick of yours, I'd be halfway to Ackerson's little prison lab by now."

Kasumi seemed to laugh a bit at that.

"And to think, you got angry at me cause you thought I was assuming you were a thief." She chided Tali

"Well it was almost right after that idiot volus accused a fellow Quarian of being a pickpocket." Tali said, returning a bit of smile, her eyes wide and bright "I can be sensitive at times. Anyway, I just thought I'd let you know how you saved my life that day. Despite the circumstances, I'm really glad you're all here."

Kasumi tried to hide her slight bit of embarrassment at Tali's praise. This was an easy task to do when half your face was concealed in shadow.

"Thanks Tali. That..." she paused momentarily "that means a lot. Believe me."

Suddenly the girls were broken out of their moment as green bolts of plasma streaked at them. They turned back to the path and saw grunts waddling up the path towards. They both fired back on them, rushing to the safety of the turret and hiding behind it.

"How the hell did they get past Garrus?" Kasumi asked frantically as she huddled behind the turret.

Kasumi was right to ask that. Garrus would never have let these things sneak up on them. Concerned, Tali tried to contact the Turian.

"Garrus! Garrus are you there?"

* * *

><p>Garrus had seen the Phantom fly low towards the bridge and drop its cargo off. A small squad of grunts, a few of them wearing sleek white armour that covered their heads entirely and methane tanks that were more like rounded than the triangular ones others wore. There were only three of these grunts and they seemed to be issuing commands to the others around them. One of them motioned his arm forward and the others followed. Garrus didn't even know they were allowed to do that. Apparently there were some grunts that had a bit more authority in the Covenant. The rest of the waddling squad of gas suckers wore green armour with gas-mask like helmets that covered their faces completely and methane tanks that were split into two prongs on their backs. Regardless they were still grunts, no matter how they looked like. He could take them.<p>

He decided to switch to armour-piercing rounds so he'd be able to cut through their helmets easier. But as he did a misshapen human hand grasped at the scaffolding. A husk had scrambled up onto Garrus' sniper nest. It lashed out at him forcing him back. Garrus' gun discharged accidentally as he was knocked back. The monster grabbed onto him and grasped for the Turian's throat. He kicked the creature off him, but he soon realised the husk wasn't alone. Another husk jumped on him from behind and began to claw at his back. Garrus rushed pushed himself into the back of the wall once again and began to slam his elbow at the still flaying undead creature. The husk suddenly found a bit of strength and kicked the turian into a horizontal pole of the scaffolding. Garrus struggled to keep himself standing as the hit reverberated through his skull, blurring his vision.

"Garrus! Garrus are you there?" Tali's voice suddenly called out over the radio.

Her voice called him back and he whipped back around to the husks and he fired a shot at the nearest one blowing his head off with a three round burst. He turned to the other as it stood back up and fired another burst into his legs. The lower part of the husk's body broke apart and Garrus quickly rushed over to stomp the monster's head in with his foot. He took several heaving breaths, too close, way too close.

"Garrus answer me damn it!"

He quickly picked up the call. It would be rude not to answer the girl who's concern had just saved his life.

"I'm here Tali," he said, still a bit starved for air "I'm okay. I had a close call with some husks, but I'm okay. I saw some grunts moving in are you alright?"

* * *

><p>Tali breathed a sigh of relief when Garrus answered. Good, he was okay. Thank the ancestors he was okay. Then again Garrus was always okay, he took a rocket to the face after all.<p>

"We're fine Garrus." She responded, her relieved expression apparent "We'll handle it. Watch yourself okay? You have enough scars as it is."

"Just means I have more stories to tell to the ladies." Garrus chuckled

Tali rolled her eyes and quickly set her mind back on the matter at hand. The grunts had taken fire from the turret initially, but they had quickly scattered and were pounding it with plasma bolts. The emplacement was having difficulty targeting the little gas suckers as they were seeking cover among the rocks. That and their plasma bolts' overcharge function momentarily disrupted its systems, stalling the weapon's firing. It was a similar result to the plasma pistol's overcharge and it's effect on vehicles.

"We're gonna need to reactivate this turret if this keeps up." Kasumi observed "Any ideas?"

"One actually," Tali said as she began typing on her omni-tool "I designed a new targeting system with Halsey. Part of what we were working on. It's supposed to be a supplementary function for AIs, to assist in using ship weapons. But I think we can use it in tandem with your submachine gun. Bring up that visor of yours."

Kasumi seemed confused at the suggestion.

"You want me to get nostalgic about my dead boyfriend now?" she asked in confusion.

"No, set it to targeting mode." Tali clarified for her, slightly annoyed "I'm uploading the program to you now and syncing it to your gun."

Kasumi did as her friend asked and readied her submachine gun.

"There done! Go!"

Kasumi jumped at Tali's command. Suddenly the grunts on the battlefield were lit up like Christmas trees, well all red Christmas trees. Her visor even located weak points in their armour. She raised her gun and it almost seemed as if it had locked on to the target. She fired a spray towards one of the lead grunts and a nearby flunky close by. The rounds just connected with them head on, the kassa fabrication locust did wonders but this just seemed unfair. Both of the waddling aliens took rounds to their heads where the helmets they wore were the weakest. One shot penetrated the armour the second entered the exact same hole, finishing them off.

As the two grunts fell dead, Kasumi ducked back down and looked to Tali.

"How the hell did that work?" she asked

"Our guns have VI's inside to assist in targeting." Tali explained "The program works in tandem with your optics wirelessly and adjusts aim accordingly. It won't work for the UNSC guns because, well, they don't have that."

Kasumi stood up once more to try it again. She fired in tandem with the turret now, as the grunts scurried about trying to avoid its spray. One of the leader grunts tried to lob a grenade but Kasumi fired first. The spray of rounds perforated the grunt's arm in a perfect line. The grenade fell from him hand just a she armed it and exploded amongst his compatriots. It killed three of the remaining grunts, making the squad more manageable for the two hooded tech geeks of the Normandy.

Kasumi couldn't hide her smile from her quarian friend.

"You're the best friend a thief could ever have!" she beamed at Tali

"I try." Tali replied modestly "Now let's finish these bosh'tets off before more show up."

And they would show up, Tali knew that, but as she opened fire with Kasumi on these remaining grunts, she couldn't help but feel a bit more confident than she had been before. The past few minutes had just confirmed everything to her, more so than before. She was back with the Normandy, her friends, her family.

No force in either universe could stop them now.

* * *

><p>The brutes passed their ambush point, unaware of the Spartan and Geth platform laying in wait. They would make their presence felt when the turret opened up on them, dividing their attention.<p>

"Turret is already targeting them." Six told Legion quietly "Get ready to move."

"Acknowledged." Legion nodded, its speech volume lowered.

When they heard the turret begin to fire on the covenant they both rushed out of cover. Legion quickly targeted the nearest brute, one clad in golden armour, and fired. The shot entered through the back of the ape's head and blasted out the front. Six followed it up by tossing a frag grenade into the mix. It landed at the feet of two jackals as they turned around to fire upon the two. The blast sent them flying backwards, riddled with shrapnel.

The turret continued to chew up the covenant in its line of fire, forcing jackals to keep behind their shields and grunts to huddle close to them. One of the little waddlers wasn't fast enough and found his back riddled with bullets. One of the brutes raised his launcher as the bullets cut into him and fired on the turret. Six watched as the turret's status bar began to drop.

"Get him away from the turret!" Six shouted

Legion targeted the brute as did Six. They fired collectively at the same time, but the rounds never hit their target. A single jackal, shield raised high leapt into view and blocked both shots. Although absorbing Legion's sniper shot forced him backwards somewhat. The other brutes began to fire on them with their spikers. Legion and Six were forced to separate as the piercing metal barbs closed on them. All the while the turret began to dip into the red, the brute attacking it taking shelter behind the jackals when he needed to reload.

"Legion!" Six shouted over to his synthetic partner "Get up there! I'll draw their fire!"

"Activating cloaking." Legion responded

The machine turned on the cloak armour upgrade, vanishing before the eyes of the Covenant. They instead targeted Six, who was firing at them like mad. He took overcharged plasma blast from one of the jackals. It both took out the shields and burned like a son of a bitch. Six duck into the rocks on the side of the pathway, but took a spiker round to the leg as he made his dive. He gritted his teeth, ignoring the urge to scream best he could. He grasped the spike and pulled it out.

"Could use some support, Jun!" he shouted as he unlatched one of the pouches on his belt.

It contained some medi-gel, which he quickly applied to his wound. He quietly thanked that Shepard had brought enough for everyone before the mission.

"We got two of the brute spikers targeted, Six." Jun told him over the radio "Thane, on my shot."

Without another word, two gunshots rang out and both of the brutes' heads exploded into a mist of purplish red. They fell down at relatively the same time. A stunned brute between them looked to what had caused his pack brothers to perish. He never got the chance as a collective shock and several stinging rounds struck his own backside. Legion materialised as the brute fell to the ground, a drone by its side.

It took aim at the line of Jackals now turning to face the synthetic, but the geth suddenly shuddered as rounds from its rear struck it. The synthetic turned and saw Vorcha huddled in the rocks nearby at the end of the trail firing on the them.

Quickly, the geth activated their shields and sent the roving drone to continue the attack on the jackals. They began firing on the drone as its electrical shocks slashed at their shields. One angered jackal charged his weapon and fired at the drone. The resulting explosion from the drone's suicide function obliterated the jackal defence line.

Legion rushed the vorcha in the rocks, targeting them each collectively as it moved forward. Legion's targeting systems locked on to each of their heads and the geth quickly cut each of them down, their heads torn apart with each round that struck them.

That was when the turret went offline and closed up for repairs. The remainder of the brute assault force now broke off attack and rushed towards the porch where the others waited.

"Legion," Six shouted "I'm gonna reactivate the turret! Help the others!"

"We are moving to intercept!" Legion replied quickly, rushing to catch up to the covenant as they entered a field of rocks on the left side of the porch.

Already, most of the defenders had shifted to stave off the attacking brutes, now running rampant among the rocks. The brutes kept in cover, slowly moving up towards the porch. Shepard was on the front, sending a throw at one of the brutes as he popped up. The alien was tossed back into one of the rocks, but quickly jumped up and rushed back into cover. The Normandy's Commander joined Carter along the sandbags on the left, firing into the rock field.

"We need to draw them out!" Carter shouted

Shepard couldn't agree more and got on the comm.

"Samara, get a singularity over their heads!" He ordered "Jack, get a shockwave in there on my go! We'll hit them together! Everyone else, shoot anything that's pulled up!"

"We'll see about keeping them pinned Shepard." Thane added "Make our shots count."

Samara, her assault rifle raised and ready, forced out her arm and created a singularity above the rocks. The Covenant nearby were lifted off the ground, pulled into the swirling mass of energy. A single brute and two grunts now floated in the air. From on high, Thane used warp on the floating brute, detonating the singularity. The explosion scattered the various grunts, jackals and remaining brutes within the rocks. Out of cover they were now open to attack.

Jun zeroed in on a jackal, his shield over his head as he ran for safety. But it was raised in the direction of the porch. As the Jackal took rounds from Samara's assault rifle, Jun fired a single bullet that tore the jackal's abdomen. The alien dropped to the ground, bleeding profusely from his wounds.

Shepard knew the disarray wouldn't last. They needed to take advantage of it now. Jack had already positioned herself along the front of the rock field with Kat and Emile close by. Shepard now jumped over the sandbags himself along the field's side.

"Jack! Now!" He yelled aloud

Two powerful shockwaves suddenly ripped through the rock field in a crisscrossing pattern. Both grunts and jackals found themselves lifted into the air, flailing their arms like mad as they found themselves without cover. Thane and Jun took the opportunity and began firing into the now unprotected Covenant forces. Thane's shredder rounds did the worst damage, tearing into the bodies of the grunts and jackals like it was tissue paper. The others on the porch added their own fire to the mix, shooting the covenant as they remained suspended briefly in the air from the shockwave's lifting capabilities.

Two brutes were all that remained now and they came rushing out of the rock field in a rage. One of them made a running go at Jack, who stood ready to punch the brute square in the jaw. She had no time to move and she didn't intend to. There was no way in hell she'd back down from these ugly fucking monkeys.

That was when a shot ripped through the brute's leg. Losing traction as his entire leg went numb, he toppled forward towards Jack. The biotic fell back as the ape-like alien flew at her, his arms grasping at the air. With her shotgun out, Jack fired point blank into the stomach of the brute. His body lurched upwards in agony and Jack quickly rolled to the side as the body fell to the ground.

Emile dodged around the brute that came for him, slashing him along his side as he did so. The knife cut deep into the thick hide of the alien beast, but it didn't slow him. The brute turned to tackle Emile, only to have his shoulder torn into by Kat's pistol fire. The brute turn to his new target, raising his spiker to fire upon the Noble team's second in command. But he never got the chance, he suddenly shot up into the air like a rocket and found himself suspended momentarily above the earth. Miranda stood a few feet away on the porch her hand outstretched and glowing with energy.

"What goes up..."

She never finished her sentence, the brute being biotically slammed downwards like a sack of rocks said it all. The brute struggled to stand up, using its hands to try and prop itself back up. Instead, Kat's foot slammed down hard on his back and she fired a bullet point blank into the back of his head.

She looked back to Jack, who was already getting back up.

"You okay?" she asked

"Yeah, I'm just peachy," she replied brushing her arm against her mouth "but who made that shot?"

"That would be me." Thane's voice sounded over the radio

Jack looked up to see the drell with his hand raised on high.

"Figured you could use some help." He explained

"Well you didn't steal my kill... so thanks I guess." Jack answered, trying her best to be grateful.

"Try not to get to comfortable," Kat warned "these guys were just the probers, next group will be playing for keeps and they will be here soon enough."

It was hard to believe that, considering how the tough the fight had been. The Covenant got close enough to start breathing down their necks. Even then it wasn't over. For anyone who looked up could see more phantoms closing in. They hadn't even beat back the first wave yet, more troops were coming in and fast.

* * *

><p>Kreave had marched down to where the troops were marshalling onto phantoms. Krogan joined alongside brutes in the cramped quarters within to prepare for their descent into the battle below. As he looked over his men taking their spots inside the drop ships, Satel at his side, one of his lieutenants rushed up.<p>

"Sir," he began "one of the vorcha sent a message before we lost contact. He said they were attacked with biotics and later claimed to have seen a Geth. That was all we got before we lost them."

The report didn't seem to bother Kreave, it delighted him. For it had confirmed his suspicions.

"Shepard is down there, if that walking trophy of his is present then so is the rest of his crew." He said grinning wickedly. He turned to Satel. "What did I tell you Field Marshal, the False Shepherd lives and he is now desecrating your precious trinket."

"It is not a trinket." Satel growled

Kreave ignored the Sangheili commander and turned back to his lieutenant.

"The next group of squads has already descended below, but send a few extra vorcha down. We'll need all the distractions we can spare." Kreave explained bluntly "It will give the real warriors a chance to get close enough to capture one of Shepard's people."

"Capture!" Satel shouted allowed, clearly baffled by the order "We kill infidels! We don't-"

Kreave glared back at Satel, annoyed by his interruption.

"Think about it Field Marshal, if Shepard escapes us we will need bait to lure him back out." He explained "If we're really lucky, he'll hijack a banshee and follow his wayward comrade back up here to fight us! Wouldn't that just be a kick in the quad? HA!"

Satel didn't seem to appreciate the sentiment, snarling at Kreave's little laugh.

"If reports are correct, getting close to any of the False Shepherd's flock will be difficult for your men." He said, trying to keep his composure. "The jiralhanae reported that the humans have set up automated turrets. They will be a considerable deterrent."

Kreave held his chin for a moment, scratching it a bit as he thought. The wheels in his mind slowly turned before a glint his big round eyes appeared.

"No worries Field Marshal," he assured "you are sending a tank down correct? The one that lobs?"

Satel perched an eyebrow, again befuddled at where the krogan was going with this.

"Yes, but I don't see how that solves the turret issue." He replied "It will be difficult to properly gauge their locations as they appear to be hidden in the rocks."

Kreave rolled his eyes at the lack of ingenuity. He dug in one of his armour's container pouches and pulled out a cylindrical object.

"Just tell your men to aim for the red smoke." He explained, before briefly turning to the lieutenant "Ready the varren and tell the new vorcha going down to make use of those little presents I gave them just before they left."

The lieutenant simply nodded and rushed off, Kreave smiling menacingly as he did. Satel was still confused as ever.

"Smoke?" he asked

"Yes Field Marshal," Kreave replied, his grin baring teeth. He pulled a pin on the side of the cylinder. Red smoke began to billow out of it, spreading over Kreave's face as he spoke "Smoke."

* * *

><p>Jun watched through the scope as the first Phantom flew towards the other side of the bridge. He could also see what it was carrying in the under carriage, a wraith tank. It dropped the tank off on the other side of the bridge and quickly lifted off. The tank wasted no time in lobbing plasma blasts towards the porch. The blasts careened down across the central path, peppering the main route towards it with burning substance.<p>

"They've started bringing in the big guns." He told the others

"We can see and hear it Jun," Carter replied "keep watching the skies and call in their next drop off."

The blasts were uncoordinated for the time being. The barrages were meant to scare for now as well as zero in potential targets. Shepard and Carter watched the plasma rounds slam down upon the snow, just a few yards away from them.

"Think they can hit us here?" Shepard asked

"I know they can." Carter answered "They just need someone to call the shots. At the very least they can keep us trapped in here for their friends to finish us off."

"What about the turrets?" Miranda asked him in turn "Could they hit them?"

Carter shrugged slightly.

"Like I said, any artillery needs someone to call it in. They just need a marker or something." Carter explained "Not sure if the Covenant will care enough about the turrets though to waste shots trying to hit them. They usually just let the heavy infantry handle it."

"Yeah, but let's not forget the other player in this." Shepard reminded him "Kreave's a krogan, his species dropped moons and space stations on entire cities when they rebelled."

"Won us a hell of a lot battles that way," Grunt interjected "all that matters."

Shepard looked back at Grunt shaking his head and giving a brief cough under his throat. Usually he found the tank-born's violent quips a bit amusing, right now he didn't need them. Grunt quickly hushed up and let his batttlemaster continue.

"My point is krogans play hardball and enjoy overkill." Shepard explained "Worse, Kreave thinks himself a strategist. Not something the krogan are known for mind you but put those two traits together and it spells trouble. He knows about the guns by now. He'll see the turrets as a threat to the attack that he must neutralise. It's possible he may be trying to convince the Covenant to use the wraith against the emplacements as we speak. All he'll need to do is mark them for demolition somehow."

"Which means we'll lose our automated advantage." Emile noted "And then we'll have to race out into the damn field of fire just to get them back up again."

"Not to mention the danger it poses to the teams already in the field." Miranda added

Shepard was thinking the same thing. That wraith was gonna zero in on the turrets at some point if Kreave had his say. Which meant anyone near those turrets was in danger.

"Tali, Kasumi," he called out over the radio "fall back to the porch."

But Tali wouldn't hear of it.

"We can't give up ground like that Shepard." Tali replied back unyieldingly "We're the only ones out here close enough to reactivate the turret if it goes offline. If we leave, the Covenant will overwhelm it easily and they'll have a completely unmolested pass they can charge down. We have to stay and defend it."

"That's not a chance I'm willing take with that wraith out there Tali!" Shepard shouted back "If the Blood Pack zeros your position in-"

"We have the mongoose ATV with us." Tali reminded him "If we get into trouble we can hop on and get out of here in seconds"

Shepard grimaced at it all. He hadn't liked the idea of Tali being so close to the front line in the first place. Now he hated it more He knew Tali had a point, but with them so close to the wraith if that thing lobbed one their way it would hit the ground mere moments after it fired.

"Shepard," Garrus spoke up over the radio "I got my eyes on the wraith. If I see it taking aim at Tali's position I will warn her first. She'll have the time to get out of there."

"The risk is too high, Garrus." Shepard repeated.

"Wade, you know she's right." Said Garrus, still seemingly confident "We need to keep this bridge choke point covered and the best way we can do that is by keeping our eyes on it."

Another lob from the wraith tank struck just a few feet in front of the porch. It forced everyone to cover their eyes to shield them from the blinding light. Shepard lowered his arm as the blast dissipated and looked back to where Tali was, past the rocky ridge splitting the central path.

"Alright, but the second that thing starts throwing plasma your way you bolt, you hear me?" Shepard ordered

"Like you have to tell us not to stand still and let the giant ball of blue fire hit us." Tali quipped "Don't worry Wade. We'll be fine."

Shepard wanted to believe that, to just go on her word alone, but he needed to make sure. He turned back to the wall behind him and eyed the rocket launchers there. Without another word he marched over to one and pulled it off the wall, the action did not go un-noticed.

"Commander, what are you doing?" Miranda asked as she watched Shepard load the weapon.

"I'm not letting that hunk of metal endanger our team." He declared as he hefted the missile launcher onto his back "I'm going up there and I'm taking it down now."

"And how exactly are you going to get up there fast enough?" Carter asked him.

Shepard turned and pointed at the remaining mongoose ATV still parked on the right side of the porch. Carter nodded his head slightly at the proposal.

"Alright, I'll go with you then." He said "You'll need the help."

"Shouldn't you stay and coordinate the defence from here?" Shepard asked, not trying to sound unappreciative of the suggestion.

Without even missing a beat, Carter turned to Kat.

"Noble Two, take care of things while me and Shepard are gone." He ordered

"Will do sir." Kat replied with a simple quick little nod of her head.

Shepard, for his part, turned to Miranda.

"Keep the crew focused on the mission until I'm back." He told her "Won't take me long to deal with the tank and come back."

"It never does Shepard," Miranda replied "things do tend to explode rather quickly with us. I'll handle things till then."

He knew he was leaving the defenders in capable hands. If anything came up while he was gone, Miranda could handle it. He just wished there was a way he could better help out Tali. The answer came to him as Shepard and Carter prepared to take off on the mongoose. Mordin rushed out to see them off.

"With permission, could offer assistance to Tali'Zorah and Kasumi Goto." He said quickly "Drop shield enhancement capable of withstanding attack from wraith tank. Sufficient enough to protect fellow team members should covenant target turret."

"Then get moving Mordin." Shepard ordered as he held onto the back of the mongoose while Carter started the engine.

Shepard settled in his partial seat, rocket launcher ready, as Mordin took off running.

"Sure you don't wanna drive?" Carter asked

"I got the rockets, someone needs to shoot." Shepard explained "Just get me behind the tank, I'll handle the rest."

With that Carter gunned the engine and the mongoose took off down the path. Shepard watched as Mordin ran off towards Tali. He felt a bit more comfortable that the Salarian was headed in her direction. If there was anyone on this team who would do anything to protect the crew it would be Mordin. He put Tali's safety out of his mind for the moment, what mattered was getting to that wraith.

As they drove along the path though they soon encountered an obstacle, or obstacles considering a phantom was dropping squads right on the bridge in front of them. Several vorcha, accompanied by varren were among the group as were a few brutes and a singular krogan. The vorcha went one way with the varren, towards Tali's turret. Everyone else went down the central path and towards the mongoose now speeding towards them.

"Well our timing sucks." Carter commented

"Just keep driving!" Shepard shouted as he turned towards the enemy mass rushing at them. Shepard let loose a throw attack. It connected with one of the krogan in their direct path, sending him hurtling away. A brute with a hammer however replaced him. As they closed in on him Shepard aimed the rocket launcher at him. Shame to waste to rocket, but he didn't have the luxury of time right now. He fired the rocket and flew straight into brute. The alien had his hammer raised on high when the projectile struck. The explosion killed him instantly and tore apart another brute near him.

The kinetic force of the impact's shockwave forced the only Krogan in the group to fall on his hands. Shepard continued to race by him, but the Krogan got a good look at him as he passed. As the ATV made its way over the bridge the Krogan stood back up and pointed at him.

"Shepard! That was Shepard!" he screamed at the brutes still among the living.

The apes suddenly had a new target and they began firing at the mongoose as it sped over the bridge. They turned away from the porch and made a dash back to follow Shepard and his vehicle. As spikes and brute shot grenades nipped at their heels Carter turned away from them. However, the attacks had garnered the attention of the wraith. It turned away from its forward attack and focused on the mongoose. Its plasma machine gunner in the front opened up a volley against the ATV as it drove into view. Its main gun in the meantime slowly focused on them.

Carter looked back just in time and watched with Shepard as a plasma blast with their names on it launched from the wraith's cannon. Carter immediately pulled another turn, this time towards a ramp that led up to a higher section above the wraith. Just as they made it on to the ramp the wraith's blast came down just a few feet away from them. They had avoided the main threat posed by the plasma, but the shockwave it created rocked the mongoose. Carter lost control and they skidded to a stop at the top of the ramp, both commanders falling off in a heap.

"Least we got the high ground." The Spartan said, trying to be optimistic.

More bursts of spikes and plasma flew over their heads and the two commanders rushed to the cover of the railing that stretched along the length of the second level. The mongoose was still drivable, they had the wraith in sight as well as the high ground and they still had enough rockets to kill it.

But they were cornered now, and that was all the Covenant really needed to finish them.

* * *

><p>The vorcha were never really the smartest of opponents, but they were pretty adaptable. Tali supposed it had something to do with their biology. Being able to regenerate even faster than a krogan as well as being immune to all diseases had probably engrained an inherent self-sense flexibility. The reason Tali was considering this was because of what these Vorcha were wearing. Not moments before the machine gun turret opened up did these vorcha raise up their arms and pop out shields, jackal shields. They advanced steadily and cautiously as the turret fired upon them.<p>

"How come they didn't use those before?" Kasumi asked as she readied a flashbang as she huddled with Tali behind the turret.

"Kreave probably didn't want to show us his whole deck so quick." Tali suggested, her contempt for the krogan apparent in her acidic tone "That and the first arrivals were mostly cannon fodder. He probably figured it would be pointless to give them covenant tech if he expected them to all die within a few minutes."

"Worst. Boss. Ever." Kasumi slowly stated

Kasumi and Tali leapt up at the same time. The flashbang landed at the feet of the vorcha advancing forward, blinding them all. Both the quarian and human now took shots at the aliens as they tried to claw their sense of vision back into their retinas. Their shields were no longer covering them fully and it allowed them to get a few hits on them. Only sufficient headshots were enough to put them down for good, the rest of the vorcha would otherwise brush off the bullet holes relatively quickly as they healed over.

As they took shots Tali noticed some of the vorcha further back were holding a few of the varren back from rushing at them. Suddenly they tugged at something attached to the backs of the reptilian dogs. Smoke soon billowed out of the cylinders, red smoke. When the vorcha released the varren and let them run towards their position Tali's eyes widened. She knew what this was.

"Kasumi hit the varren!" she shouted

"What?" the thief asked "Why?"

Kasumi took aim at the first of the varren rushing at them and saw the smoke starting to billow out of the objects on their backs for herself.

"They're artillery markers! The Blood Pack are trying to help the wraiths zero in on the turrets!" Tali explained frantically, firing everything she at the mad rushing varren coming at her.

That certainly got Kasumi's attention. At least the red smoke made targeting the little bastards easy. The problem was the vorcha were getting in the way a bit. They were trying to block their line of sight to the varren using their shields to protect it as it made its running approach. The varren edged ever closer and the vorcha were trying to stay in front of it long enough for it to reach the turret. They had even somewhat separated in the middle hoping to force the varren through it and send it on the quickest path to the turret itself.

That was when Tali thought of something. Why not use this to their advantage? She took aim at one of the Vorcha blocking her view, aiming through the scope built into the pistol. She fired a single round that decimated the firing hand of one of the vorcha. The ugly little alien screeched in agony and Tali's next shot sliced through his skull, turning it to paste.

The varren made a beeline for the opening, predictable behaviour for an animal they'd always look for the closest and quickest escape. A big gap in the defence line was perfect. Tali used the moment before the vorcha could close the gap and fired every single round she could at the varren. The vicious lizard-like creature's head was turned to paste as it tried to dash its way through the gap. The beast skidded to a stop, toppling over its lifeless corpse as it skidded to a stop among the vorcha. The red smoke began to billow up into the air from the varren's lifeless body. The wraith several yards away took notice. It fired a lob at the red smoke, the vorcha were slow witted, but they knew what it meant. They tried to scatter, but it was already too late. The plasma blast came down hard upon the vorcha, obliterating them in an instant. Tali and Kasumi now shielded their eyes from the massive burst of light caused by the explosion.

"How'd you know about the red smoke?" Kasumi asked as the noise calmed

"Shepard told me he had trained to use smoke grenades to mark targets in boot camp." Tali explained "Father taught me about how we did the same during the Geth Uprising. Only, that was for ships in low orbit I believe, not artillery. "

"Pays to have an admiral for a dad and a marine for a boyfriend huh?" Kasumi playfully teased her friend.

Tali didn't have much time to respond to the jab. The howling of more varren soon sounded and they could see more red smoke. As one of the varren bounded over the crest of the hill towards them though it was suddenly set ablaze. Someone had hit it with incineration. They turned to the right and saw Mordin rushing up the path to them.

"Here to help!" he said running to join them "Wraith problematic! Believe I can provide assistance!"

Tali looked again to the pack of varren rushing them, smoke billowing off their backs. They would definitely need all the help they could get.

* * *

><p>Once more, a phantom came in low along the path Six and Legion were guarding. This time the passengers included more heavy hitters. The dropship was packed to the gills with two whole squads of Brutes and Krogan soldiers. They were already screaming bloody murder when they touched down upon the icy terrain. Staring them down as they rushed up the path were the aforementioned Spartan and Geth. They had taken cover among the rocks the vorcha had been using before Legion killed them. Thankfully they also had Jun and Thane pointing their guns down the path and the turret was back online as well. Still, Six wanted to be prepared.<p>

"So any advice for killing Krogan?" he asked Legion

"The weakest element of Krogan biology as we have determined are their ocular sensors." Legion replied, their response a little more technical than Six would've liked. "Perhaps puncturing them will prove efficient."

"You could've just said shoot their eyes." Six told him "No need to give me a mouthful."

Legion's plates scrunched slightly on top of their head, their lower plates drooping at the same time.

"We were attempting to mimic program EDI's penchant for humour through overuse of technical observations." Legion explained, it's tone slightly lower in pitch "We appear to be less adept then her."

Six just shook his head, glad Legion couldn't see the smirk on his face. Although he wasn't sure if the machine would really care.

"Keep trying buddy, you'll get it eventually I'm sure."

Six next looked up to Thane and Jun on the roof of the outdoor lab nearby.

"You got a visual on them?" he asked over the radio

"Dead in my sights Six," Jun promised "krogan in full red armour. He sticks out like a sore thumb down here."

"In my experience the Blood Pack cares more about their image as well as being seen and heard." Thane chimed in "They always want you to see them coming. They think it will scare people."

Jun just seemed to laugh at that. He then pulled the trigger on his rifle. The bullet slammed into the krogan's face and although it didn't kill him pretty much everyone could see he was holding the left side of his head in pain.

"Think they're the ones scared now?" Jun asked Thane

"Doubtful, more likely they're just even more pissed off." Thane replied succinctly.

"Well, worth a shot." Jun shrugged "No pun intended there by the by."

Thane's hypothesis proved right. The krogan just lurched up and began charging forward firing his assault rifle like mad. His now punctured armour bled orange from the massive hole in it as he rushed along the path. He was the first to encounter the turret of course, the bullets from the gun cutting deep into him. He turned to attack it, only for Legion and Six to take his lapse in focus and use it against him. They fired upon the Krogan cutting into him with a flurry of bullets. Legion's widow sniper rifle struck deep into his back, taking out a chunk of the massive reptile's hump. Six followed his geth friend's advice and put round after round into the eye socket on the krogan's helmet.

The overwhelming fire was enough to take the alien merc down, but close behind his falling form were at least six more krogan and fire brutes. As the turret turned to them the massive aliens ignored the gun altogether and just kept running. They didn't seem to care that about the constant stream of fire. Unlike those before that had shifted fire and tried to attack the turret they kept going. They were running the gauntlet, intending to reach their real prize.

Thane intended to make sure not all of them made it. He fired a shredder round at one of the charging brutes. He caught the ape-like alien in the head. The shredder round slipped straight through the creature's skull and the covenant warrior's body fell numb. His comrades didn't bother to stop and look.

Jun fired his own shot as well, this one at two of the krogan rushing up the hill. His shot entered the krogan's jaw and cut clean through to the other side. It then entered the second krogan's arm and embedded itself there. The shot hadn't killed either, but the first was bleeding profusely, his helmet filling up with blood and spit. The second didn't seem to care about the pain however. Instead, he turned to Jun's position and fired a stream of bullets from his vindicator assault rifle. The Spartan pushed himself back from the edge of the roof to avoid getting hit.

"Tough sons of bitches to kill." He growled

"Indeed," Thane agreed "I find sometimes you need to fire twice to kill a Krogan. One shot to break the skull the next to hit the brain."

Jun whistled a bit.

"Kinda glad at least one is on our side." He stated.

Following the Drell's advice he got back into position and took at the krogan he had hit in the arm. The merc was strafing across the ground keeping his eye perched on the roof. He spotted Jun leaning over the side, but the Spartan was quicker. As he fired the bullet ripped through the side of the Krogan's head. The merc's gun went off, firing a stream of rounds in another harmless direction. Jun fired again as the Krogan turned back. This time the alien's head lurched backwards as the powerful round went clean through his skull and out the back of his hump with ease. The krogan's body fell lifeless to the ground.

By now the combined attack forces had gotten all the way up the hill and were once again staring down the front of the porch. Their reckless behaviour had now placed them in the sights of three potential incoming fire zones, but it mattered little. They were now actively suppressing the potential threats.

A plasma grenade landed just a few feet in front of the rock Legion and Six were taking cover behind. Six pushed himself and Legion away from the blast. They survived, but a Krogan and Brute were now keeping them pinned. They weren't stuck in that predicament for very long though. The brute was suddenly pulled away from the fight. Miranda had let a pull attack to force the brute away from the two. Zaeed handled the rest with quick sniper shot to the alien's skull as he floated in air.

The Krogan stood there stunned for a moment, looking back at the floating brute before Legion jumped up from behind cover and fired its widow straight into the lizard's shoulder. The giant reptile clutched the wound and twirled around from the impact. The next thing he saw was the bald head of Jack rushing forward. With a might shove of her hand the krogan was sent hurtling into the air. Worried that Jack's attack wouldn't be enough Jun and Thane fire at the body as it began its descent back to earth. Now riddled with holes the Krogan collapsed on the ground dead.

Grunt had rushed out into the field of battle as soon as the enemy had got near. Jacob and Emile were quick to join him as he rushed by. A brute stampeded towards the krogan in kind, but Grunt smacked the ape away with the butt of his shotgun. Jacob fired on the tumbling form of the brute with his rifle, peppering him with inferno rounds. Grunt in the meantime fired his claymore in the head of one of the blood pack mercs. The enemy krogan collapsed on the ground as Grunt ran by him. Emile finished the downed krogan off with a shotgun blast to the head. Finally Grunt's rampage ended when he rammed his head straight into belly of yet another blood pack merc sending him hurtling down the hill he had just climbed. Grunt fired on him on his slide down.

That was when a plasma blast from the wraith tank came careening down just a few feet away from Grunt. The tank-born krogan's shield spiked and he found himself thrown on his side from the shockwave. Jacob rushed over to help the down Krogan up just as another wraith blast collided against the very top of the bunker.

"They're zeroing in on us fast!" He stated

"Tell us something we don't know!" Emile shouted at him as he fired on the brutes and krogan hiding in the rocks.

Two brutes made a run for the porch itself. Kat greeted them with her pistol. She fired two shot each, straight into their gaping maws, killing them quickly. She then looked over just in time to see the wraith's cannon blast arch over the rocks.

"They should've taken it out by now." Kat told Miranda frantically "You think something happened?"

"Always does." Miranda replied letting loose a warp upon one of the Krogan "But trust me, Shepard will find a way past it, especially with Tali out there."

The assurance reminded Noble Two of something from earlier. Kat knew this wasn't the time to ask and perhaps it was wrong of her to pry into these people's private lives, but she was curious about the Normandy's commander and their chief engineer.

Still, she was naturally curious about everything.

"I'm guessing they're close." Kat asked as she took aim at one of the Krogan firing from cover.

She emptied her clip, staring down the scope, watching the krogan buckle with each shot.

"I suppose you could say that." Miranda answered glibly, letting loose a throw that sent two brutes straight off the side of the porch as they tried to jump over the sandbags. "We're not really too strict on fraternization on the Normandy to be honest."

"Apparently." Said Kat mordantly, she had already figured that out when the two had reunited. "If it gives him the extra motivation to kill the wraith I won't really chastise him for it. Not my place anyway I guess."

"No, it's not." Miranda quickly replied, in a very curt tone.

Miranda's sudden defensive tone was a bit, none more so than to herself. She had never been one to defend or deride Shepard's decision to date Tali. Now she was finding herself actively doing the former in the face of mild criticism. Then again she like everyone else had just found out Tali was alive. She presumed that had something to do with it.

For Kat it all but satisfied her curiosity. There were more important matters at hand anyway than asking about Shepard's apparent xenophillia. She returned to the fight fully, firing a round clean into a krogan set alight by one of Miranda's warp attacks.

* * *

><p>The varren froze in place as the cryo-blast struck him full on. Kasumi was quick to follow up and shatter the newly formed ice sculpture with a shot from her heavy pistol. They had been holding off the varren with Mordin's help for a few minute snow, but just seemed to be more coming every second.<p>

"Garrus, can you cut some of them off from us!" Tali shouted over the radio

"Trying my best but they got a whole pack down there!" Garrus replied over the radio, the sounds nearby echoing gunfire "Vorcha are firing back on me as well, can't get clear enough shots on the varren!"

Tali quickly activated Chikktika again. Hopefully the drone could slow the little bosh'tets down a bit. The roving ball of light shocked one of the varren in the face, it seemed enough a deterrent to stop his rampage. The varren suddenly turned tail and ran back to the vorcha. Angered one of the bloodthirsty creatures fired on the retreating varren, shouting 'Coward! Coward!" in his scratchy ear piercing voice. The poor terrified creature died at the hands of his handler. The vorcha then snatched the red smoke grenade off the varren and charged at the turret and Tali's position screaming from the top of his lungs.

"Shoot him! Shoot him!" Tali shouted frantically, firing at the vorcha as he neared.

Bullets ripped into the vorcha's body, tearing gaping holes into him. The enranged creature reared his arm back and aimed towards the turret. Mordin let loose another cryo attack, striking the vorcha dead center. He froze in place but not before releasing the smoke grenade. It grenade landed at Tali's feet. She kicked it away, as far as she could, but she then heard the wraith fire once more.

"Tali! Look out!" Garrus' voice sounded over the radio

Tali looked up to see the blue plume coming towards them. She looked to Mordin, terror in her eyes.

"Mordin now!"

The Salarian activated the drop ship, throwing down the device hard into the ground. The wraith's plasma blast came careening down upon the trio and their turret. At the last second a dome of yellow appeared over them. The blast collided with it. The shockwave rocked the shield, sending everyone to the floor in a heap. The shield itself suddenly dissipated, unable to take the strain of the explosion. But they were all alive, and that was what counted.

"Tali!" Garrus shouted aloud through the radio "The turret's status is still active! Are you alright?"

"We're fine Garrus," Tali quickly assured him "we're gonna fall back aways now. It's too dangerous as long as the wraith knows which area to shoot in. We'll see if we can keep them away from the turret from off to the side."

Tali looked back towards the wraith as they retreated a bit away from the turret. What was taking Shepard so long to kill that thing?

* * *

><p>Shepard watched as the wraith fired on Tali's position. For a moment a lump grew in his throat, fear overtook his mind as the arcing attack fell down. Then he saw the turret's status bar, it remained unchanged even when they attack had hit pretty close to where the plasma had impacted. Mordin must've gotten a drop shield down in time.<p>

But it also meant they were out of time, they needed to kill this wraith now. Both he and Carter were still somewhat pinned behind the railing. The krogan and brutes following him had forgotten about their actual target and were completely focused on them now. More than likely because of him, anyone that could bring Commander Shepard to Kreave was no doubt promised something grand in return. At least it had taken pressure off Miranda and the others.

Shepard looked to the overturned mongoose just feet away from them.

"Think you can get to it?" He asked Carter

Carter moved slightly out of cover, only to have plasma and spikes slash at the air just inches in front of him.

"Gonna need you to watch my back for a few seconds." Carter told him

"No problem." Shepard told him confidently

Shepard stood up at last and launched a biotic throw attack down upon the brutes and their krogan friend below. It struck one of the brutes, slamming them into the ground. They shifted their fire to Shepard now, giving Carter time to dash out and right the mongoose. Shepard tossed a frag grenade down next just as shields began to hit the red. He ducked back down into cover as the grenade landed at the feet of the krogan. He kicked the grenade away from him before it stopped bouncing. The explosive now hit one of the brutes just a few feet away. It bounced off the ape's armour and then exploded a second after in the air. The krogan covered his face with his arm as the grenade tore into the brute nearby and sent his smoking corpse flying into the metal wall nearby.

Carter rode up beside Shepard on the mongoose and Shepard quickly scrambled onto it. He hefted the rocket launcher back into his arms as the ATV took off once more. It passed above and behind the wraith as it readied another shot towards the porch. Shepard took aim at its backside, the large power source for the vehicle looking like a big bullseye he just couldn't miss. He let loose a single rocket. It ejected out of the long tubular weapon and struck dead center at the very core of the wraith.

The tank buckled forward slightly and quickly turned around to face the attacking quick little vehicle. The3 plasma gunner fired up at them, nipping at their heels as the mongoose raced along. The wraith fired a shot from its cannon. Carter pushed the engine as fast as he could and pulled a hard left at the ramp leading back down to the ground floor. The blast struck just at the very top of the ramp as the mongoose sped down it. The plasma gunner once again fired on the little ATV as the whole tank boosted forward trying to ram them. But it overshot its target allowing the mongoose to get past the wraith. The tank's backside was once again exposed and Shepard wasted no time in firing his second shot straight up into it. The backside of the wraith erupted in a fiery explosion and the cannon atop the vehicle shot off, flipping over itself as a stream of blue fire erupted under it. Blasts erupted out of its sides as the wraith blew apart.

The mongoose in the meantime just kept racing forward towards the bridge. The brutes and the krogan fired on them as they made their escape. Quickly reloaded the rocket launcher Shepard left a parting final gift for the group of war hungry aliens, firing the explosive projectile into their amassed squad. Two brutes were consumed by the explosion while the one krogan was thrown several feet back by the erupting shockwave.

"Well what do you know," Carter spoke up as they crossed the bridge "your crazy little plan worked."

Shepard was staring at his handiwork. The smoking husk of the wraith's burning debris could still be seen, at least in the form of the smouldering cloud wafting up from it.

"Would you believe I was just completely making things up as I went?" Shepard asked Carter jokingly

"Not really." Carter admitted "With that kinda attitude though you'd make an excellent Spartan for sure."

"I'll take that as a compliment." Shepard presumed.

* * *

><p>The lieutenant approached Kreave cautiously, trying his best to sound confident as he spoke.<p>

"The... wraith is down." He began "One of our men in the field has reported that Shepard personally saw to its destruction."

The lieutenant expected his krant leader to toss him to the ground in a rage, berate him for the failure of the assault. Instead Kreave just gave a chortling laugh.

"Of course he did, he's Shepard." the blood pack warlord declared "If one tank was all it took to finish him we wouldn't be standing here fighting his krant."

Satel did not seem as nonchalant about the loss of the wraith however. He stormed over to Kreave and pointed at him in accusatory anger.

"Your men were supposed to protect the wraith!" he shouted "Provide it security so it could bombard the humans to dust!"

"I only had one Krogan assigned to that detail." Kreave argued "If you must blame someone, blame the incompetent ape creatures under his charge. They have thus far proven insufficient at breaking the backs of the defenders."

Satel was still unmoved by the argument.

"As much as I despise the jiralhanae species, the fact remains your soldier was in command! He still lives yet apparently he has lost several of his squad! The blame falls on him and him alone!" Satel declared "If you krogan were at all skilled in war the False Shepherd would be dead and the relic ours by now!"

Kreave just grimaced at Satel's discriminatory remarks, more annoyed by them then anything.

"Those jiralhanae died because they were weak, slow and stupid. My man lives because he is krogan, pure and simple." Kreave responded "I've put my men on the frontlines, in the heat of battle while you sit up here and complain about the deaths of your disposable shock troopers! The hypocrisy is apparent to everyone Field Marshal."

Satel stood unwavering as Kreave put his face up the sangheili's own.

"If your species has half the quad you claim it does then you'll stop your bleating and prove it by actually sending your men in to fight alongside mine." Kreave told him, a challenging tone and look in his eye "Let us see how good the sangheili are stacked up to the might of the Krogan. Who can break the defenders first?"

Satel stood up right and proud against the blood pack leader.

"My men will see to it the humans are crushed and as an added bonus it will be us, not your Krogan, that bring you the False Shepherd for your egotistical duel." He declared "Then we'll see who the better warriors are."

Kreave smiled menacingly at the Field Marshall.

"I'll take that challenge. I'll even give you handicap then if you're so confident. Think of it as a favour." He told him, stepping away slightly. "Send your banshees in to aid in the next wave. Maybe your air forces will prove to be the defining factor."

"Ha! Fool, our pilots will render the enemy helpless." Satel boasted "We'll rain so much fire upon the humans and the False Shepherd's allies that your men will run out of targets before they can even fire a shot."

"Well I look forward to seeing the results then." Kreave announced, practically irradiating a sense of smug "Launch the second wave immediately and send down more of those converted as well, but something more hazardous then turned humans."

That was something Satel could agree with.


	21. Packages

Chapter 21: Packages

Shepard had Carter divert towards Tali's turret before heading back, if only to make sure she was alright. Sure enough the quarian was there with Kasumi and Mordin nearby. They busy trying to clean up the bodies that had slowly piled around their section.

"Ugh, now I know why Jacob likes inferno rounds so much." Kasumi said as she dragged a dead varren by its tail off the path "Way less mess."

Tali herself had already dragged a vorcha's corpse into the pile. They knew they had to be quick about it, what with the next assault coming soon.

"That varren tactic was a bit of a surprise." Tali told Shepard as he looked things over "Why not just throw the smoke grenades instead?"

"Kreave fancies himself a showman." Shepard answered matter of factly "A smoke grenade getting tossed up in the air is a lot less scary than it coming on the back of a four legged mouth of teeth. That and proves even his dogs are willing to die for him."

"Egotistical." Mordin analyzed "Potentially exploitable weakness. More so in that it carries over to own battle strategy."

Carter summed it up rather nicely for everyone.

"He's just trying to scare us." He alleged "His little blood pack hasn't licked us yet and they won't. We still got every turret active and we haven't lost an inch of ground."

"We're still backed up against a wall here Carter." Shepard warned "We shouldn't underestimate him. He may be an obsessive asshole with a superiority complex but he's a lot more flexible than most Krogan. Believe me you don't want an unpredictable krogan staring you down."

"Whatever card he deals next we can handle it." Carter assured Shepard "Although I wouldn't mind some insight."

Shepard gave it some thought. Kreave hadn't committed tons of Krogan to the fight yet. So he no doubt had plenty of reserves left. They had yet to see any of the vorcha armed with flamethrowers as well.

"He may start bringing out more big guns to the fight. Flamethrowers most likely, maybe even a few heavy hitters." Shepard suggested "He'll probably get the covies to send down more wraiths if he can convince them."

"From what I've seen of this relic it probably won't take much pushing." Tali added the sense of dire urgency apparent "Trust me and Halsey when we say this, it's incredibly important. It's the whole reason they're here in the first place they will not let us just walk out of here with the data without putting up a fight for it."

"And exactly does this data pertain to precisely?" Carter asked Tali

The Quarian suddenly looked a little less chatty, the gears in her head trying to come up with something.

"It's Forerunner," Tali finally answered "that pretty much says it all I think. Halsey thinks it has something to do with the Covenant religion. The data stored in that thing is insurmountable though. It could be anything from weapon schematics or maybe even long lost technology the Covenant could repurpose into a weapon. We can't be entirely sure. I think that's all I can really say for now."

Carter was still curious about it all, but he had no time to ask more questions. He heard the distinct cry of covenant aircraft above. Two banshees soared overhead as a phantom followed close behind.

"Break's over I guess." Kasumi observed

Shepard quickly contacted Miranda.

"Shepard to squad, how we holding up?" he asked

"Beat them back Commander," Miranda responded "but as you can no doubt see there's more coming in. We could really use the extra support here if you can spare it."

Shepard turned to Tali.

"Think you can handle things without me?" Shepard asked

"We'll be fine Shepard. This shotgun hasn't let me down yet." Tali assured, waving the UNSC shotgun in her hand "Although I do admit I miss being able to select disruptor rounds. But if you need help don't hesitate to call."

Tali's little smarmy remark gave Shepard a laugh and he saluted the Quarian as he and Carter returned back to base on the mongoose. Tali watched him leave, a bit grateful that he wasn't still trying to convince her to pull back. She could tell from his reaction earlier that he'd prefer it if she did, but she needed to be here. On the front line, doing all she could to help her friends. She looked up to see the phantom coming in to drop off its passengers on the other side of the bridge. She readied her shotgun.

"What you think they got for us this time?" Kasumi asked

"Whatever it is won't get past us if we can help it." Tali said defiantly. "They aren't getting their hands on that data."

It soon became apparent who the latest addition to the battle was, for racing over the bridge, blades in hand, were Elite Husks. Tali should've known. If they had human husks here then it should've been obvious that the Reavers were here too. Close behind the Reavers, however, were their still living brethren, Elites clad in spec-ops armour.

Tali watched as a number of the banshees flew low and began firing on down the central pathway at the porch before pulling up taking off again. They were getting more coordinated and serious now, that was for sure. She saw one of the Reavers turn towards them, the swords in its wrists swept backwards as it rushed forward.

Both the quarian engineer and Kasumi stood together alongside the turret. As the gun opened up on the charging sword-wielding monster they pointed their omni-tools at it. Tali's energy drain and Kasumi's overload attacks were launched consecutively and struck the reaver at the exact same time. The elite husk's shields spiked hard upon the impact of the two attacks. The conjoined barrage brought the monster's shields down significantly, but it kept coming regardless. It raced forward closing in on both Tali and Kasumi. Mordin was off to the side firing his heavy pistol at the monster. Both Tali and Kasumi opened up upon the reaver as well. Shotgun blasts struck against the dying shield covering the husk's body, but it wasn't enough to stop him.

As the beast closed in Tali sprang into action. She threw herself out of the way, bringing Kasumi with her. The reaver swung at the now unoccupied air with its sword as the two hooded women slammed into the sloped snowy pathway. The reaver's other sword slashed the turret's gun. The weapon closed up immediately, the damage it received forcing it to retreat into itself for repairs.

Kasumi was tumbling over herself in the snow, while Tali aimed her shotgun up at their reaver attacker. She slid across the show on her back, blasting away at the reaver with as many buckshot rounds as she had left in her weapon. The reaver felt the sting of the spread hit him and turned back to its quarry.

Kasumi finally righted herself, sticking her feet firmly into the snow. She grabbed Tali as she slid towards her. As she helped the quarian to her feet she looked up to see the reaver closing the distance between them across the snow. Tali turned to Mordin.

"Professor!" Tali shouted across to the Salarian "Light him up!"

Mordin didn't need clarification. He just nodded once, struck out his omni-tool and let an incineration attack twirl outwards towards the reaver. The husk stopped in its tracks, trying to pat out the flames. With it distracted momentarily, the three used what little time they had to pull back and put some distance between themselves and the dual sword wielding freak.

"We're gonna need more firepower to kill that thing." Kasumi stated

"Why do you think we're headed to where the Covenant is sending more of their troops up?" Tali responded as they raced towards the end of the path "We're gonna get some help from them."

* * *

><p>Shepard had long since passed by Six and Legion, his rocket launcher pointed to the sky. The two kept their heads down as a banshee flew straight over them. It sped after Carter and the Shepard, but while the banshee shot its bolts seemed to go wild as the aircraft came screaming down on the mongoose at an angle.<p>

Shepard didn't fire however. Six assumed he didn't have a good shot since the aircraft wasn't coming at him from a straight line. The mongoose pulled up the ramp and onto the porch, the banshee continued to buzz around them firing off shots.

As if air support wasn't bad enough though, the two got a look at the next group of enemies one of the incoming phantoms had dropped off on their path. Elites in full spec ops gear, side by side with blood pack krogan mercs, these ones wearing heavy armour. Flanking beside them were vorcha wearing packs on their backs. It didn't take long to figure out what was in those packs.

"Flamethrowers, just what we need." He groaned

"Based on enemy combatant numerical advantage current cover is insufficient." Legion informed the Spartan

"I'm open to any and all suggestions." Six responded as he readied his rifle.

Legion stood up, its eye glowing heavy and the lights on its body radiating brightly.

"Systems reroute achieved." Legion declared "Weapon damage output increased. We shall provide cover. Move to secondary defensive position."

Legion fired a spray of rounds from their geth pulse rifle and moved forward. The attack struck one of the lead spec ops elites. The shields of alien completely caved and the Elite rolled away from the Geth's field of fire, attempting to shoot back at it.

Six in the meantime took Legion's advice, but made sure not to leave his robotic friend hanging in the lurch. He fired into the crowd of covenant as he moved back hitting one of the krogan as he did. The alien barely felt the strike against his armour but he still shifted away from the lone geth in his way to further up the hill.

Legion's shields held as the plasma bolts hit them and slowly but surely the geth fell back. The spec ops elite he had shot at followed, trying to avoid Legion's shots as he closed in. Plasma bolts smacked against Legion's shields as the geth pulled back slightly. Its shields were slowly starting to fail as well, even with the extra power it had rerouted to them. After all, the elite they were trying to kill wasn't the only one firing at him.

The covenant officer's shields soon died as the rounds peppered him, but he was closing in on his prey and his fellow Elites were close behind. They added their plasma bolts to his own, slowly melting away the geth's shields. The elite raised his plasma rifle towards the synthetic's head intending to blast it to pieces. Legion kept firing on the Elite, unwavering in its task. The elite took the punishment, letting his armour soak up the rounds. Blood poured out of his wounds, but he just seemed to ignore it, completely focused on killing the machine in front of him.

Just as the elite prepared to fire, red energy struck against his body. His free hand shot up curling in pain before he grasped onto his firing arm trying to steady it. He heaved forward in visible pain as a red glow cascaded around him. Legion turned to where the shot had come from and saw Mordin standing along the fork in the path that led up to the bridge. There with him were Tali and Kasumi. The quarian quickly fired three shots from her pistol at the elite, two in the torso and one in the head for good measure. The elite fell dead to the ground, his pain subsiding at last.

"Get back to Shepard, Legion!" Tali shouted at the Geth "We'll keep them busy!"

The synthetic just nodded before vanishing. The cloak would see him safely out of the combat zone. The machine was confident Tali'Zorah could handle the situation but they wanted to be sure.

"Three Noble, Thane Assassin," they quickly spoke over the comm-channel "assist Creator Tali'Zorah's team, provide fire support."

"No worries Legion we're on it." Jun answered "We're picking targets now."

Legion supposed that perhaps the call for Tali's protection was thus somewhat un-required then. Calling them was pointless. They shared similar concerns and were assisting the unit. Still, Legion had been unsure of that originally. Whether or not they truly intended to assist Tali was unknown to them at the time they had made the request, but it should have been inherently obvious they would. Their concern was somewhat of an anomaly. An action they had seized upon.

Legion also realised that they never would've have had to make a verbal command before, other geth inherently knew the other and what they required. Yet for some reason Legion had compensated for the lack of organics' ability to connect with other individuals within the collective.

Legion soon reached a conclusion based on this evidence. This sense of genuine concern for the safety of Tali'Zorah, and those near her, evidently transcended the simple logical conclusion of maintaining unit cohesion and strategically numerical strength in the bunker's defence. Legion recalled how they rationalized matters when they were told of Creator Tali'Zorah's resumed death. It recalled the glitch in its systems as well. Was this a side effect of that?

This train of thought took all of five seconds for the machine to run through after Jun finished his sentence. By then Legion was halfway back to the porch. It decided to put the matter aside, until a more appropriate time to ask. Perhaps with Tali'Zorah, she would probably provide some answers if she could. She knew about the glitch better than they did after all.

* * *

><p>The banshees were already swirling around the base firing off their plasma guns at anything that moved. Everyone was forced to seek shelter under the porch's miniature roof. The covering shook with every bolt that struck it. They could smell the searing and melting of the metal above.<p>

"Why don't we just lock on to the damn things with the rockets?" Jacob asked furiously.

"Tried on the way here," Shepard explained "every time I get a signal it suddenly goes jittery."

Shepard had never been good with technical terms. Point was the lock-on just seemed to go nuts and lose focus.

"The Inquisitor probably upgraded them like it has with everything else." Miranda reasoned "These banshees must be emitting some kind of signal that messes with the rocket's lock-on functions."

"Then how the fuck do we kill them?" Jack asked in her usual subtle manner.

The porch rocked as a green blast of energy shook to roof above. Grunt rushed out onto the ramp and fired up into the air at the nearest banshee, but it quickly boosted away. Kat peered out at the banshee as it flew away and began to double back for another pass.

She motioned Shepard to give him his rocket launcher and took aim at the banshee in the distance. As Shepard said the lock-on function locked onto the banshee for a split second and then suddenly went haywire. The scope's system suddenly started to crackle and shift out. The lock-on was lost, but strangely the banshee turned away, barely firing a shot on their position. What it did fire struck way over them against the icy cliffs above and not anywhere close to the bunker.

Kat lowered the rocket and went over the past few minutes in her head quickly. Soon enough it started to make sense and she formed a plan.

"If we can down one of the banshees maybe we can find the upgrade in the wreckage." She suggested "Something complex enough to ruin target tracking capabilities has to be interlaced from another source. I'm guessing it's kind of tower or transmission device on the surface. It detects whether individual aircraft are being targeted and then quickly sends a command to the vehicle in question that causes it to emit a scrambling signal."

"Why not just have it running constantly onboard?" Carter asked

"Cause the scrambler's signal wouldn't be selective and indiscriminate." Kat explained "It would affect the banshee as well. It's a trade off. We can't shoot them they can't shoot us, but only as long as we keep trying to lock onto them."

Shepard understood, if they could get their hands on the upgrade they could piggyback on it and use it to take out the tower or array or whatever it was that was emitting the targeting scrambler signal. And he knew just who to call to get it done. He contacted Tali.

"Tali, we need your help with something." He told her.

* * *

><p>"I'm a little busy Shepard!" Tali responded, not as politely as she would have. "I'll call you back!"<p>

Tali had gotten herself between a rock and a hard place. Behind them was an angry reaver shaking off its wounds and closing back in on their position. In front of them were several angry elites, vorcha and krogan. This didn't seem like that much of a plan, even to her.

But the Covenant had plasma weapons and by now the reaver's shields had recharged, covering his singed armour beneath it. They needed something that could cut through both. They couldn't get past the reaver and up to Garrus, not from where they were, but they could try and liberate some plasma weapons from their covenant attackers. Problem was Tali wasn't sure what kind of plasma gun they'd need to effectively take that reaver down and reclaim the turret he took out. She kinda wished Jacob was here to offer some expertise on that.

Whatever, she'd just find the biggest gun she could get her hands, that would be good enough. Problem was she couldn't even stick her head out. One of the angry krogan mercs had spotted her and was blasting his assault rifle at her position. Bit of rock were chipped away with every second he fired. Joining him were a number of spec-ops elites and other krogan, these ones armed with shotguns.

"Can't stay hidden like this for long Tali," Kasumi told her over the radio "need to make a move now."

"I need this bosh'tet off me first!" Tali replied.

One of the flamethrower packing Vorcha made his move. As he stood close to the krogan firing on Tali he let loose a stream of fire from his thrower. It encompassed the rock, forcing Tali to push herself deeper against the rocks. The fire was so close it even affected her shields, making them dip slightly from the heat in such close proximity.

"Always with the fire," Tali groaned through bared teeth "they can never use something that doesn't set things on fire."

But the eruption of flames were suddenly halted, a single shot from behind pierced the tank of the Vorcha Pyro. It took about two seconds for the razor toothed pyromaniac to realise what had happened, by then it was too late. The tank exploded, its wearer blown to flaming pieces with it. The krogan near him, the one firing on Tali was set ablaze by the attack himself. As he tried to bat out the fire that torched his armour Tali look out of cover and up to the sniper's nest on the outdoor lab. Some of the elites had turned to fire on it in kind.

"Sorry for the delay there Tali," Jun shouted over the radio "was waiting for him to get into the best position! By the way you might wanna duck in the next two seconds!"

Tali didn't ask why, she could hear her auditory receptors picking up the scampering of feet, edging ever closer. The vorcha turned the corner and Tali dropped to the ground as flames shot out along the wall. Tali watched as fire completely obscured her vision, the blaze just inches above her head completely obscuring everything and anything else. All the while, the vorcha laughed.

Then the flames stopped, the vorcha was howling in pain, red sickly glow streaking across his body. Another neural shock, courtesy of a certain salarian acting as back up, it was good of Mordin to stay close to her while Kasumi went off on the less conspicuous path through the rocks.

"Shoot! Aim for tanks!" Mordin commanded as he fired on the Vorcha himself

Tali brought out her pistol again and aimed it at the vorcha. She fired several shots, puncturing the tank on the right side. She covered her face as the flames exploded outward, consuming the vorcha as the tank erupted. Tali regained her sight moments after the fires died down and bits of vorcha fell to earth.

"Taste of your own medicine." Tali grumbled as she looked over the remains.

She looked back from where they came. The reaver was still there, approaching slowly but surely. It clearly didn't see them as much of a threat if it was taking it's time. Either that or Mordin's incineration attack had wounded it somehow. Didn't matter, they needed to hurry.

"Do it now Kasumi!" Tali ordered over the radio as she stood herself up.

Kasumi had been among the attackers, cloaked and ready for Tali's go. She found a promising target, a krogan with a shotgun not more than five feet away from a spec-ops elite. She stabbed her omni-blade clean into his back, not enough to kill a Krogan but certainly enough to piss him off. The giant lizard turned around, trying to swat the little human. The thief easily twirled away from the attack. She got to his back and stuck a flashbang into the gash she created in the krogan's armour. She ran for cover and in the next moment the grenade went off.

The thing about flashbang grenades was that they had a significant concussive force, able to knock people down. Kasumi could've packed them with metal fragments if she wanted to make them more deadly when they exploded. But right now she needed to blind pretty much everyone close by. It was enough for what they needed. The krogan collapsed forward, his back smoking from the grenade's kickback.

Everyone nearby had been blinded by the attack, including the elite close by. This was Tali's signal. She dashed out of cover, gunning down the krogan the grenade had been set on with two close range shotgun blasts. The lizard collapsed on to his back and did not get back up. He wasn't Tali's real target, no that honour was the spec-ops soldier just a few feet away. Her omni-tool had been preset to drain the elite's shields. One solid hit was all it took and the covenant operative's defences were gone. Adrenaline now pumping in her veins, Tali wasted no time in smacking the elite in his mouth at the end of her charge. As he stumbled backwards, Tali fired her shotgun into the alien's torso and once again into his head.

She scooped up the elite's plasma rifle and looked to Kasumi and Mordin. In the ensuing chaos the flashbang has created, Kasumi had slashed open an elite's throat and Mordin had plugged several rounds into another spec-ops operative. They had picked up the plasma weapons, a repeater for Kasumi and another rifle for Mordin.

"Not really my style," Kasumi admitted as she looked over the large weapon "but considering the angry husk after us."

"Will need to recharge." Mordin said as he stuck the nozzle of the plasma rifle he held into the recharger device he kept at his side "Can't afford running out of power. Need to use full potential against reaver."

Tali would've asked them to return to the fight proper, but instead she heard a noise coming up the hill. She looked down the path and saw the strange hovering sound was in fact a covenant vehicle, a ghost. One that was aimed directly at her and closing in at top speed. Tali dove out of the way, slamming herself in the snowy ground as the hovering alien attack vehicle sped past. In the driver's seat was a grunt, one of the green armoured ones again. He turned his vehicle to take aim at the fallen quarian as she tried to get back up. He would've fired had Mordin not shot first. The plasma bolts from his newly acquired rifle struck the grunt along his shoulder. Unlike his fellow cannon fodder this grunt was better armoured of course so he barely flinched all that much, but he did turned his attention to the salarian. He opened fire on him immediately and watched the little frog rush away as the bolts chased after him.

The grunt didn't see a Japanse girl in a hood grasp onto the back of his ghost however, at least not at first. As Kasumi raised her omni-tool to strike the grunt looked up and terrified boosted the ghost forward and pulled a hard u-turn. Kasumi slipped off flying into a heap within the snow. The grunt chuckled a bit, he'd beaten the assailant. He had forgotten all about the quarian, until he heard a thud on his vehicle's front end. Tali had gotten up and she had clambered onto the ghost as it stopped. More importantly, she now had a pistol aim at the little gas sucker's head. She fired twice into the grunt's skull. As his body slipped off Tali took his place in the driver's seat.

"Okay, Samara said this was just like driving a shuttle car." She thought aloud as she took up the controls "No worries."

She swung the ghost towards downhill where she could see a krogan flanked by two elites. The krogan in question had singed armour. His shoulder was still burning in fact. It was the krogan that Jun had set ablaze when he shot the vorcha's tank, no doubt. He fired upon the ghost Tali had stolen. Tali ducked down into her seat and pushed hard on the triggers on either side of the control stick. The ghost opened up on the krogan and the elites, firing bolts after bolt into their bodies. The blasts tore what little armour the krogan had elft off and ate away at the shields of the elites. The elites tried to go for cover but Tali followed them, the first one died with his back turned as a bolt struck him between the shoulder blades. The second Tali had to swing over to. He was firing back as he ran down the slope and away from Tali. The bolt struck him between the neck and the shoulder and he fell down, smoke rising from the cauterised wound.

Tali let go of the trigger and breathed deep. That had been scary, if she had pressed the wrong button the vehicle may have boost towards them. She may have hit the Krogan but the elites would've gunned her down as she passed. Her luck was holding out so far though.

She then heard a scream from the fork in the path. She turned to see the reaver standing there, swords outstretched in anger. Both Kasumi and Mordin had opened up on it already, firing bolts into the creature, eating away at his shields. Tali decided, however, they needed to be more direct. She shoved the controls forward and the ghost boosted towards the reaver. It noticed and prepared to strike down upon the charging purple craft, but the ghost was just a bit faster. The vehicle slammed into the reaver, it stopped but the elite husk was sent flying into the air. It crashed down into the snow about four yards away.

Tali and the others followed him, all taking aim with their respective plasma weapons. The reaver began to stand up and roared aloud at them. It was now or never. Tali opened up first, the plasma coils on her ghost turning red hot after a few short seconds. Both Kasumi and Mordin had to stop as their guns overheated, but Tali was able to just keep firing. They could all smell the blue fiery smoke coming off the guns. Each bolt struck the reaver violently, Tali's eyes transfixed on the creature as the plasma cut deep into the creature. She moved the ghost forward, still firing on it, still striking the reaver with everything she had in the tiny vehicle. It kept standing despite all the punishment, but Tali refused to quit. She would not let this thing get a second wind.

At long last the reaver buckled, falling to its knees. Tali pulled alongside the downed husk and pulled out her pistol. The reaver looked up briefly, screamed furiously and Tali fired. A single bullet finally silenced the abomination. Kasumi walked up to Tali, whistling loudly.

"Nice moves girl!" she commented cheerfully "Your plan worked!"

"Few ripples though." Tali responded, keeping modest all the same

"Still, adapted well." Mordin quickly added "Reaver was helpless. Not difficult. Thanks to you."

Tali didn't have time to show her appreciation for the praise. What was left of the elites and krogan they had faced were now firing up at them from the fork. Tali turned to them as Kasumi and Mordin retreated to her side.

"Get back to the turret," she told them, her voice and gaze steadfast "reactivate it. I'll hold them back for a bit."

Tali continued firing as the two retreated back to the turret. She filled the forking path with plasma bolts aplenty, forcing the elites to keep their heads down lest they be torn apart. In the meantime, she contacted Shepard again.

"Alright Wade," she said, seemingly very calm under pressure "whatever you need. Go."

* * *

><p>Shepard explained the situation to Tali while the others waited for her response. Shepard nodded a few times as she spoke. It was a private channel, to reduce risk of the covies figuring out their plan if they were monitoring communications. He turned to the others when she was done explaining.<p>

"She says we could shoot down one of them, but our best bet is actually capturing one of them." Shepard explained, although it was pretty obvious "She has an idea where it could be, but she isn't sure. Either way there's a risk we could destroy it."

Kat sighed heavily.

"Was afraid of that." She said shaking her head "We'll need to lure one in then and grab it. That's not gonna be easy."

"But then we'd have our own air support." Emile noted "Win-Win as I see it."

"Question is, who's gonna try it?" Carter asked aloud

No one immediately volunteered. They all looked to each other instead, hoping someone else said something. Shepard had hijacked a banshee before, but that was spur of the moment. This was a little more frightening and there were a lot more banshees. Plus actually luring one down was gonna be a bit more difficult than catching one that just happened to be making a dive bomb at you. Grunt was one of the first to remove himself from the talent pool.

"I ain't flying, I prefer the ground." He announced

"You do realise you couldn't fit in there anyway." Miranda informed him.

Grunt just sneered at her, which was a bit more surprising than his refuse to hijack and aircraft. He hadn't seemed weight conscious before. Perhaps it was just the way Miranda had said it.

"Whoever does is gonna need a failsafe in case they miss." Shepard stated "A jetpack is the best bet for that, as well as actually getting to the banshee."

"Thane and Noble Three took the packs." Jacob reminded him "Looks like they're up."

Once more Shepard got on the radio.

"Thane, need either you or Three to do something for us."

As Shepard spoke to the drell plasma bolts sailed across the left side of the porch. Elites, spec ops accompanied by two krogan and a vorcha closed in on the bunker. They wasted no time in rushing to cover, mindful of the fact they were far too exposed where they were.

Carter took aim at one of the elites striking his shields with his DMR. The two rounds spiked the shields, but the alien simply rolled into the cover of the rock field. Carter was then forced to put his head down as a powerful flamethrower blast rocketed across the battlefield and spread across his sandbag cover. Miranda slid to his side, avoiding the flames licking above them. When they dissipated for a moment she stood up once more and threw a warp at the offending vorcha. As biotic flames licked at the alien, Jacob joined the fray. Both he and Carter fired on the pyro, rupturing both tanks on the creature's back with precision.

They didn't have time to revel in their victory. A banshee dived out of the sky and fired a green bolt straight at their position on the porch. The blast forced all three of them to dive to the deck as the explosive burst blew apart the sandbags near them. Their shields went into the red as sand cascaded over them.

"We really need to kill those damn things." Jacob groaned "They're starting to piss me off."

"Likewise." Carter added as he stood up.

* * *

><p>Jun had counted at least six kills so far on these krogan. They were tough but they weren't invincible. He had already identified several weak spots besides the eyes. They were more vulnerable than their appearance let on. He found that out after one of his rounds missed a leg shot and travelled to the target's groin. Having four was apparently a disadvantage in one respect.<p>

Thane hadn't been gunning for the krogan. He spent his time softening up their vorcha support units. One vorcha was behind two elites as they made their way up to Tali's position. They were being as cautious as they could. The quarian had a rapid firing assault vehicle in her possession now and was forcing the elites to keep their heads down. They kept trying to stay away from the vorcha, realising how much of a health hazard they were with those flame packs. They kept pushing the little ugly creatures away from them when they could.

But these two were paying more attention to the hijacked ghost firing on their position then the vorcha that was standing behind them waiting for a way to get into the fight proper. One shot was all it took. The shot cut clean through the tank and a jet of fire spewed out of it like a flickering serpent's tongue. The vorcha screamed when he saw it and the elites turned just moments before he exploded. They kicked the little creature away, but the damage was done. The blast erupted and one of the elites was set on fire, even his shields couldn't save him.

Then Thane got the call from Shepard, as he listened intently Jun kept up the fire on the enemy rushing up the slope from below. One shot grazed the crest of a krogan. He turned his head to him. Even behind the helmet Jun could tell the alien's blood was boiling. He pointed a grenade launcher at the sniper's nest. For the scrape he had received he would blow the Spartan away. The grenades shot out at the roof of the small building and both Thane and Jun rushed back to avoid the blast. They hit the deck as the shots slammed into their little high rise, shaking it violently.

"Halsey better be working overtime." Jun said as he stood up "We can't keep this up."

A banshee swooped down and strafed the porch with fire, his wingman followed suit just moments later. One green blast of plasma shook the porch. Another strafing string of plasma slashed into the defensive position as well, this one found a target.

"Ah fuck!" a pained, familiar cry sounded over the radio "My arm!"

It was Jack from what Thane could tell. More passes like that and it would get worse, Jun was right they couldn't keep this up, especially not with those banshees.

"Shepard has a plan to take out their air support." Thane explained "But I need you to draw in one of them for me so I can get onto it."

Jun looked a bit stunned at Thane's request.

"You want to hijack a banshee?" he asked befuddled

"No, Shepard wants me to hijack one." Thane elaborated "That makes it a bit different. He made me promise no heroics awhile back and now he's asking me to pull a few."

The drell was trying to sound confident and sure, but the Spartan could tell he wasn't exactly sure of this plan himself. Jun looked at the flight of banshees as they circled back to make another pass.

"You think you can fly one?" Jun asked concerned

"Shepard said it was like driving any shuttle craft." Thane said, looking to the banshees.

Jun just sighed and hefted his rifle to the banshees. He aimed down the scope.

"I'll hit the lead's wing. That should catch their attention." Jun stated.

"If you could avoid damaging the craft..." Thane requested

Jun feigned groaning.

"You are asking me to miss." Jun informed him "Just so you know, you owe me for that."

Jun fired two rounds and their white wafting smoky tails sailed into the sky. The bullets sailed clean past both banshees, missing them by inches. It hurt Jun's pride a bit, intentionally missing so easy a target, but the desired result was achieved. The banshees turned towards the sniper's nest. Thane aimed himself at the lead craft and prepared the jetpack for launch.

"You're gonna have to be quick to take over once the pilot's out." Jun warned

"I'll manage." Thane assured him

And with that the drell blasted off. He headed directly for the banshee like a rocket. The aircraft tried to divert to avoid him, but the drell was quicker. He latched onto the wing-like appendage of the banshee and swung himself up onto it proper.

As the lead banshee flew away, Jun was pumped a fist in the air. The little scaly xeno pulled it off, problem was there were two banshees. The wingman just behind the first banshee was still on a bombing run for the sniper's nest. Jun looked up to see the banshee closing in. He rushed towards the edge behind him as the aircraft closed in. It fired a green plasma blast that shook the entire building. The Spartan was thrown off the roof and into the rock field below. He slammed into the snow hard and rolled directly into a rock sticking out of the ground.

As he rolled himself onto his back, gun in hand, an elite looked to the right and spotted the down Spartan. He pointed his plasma rifle at Jun, but the Spartan fired his first. The elite's head rocked back as the round cut through his skull with ease. Jun scrambled to his feet as the elite's comrade nearby heard the shot and rushed through the rocks to face the Spartan.

Jun narrowly avoided the new elite's plasma bolts as he threw himself behind one of the rocks for cover. The bolts slammed against the stone, singing it black. The elite cautiously motioned around the rock to the left, hoping to catch the human off guard from his flank. Instead, the elite found his head smacked by the butt of a sniper rifle. The alien stumbled backwards a Jun pointed the barrel of the gun straight at his face and pulled the trigger.

Jun took a few rapid breaths as he stood ove3r the two dead aliens.

"Guess I made back those two shots." He thought to himself.

* * *

><p>Thane in the meantime had clambered up to the cockpit canopy. Wind blew across his face as the banshee sped through the air. He pulled at the canopy door, opening it to reveal the elite pilot inside. He noticed the drell just seconds before a biotic throw tossed him out of the aircraft. As the elite fell to earth Thane rushed into the cockpit and took the controls.<p>

"Well, that wasn't as hard as I feared." He said hopefully.

The banshee suddenly shook as violently. Someone was hitting him from behind, most likely the wingman whose friend he had just killed. Thane pulled back on the controls hard, forcing the craft to flip upwards into the sky. It looped over the banshee behind him and Thane lined up the crosshairs on the alien craft's tail. He clenched his hands within the controls. Shepard said that was how he fired the banshee the first time. Sure enough, plasma bolts struck out and furiously tore apart the offending banshee. It fell to earth in a burning mass of wreckage.

"Shepard, I have the banshee." Thane informed the commander over the radio "How's everyone down there?"

* * *

><p>"Not entirely great to be honest." He admitted to the drell.<p>

Jack squirmed angrily as Jacob moved his omni-tool over her singed arm.

"Careful, don't smudge the ink more than those fuckers already have!" she screeched at him

"You're just lucky that hit only grazed ya." Jacob told her firmly "If it had been dead center we'd be amputating this."

"I warned her, she should've worn proper armour." Emile chastised.

The ex-con was quick to spit at the skull faced Spartan.

"Fuck you." She sneered before turning back to her would be medic "Get off me Jacob I need to kill those fuckers."

"Thane already has that covered." Shepard assured "We need to focus on keeping this area secure."

It was then Jun pulled himself up onto the porch proper, narrowly avoiding some plasma bolts licking at his heels.

"Sniper nest is gone." he said aloud "Banshee zeroed me after I lured them to me and Thane. I go up there again and I'm not coming back down. Too risky."

"We can manage. We still have Garrus on the scaffolding." Carter reminded him "Bunker is priority anyway. We can stand to lose some ground as long as it's not this front door."

Zaeed, who was along the left wall firing into the rock field below them, suddenly pointed his head up to the sky. His eyesight was still as good as ever, and it caught the floating forms of phantoms carrying deadly cargo.

"Uh, mates..." he warned "we have incoming."

Carter looked up and zoomed in on the phantoms as they descended. Each of them had a wraith under their bellies. One headed left, the other over the bridge. Carter let his weapon drop to his side and he contacted Halsey.

"How much longer doctor?" he asked

"I'm halfway there, working overtime." She assured

"Work faster." He told her

* * *

><p>The wraith was plopped down straight across the bridge, opposite to where the other wraith was originally positioned. Along with it a contingent of covenant troopers no doubt. Tali wasn't sure which ones, but she suspected they would be substantial. A second phantom passed her vision and headed down to the left path. Banshees flew on high, buzzing just off to the side of the wraiths. Tali watched it all from her seat in the ghost.<p>

The tanks were already firing on the porch, their lobbing rounds creeping up to the bunker door with each tremendous thud. So far Shepard and the others were forced to stay scrunched inside the bunker porch. They were cornered, easy targets. One solid hit and they'd all be dead. Shepard wouldn't have any time to take down both wraiths and Tali wasn't about to let him risk his neck again.

"We need to go after the wraith across the bridge." She informed Kasumi

The thief just seemed to shrugged at the suggestion, completely unmoved by the risky task ahead.

"Well, I'll be able to cross 'blow up a tank' from my bucket list." She mused "What's the plan?"

Tali looked over to the bridge itself, not all that far away from them actually. It was packed now with covenant. The skirmishers to be precise, ones armed with little shields on their arms. They also had a few krogan with them. They had formed a solid standing line of defence. They didn't want a repeat of last time when Shepard broke though.

Luckily, they had an angel watching over them.

"Garrus," Tali contacted the turian, her tone dry and serious "I need you to clear the bridge. We're gonna make a run on the wraith."

"Kinda reckless for you Tali," Garrus told her "I'm not sure Shepard would like the idea of me letting you do that."

"I've faced Geth armatures on foot several times before Garrus." She reminded him "This tank is about the same size. I've also acquired some extra firepower."

Tali shimmed the ghost from side to side a bit, just testing out the controls in preparation for her run. Also, she wanted to make her plan clear to Garrus, just in case he was watching through the scope.

"Besides, you know I like things up close and personal." She quipped teasingly

"That you do." Garrus admitted with a laugh "Alright, I'll see what I can manage."

Garrus looked over his targets. Lacking proper cover the skirmishers had cleverly formed a crisscrossing line in front of the bridge. A few jackals were also among them, sporting shields raised on high. He could take out one, maybe two, but the others would rally and quickly protect themselves with their shields. The others would fire on his position.

He needed a way to kill the most targets in the least amount of time. As another blast from the wraith arced across the sky, Garrus followed its trail. He then saw a banshee follow the arc. When the plasma blast touch-downed near the bunker's position the banshee was quick to strafe the area with fire. Plasma struck across the porch, the section uncovered by the roof the hardest hit.

Garrus thought he saw Miranda through the scope, almost cut apart by a near miss from the plasma guns.

"Thane get on those banshees!" Shepard shouted over the radio "We need to take the pressure off us!"

Garrus followed the banshee with his scope, an idea form in his head. It was long shot, but if he planned it right he could deal with two problems at once. He switched the ammo in his gun to armour piercing and waited for the banshee to fly past him. He placed his crosshairs on the very front of the aircraft, where the pilot was. When he was near the bridge Garrus fired at the banshee. Three bullets whizzed through the canopy of the cockpit. The banshee suddenly started to pitch and roll wildly out of control. It began falling towards the bridge and the assembled covenant troopers there. One of the bullets had peeirced the plasma coil on the side of the craft. Flames were jutting out of it as it descended. The Covenant, even the Krogan, began to disperse slightly as the aircraft closed on them and then broke into a panicked run back across the bridge. It was too late though, the banshee crashed at the foot of the bridge.

The plasma coil ruptured when it struck the ground, exploding. As soon as it hit the ground the banshee was on fire. A skirmisher that was too close was consumed by the flames as they exploded out. What was left of him was crushed by the sliding hulk of metal. The burning husk of metal slid across the snow before hitting the edge of the bridge. It flipped forward into the mass of bodies, crushing two skirmishers immediately and another one the second roll. By then the flames reached the power core. The second explosion tore apart the banshee, sending debris and flames everywhere. The skirmishers were torn apart or thrown over the side of the bridge into the abyss below. One krogan was set alight, falling to his stomach. The other was thrown several feet away by the shockwave and rolled to a stop at the end of the bridge.

Tali and the others by the turret watched pretty much the whole thing from their vantage point. They took a moment to soak the impressive feat in before rushing to get to the bridge.

"Bridge is open." Garrus' voice spoke up over the radio, a small sense of satisfaction in it.

"We saw, we're moving now." Tali told him as she pushed the Ghost forward.

"Everyone of those is a kill by the way, they count." The Turian continued

"Of course they do." Tali told him, rolling her eyes as she turned towards the bridge.

Tali had somewhat missed Garrus' upbeat attitude when he landed a particularly memorable kill. In fact it was nice to hear him so upbeat and happy. She liked to think her being alive had something to do with it, that whatever problem, or 'funk' as humans, said he was in before was now gone. It was good to know the turian had his confidence back after over a month or so of him feeling so low and down. His melancholy tone from Visegrad was now completely gone. A fact further confirmed by what he said next.

"Well...say it." He teased slightly with playful little growl

"You're the best shot in the entire galaxy Garrus." Tali admitted. By now her ghost was crossing the bridge. "No one can compare."

"I love hearing that." The turian chuckled

Tali rounded the corner of the bridge and stared down the wraith just feet in front of her. She contacted Mordin and Kasumi who were already halfway across.

"Okay, just like we planned." She began, cautiously repeating the strategy "I distract him and then Kasumi will-"

Tali's planning session was cut short when an arcing plume of blue shot out of the wraith's cannon. It sailed clean over Tali's head into the sky above. She watched it, followed it's path... and knew instantly where it was headed.

"Garrus! Garrus run!" she screamed

* * *

><p>Garrus could see the arcing plume heading towards him. He froze momentarily, the plasma heading towards him as clear as day. He couldn't move, almost paralyzed with fear. Then, Tali's voice shouted into his ear, telling him to run. He listened.<p>

He rushed off the scaffolding as fast as he could, the plasma bearing down upon him. He reached the end of the scaffolding when the blast struck it. The shockwave shook the platform violently and Garrus flipped right over the side into the snow below. Pieces of the burning scaffolding littered the ground just a few feet away from him. He was conscious, but dazed.

At this rate the other half of his face was gonna get burned clean off.

* * *

><p>Tali's first thought was to rush back and try to help her downed friend, see if he was okay, if he had survived. It took a moment for her to recognize that she had seen the turian fall to the snow, the blast hadn't hit him. The scaffolding platform getting torn apart had simply thrown him to the ground.<p>

If she really wanted to help Garrus and everyone else now she needed to stay on task. She looked back to the wraith, a fire in her eyes. The elite plasma gunner in his seat stared back at her with a cold icy stare.

When she saw the elite's face, things just seemed to slow down, her mind processing everything that had happened and what she was looking at.

His face, his expression, the bosh'tet didn't care. He didn't care that he had almost killed her friend. That he was trying to kill her friends, her boyfriend, the humans, this planet, he didn't care! He hadn't fired that shot, but he was on that tank, pointing that plasma machine gun at her. He was gonna try and kill her now! And all Tali saw was a blank, emotionless face looking back.

She was nothing to him, just a target, just a piece of meat, just something else to kill.

In that moment, Tali'Zorah knew true rage. Her blood boiling over she fired first, before he could. Her ghost strafed the wraith as is slid sideways across the ground. The gunner tried to fire on her, but Tali easily ran circles around the gunner and his tank.

However, he wasn't the only one taking aim at her. Darting from behind the tank, several skirmishers, waiting in reserve rushed at Tali's ghost, firing all the way. The quarian turned her sights onto the ugly little birds. Their little arm shields blocked the plasma from striking them, but the quarian didn't let up. She kept firing. Eventually a bolt or two got through and that was all it took to break their defences. Still, she was now unable to keep pressure on the wraith. The tank's commander now charged up the cannon again for a more close range shot. Even with the skirmishers close to her, the elite inside was prepared to kill them to destroy Tali.

And indeed he would've done it, save for a minor interruption from above. One of the banshees guarding the airspace above the wraith suddenly erupted in flames. The wraith's commander detected the destruction of its support on their scope. Turning towards the now falling banshee, its burning form collapsing to earth, he saw another banshee speed past the smoke left in its wake. It launched a green plasma blast that flew down and struck the side of the wraith. The banshee pulled out of its dive bomb and up into the sky once more. The remaining banshee it hadn't shot down followed.

"I'll need to shake this one before I can offer any more assistance Tali." Thane's voice spoke over the comm. "Best use the time you have."

"Thanks Thane, I will." She replied

Tali didn't waste the opportunity. She circled around and got a clear shot of the backside of the wraith. As she peppered the most vulnerable part of the tank and the vehicle kept trying to follow her and regain the initiative. The gunner kept his eyes glued on Tali throughout, or at least where he knew she was. He needed to be ready for when the quarian gave him a clear shot. Then a terrible shock erupted through his body.

Kasumi had gotten next to the tank, as close as she could, and let and overload attack deplete the gunner's shields. As he turned to face the hooded thief, his gun aimed to cut her down, he was struck once again from the back. Hiding along the side of the bridge, Mordin had let a cryo-bast strike the elite from behind. The flash frozen covie was now open to attack.

"16.5 seconds before thaw!" Mordin warned over the radio "Move!"

Kasumi already was, she leapt up to the gunner's seat and slashed her omni-blade across the alien's neck. The head tumbled of the body and the rest of the icy torso fell apart. Kasumi now armed a plasma grenade she had taken from the elite who had so generously donated his plasma rifle to her. She tossed it into the open cavity of the wraith's main cannon. She jumped off the tank just moments before it detonated, blowing the gun clean off the vehicle, detonating the plasma cells and tearing the wraith apart.

Tali stopped her ghost just beside the thief and got out. She marvelled at their handiwork.

"One down," Kasumi observed "that should take some pressure off the team."

"Most likely dealing with second wraith now." Mordin observed "Hopefully do not require help."

"Yeah, they're closer anywhere." Tali admitted, although she didn't like the idea of leaving a job for others to finish. But she did have other responsibilities. "I'll contact Thane. He can land the banshee here and then we can put a stop to that jamming signal of theirs."

At that moment, screaming out of the sky like a comet, a burning banshee slammed into the wall of the cavern several feet high. The banshee that shot it down began to fly down towards Tali and the others.

"Sorry about the delay." Thane said over the radio as he began to land "Last one was seriously hard to get behind. Not bad though, all things considered. This craft handles a lot better than a standard gunship and I haven't flown one of those in years."

"You were a pilot?" Kasumi asked inquisitively

"No, it was for a job. I had to infiltrate a high rise and take down a turian who had ordered the murder of high-ranking official within the Hanar government." Thane explained "Needed to learn how to fly a gunship fast."

"I don't mean to be rude Thane," Tali interrupted "but Shepard and the others need clear skies now. Can you tell us about this later?"

"Of course, apologies."

The drell moved in for a proper landing. Tali already had her omni-tool ready.

* * *

><p>The rocket launcher rattled against his back with every striding step. It wasn't easy sprinting across the snowy terrain, loss of traction was always a threat. Add the weight from the explosive projectile shooter on his back and it was amazing Six hadn't stumbled once on this icy slope. Breaking off from the initial attack on the porch wasn't easy. Everyone had to concentrate on the elites in the rocks, force them to keep in cover while both Six and Legion made a break for the path. They needed to deal with the wraith now, before it made life even more difficult than it already was. Yes, the line was holding now, but it only be a matter of time before the Covenant managed to step foot on the porch. The fewer wraiths they had to deal with the more time they'd hopefully have before that happened.<p>

It wouldn't be easy though. Six could already see the banshees circling on high, ready to dive at a moment's sign of the tank below coming under threat. They would need a way to get close. At this range the rocket could be easily dodged. That and if the wraith had a shield the best shot they had at killing it quickly was a rocket or two to its back or side. That or they found a way to take out the shield itself.

"How you wanna play this Legion?" Six asked the machine as the bent down behind the rocky wall close to the wraith's position.

The synthetic quickly scanned the entire area, its head swivelling back and forth between all potential targets, calculating potential probabilities for success, everything. It formed a strategy.

"The best possible outcome requires us to disable the forward gunner first." Legion explained "Our weapon retains the best probability of achieving that goal."

Six could only nod, grinning behind his visor at the brilliance.

"I get it, remove the plasma gun from equation, draw the wraith to you and I get around to the back or side to stick a rocket up his ass." Six reasoned "Good idea Legion."

"The strategy's success would increase exponentially if you retained a technological advantage." Legion informed the Spartan as he reached behind his back.

The geth soon pulled out the armour upgrade that had been plugged into its systems, the cloak. His hand outstretched he offered it to Six. The Spartan looked it over as he took it.

"Yeah, less chance of them figuring out what's going down if they can't see me." He reasoned "Thanks, Legion. I'll make sure you get it back."

"We had no intention to ask." Legion responded "You gave us the upgrade to assist us. We return it to you in order to assist in kind. However, we understand the concept of returning what is 'borrowed' among organics is socially acceptable and we appreciate your intent to do so."

Six couldn't help but laugh under his throat.

"Do you ever take breath?" he asked, quickly putting up his hand to stop Legion's expected response "Yeah, stupid question, I know. I'll wait for your go then, see ya in a few."

With that, Six attached the cloak to his armour and vanished. His shimmering form, all that one could make out, rushed across the ice and snow to the ledge on the other end of the path. Legion in the meantime took aim at the target. The gunner was still unaware, unflinching as yet another arcing blue plume travelled to its designated target. Unsuspecting of anything being wrong yet still keep his eyes peeled on the horizon ahead.

The elite would feel nothing as Legion's round cut through to the back of the alien's head. It went straight through the shields, knocking them out as the bullet ploughed through. The round severed connection of the brain to the body, painless.

As the elite slumped forward the wraith turned to Legion's position. The geth didn't waste time and jumping up and rushing away. Especially when its sensors had picked up significant heat build up in the cannon. As predicted the weapon fired again and arced straight to Legion's previous position. The synthetic rose up his hand as the blast cascaded down, it let an overload pulse strike the tank. Indeed the vehicle had shields and they too buckled slightly under the electrical pulse.

Legion's attack had also caught the attention of the banshees overhead. They began to dive at the machine. Legion looked up and quickly placed their crosshairs on the closest banshee as it began trailing shots up to the machine. The geth fired once, clipping the side of the aircraft and forcing to veer away, smoke trailing for its side.

The wraith moved forward, closing the distance between it and Legion. The tank charged up another shot to take the geth out, but he was interrupted. Six appeared along the left side of wraith and fired two successive shots near the rear end of the vehicle. The wraith's backside exploded violently, the cannon coming clean off. The vehicle stopped hovering and slammed into the ground. Rear first, front second.

Six trudged out of the smoke towards Legion and contacted the team at the porch.

"That's all she wrote for our wraith, any word on the banshees?" he asked as he looked at the skies.

He could see the two alien craft circling back for another go and Legion and himself. The signal jammer would be able to mess up the banshee's targeting as well if Six tried to lock-on to the banshee, but they stuck out like a thumb on this open terrain. Both he and Legion began to move back.

* * *

><p>As soon as Thane landed and hopped out of the banshee Tali got to work. Her omni-tool waved over every inch of the aircraft, scanning the vehicle in its entirety.<p>

"What exactly are we looking for?" Kasumi asked her

"Halsey showed me some preliminary detailed diagrams of captured banshees the UNSC had examined." Tali explained "She figured maybe I could use the information. I uploaded the specs into a scanning program. Right now I'm checking the entire vehicle for any discrepancies, something doesn't belong."

Suddenly, the omni-tool beeped wildly, a red light flashing on its center.

"There!" she said anxiously, pointing in between the plasma guns on the craft "Pull off the panel under there!"

Kasumi rushed in under the ship and pried off the purple panel, exposing the complex circuitry within. Tali was soon by her side. She reached up into the opening with both hands and heaved back. Out popped a small black box with bluish lights. It was attached to the vehicle with some kind cable. She dragged the box out into the open and ran her omni-tool over it.

"This is it, this is the scrambler." She told everyone, her voice rushed and fervent. "It's still functioning and it's transmitting. Currently reads all clear, no lock-ons. I'm connecting to it now, should take me ten seconds to patch into the signal."

Tali's eyes darted over the constant stream of data on her omni-tool, her body hunched over the box all the while. For a species with only three fingers per hand the appendages were moving like lighting over the holographic keyboard. Finally a green glowing light shone bright on the side of the omni-tool.

"Got it! I've jacked into their system!" She declared jubilantly.

"It is always so awesome watching you work, my hacker sister." Kasumi smiled at the quarian

Tali just giggled a little.

"Now you can watch me shut them down." She quickly added, a bit of a foreboding tone in her voice "Uploading system spike. Execute."

Tali jabbed her forefinger onto a single button.

* * *

><p>Above the cavern below, on the surface of the ice shelf, an elite lieutenant watched over his console diligently. He was monitoring the status of several banshees at once. A number of the screens had gone dark, signifying the brave pilots within were no longer with them, but plenty more remained active. It seemed things were going good. Then the entire console began to smoke. Before the elite could fathom what was happening the entire terminal exploded. The alien was thrown several feet away, clean out of his seat. He slammed into a weapons locker, several rifles falling on him.<p>

His comrades rushed over to him.

"What happened?" one of them asked

The elite looked over at the now burnt out husk of a monitor in front of them.

"Something went wrong!" he shouted as they stood him up "The entire jamming array has been spiked! Our banshees can no longer scramble the enemy's targeting systems!"

* * *

><p>Tali instantly informed Shepard of their success and he quickly raised his rocket launcher into the sky. He found one of the banshees approaching their position. He got lock and stayed locked. He fired the rocket at once and it flew out of the tube straight at the offending aircraft. The banshee didn't turn at firs,t maybe because the pilot was surprised they'd risk shooting a rocket that wouldn't hit. The aircraft finally turned, but it wasn't enough. The rocket followed and slammed into the banshee's side. It was destroyed in an instant. As the twisted mass of metal fell back to earth Shepard reported the good news to everyone.<p>

"Grab a rocket and fire away people! Banshees are free game! Scrambler is offline!"

In an instant the rocket launchers left on the wall just flew off. Anyone that could grab one did so. Grunt was one of the first. He practically ripped the thing off the wall and took at one of the banshees as made a strafing pass. He fired a shot once he got a lock and the rocket fell in line just behind the banshee before it slammed into the aircraft's tail. The alien craft plummeted out of the sky to the wild jubilation of Grunt.

"Right up your ass pyjak!" He laughed bellowing.

* * *

><p>Six got Shepard's message and took aim at his own pursuing pair of banshees. He locked onto one as he reached the crest of the hill. It was already firing on him when the klaxon siren rang signalling the lock-on had been achieved. He fired the rocket and it flew towards the banshee. Craft pivoted and turned away but the projectile struck it in the side. It careened out of the sky, crashing in rocky passes below. The second banshee veered away but Six locked-on to it as well. Another rocket flew out and struck the banshee in its side, blowing off its left appendage. The banshee spun out of the sky in a blazing spiral and descended into the abyss that surrounded the relic proper.<p>

"Bout time we evened the playing field." He told Legion.

The machine, however, was too busy watching another portion of the sky. The geth tapped on six's shoulder and pointed towards a phantom flying towards the right entrance path. The grunt gunners on both sides peppered the ground with plasma fire as they closed in on their designated landing zone. One of them fired upon the turret that occupied the left path. It and the main gun of the phantom eventually forced the turret back into its little hideaway for repairs. The way was open for the occupants to storm the porch and bunker door.

"Me and my big mouth." Six grumbled "Come on Legion, let's get back up there."

* * *

><p>The phantom dropped its passengers off at the landing zone and quickly took off. Everyone had more or less moved into open field proper. They'd been bunched up on the porch long enough, time to stretch their legs. Barrelling down the path came three elites and a handful grunts. It was weird, they expected more. Perhaps they were on the last legs of their assault. Sadly for them, even with the turret down, they had no cover to duck into protect them.<p>

Jun landed the first shot, taking out two grunts with a well placed round. Zaeed, who was close beside him taking cover behind one of the metal slabs sticking out of the ground fired next. His disruptor rounds cut through the shields of one elite as he leaped down onto the ground below from a ledge that stuck up out of the path. He slumped against the wall and his fellow covenant comrades pushed on.

Kat and Carter tossed plasma grenades into the advancing group, catching one elite on his chest. The other grenade only landed in the midst of some grunts, but both did their job. Three gas suckers and one covenant officer were blown to bits.

The final group of grunts met a shockwave from Shepard launched as they closed in on the porch. Shepard stood out from cover and biotically charged into his final target. All the elite saw was a blue blur before he was catapulted into the sky and rendered asunder by a shotgun blast at point blank range. Shepard reloaded as he surveyed the carnage.

"That was way too easy." He stated

And Shepard was right, for moments later a loud, ravenous roar sounded across the icy cavern. Shepard looked up to the ledge on the right path. Standing atop it was a Reaver, swords outstretched and ready. The blade-wielding husk rushed down towards Shepard and slashed forward. The commander rolled to the side as the concentrated sabre of plasma soared over his head. From a kneeling position he fired his shotgun at the undead beast. Unloading round after round into the creature's advanced shields. As he backed away from the elite husk he turned to Grunt who was still on the porch armed with his rocket launcher.

"Shoot him! Now!" he ordered the krogan

Grunt obliged and fired. Shepard rolled out of the way once more as the rocket sailed past him towards the husk.. The Reaver stood unflinching. It stepped sideways and slashed upwards and to the right. The rocket separated from the warhead and while the explosive charge continued on its way to crash into the snow the rocket itself flew up into the sky above. The warhead detonated several feet away from the reaver he stood unmarred by the attack.

"Well shit." Shepard stated nervously

As the Reaver turned back to its chosen prey a strike it was hit by burning terrible sensation. Samara had let loose a reave attack on the Reaver. It was somewhat poetic in a sense, at least to Samara. As Kat and Carter joined with the justicar in firing on it with their assault rifles the former elite let the biotic flames and induced pain subside. When they did it rushed the justicar. Its swords crossed, it blocked the incoming bullets being flung at it and then slashed both swords in a crossing pattern at Samara. The asari ducked down and rolled backwards to avoid the attack. It slashed at her once more, barely missing her. Another slash went for Samara's head, forcing her to duck again. This time when she came up she delivered a powerful biotic uppercut to the reaver's face. As the monster stumbled backward the justicar twirled and let loose a biotic throw powerful enough to send the reaper puppet hurtling across the snowy wastes.

The reaver stabbed it's swords into the ground when it neared its landing, scraping them across the terrain in an attempt to slow itself. It raised its disfigured face to its new enemy and rushed at the asari once more. As it did though, several armour piercing rounds slammed into the husk. Garrus had pulled himself out of the snow, readied his assault rifle and had begun firing on the Reaver himself. The beast changed tactics and moved to face the turian. But instead a bald angry convict stepped into his way from behind her cover.

"I am so gonna fuck you up ugly!" Jack promised as she readied her arm.

With a single violent raising of her arm Jack sent a rippling shockwave that stumbled the elite husk out of his run. The Reaver steadied himself only to have a shotgun round pumped into his torso. Emile slowly advanced on the Reaver, blasting round after round into its deformed body. The Reaver moved his plasma swords to block the buckshot slung his way and burst forward to kick the Spartan to the ground. The Reaver slammed its foot onto Emile's chest and raised his sword to strike the killing blow. But Emile was quicker with a blade. He pulled his kukri knife out and stabbed it into the beast's leg. The stepped back from the Spartan and pulled the knife out of his leg in a rage. That was when Shepard struck, charging into the creature's back and sending him toppling to the ground.

The Reaver was now bent over on its knees, trying to right itself. Miranda and Samara stepped up to the form and finished the monster off. Miranda lifted the beast into a readied slam attack and then Samara pulled at the beast as well. The biotic detonate tore the Reaver asunder, it's pieces vanishing in a gooey biotic mess.

Emile walked over to pick up his knife from the ground.

"We almost done yet?" he asked, slightly annoyed

"We just got hold out a little longer," Shepard assured him "Halsey can't have much further to go with that package."

* * *

><p>The combined assault failed, but it didn't matter. By now Shepard and his allies were no doubt exhausted, ready to give in. They just needed a final push to cause them to tumble. And Kreave had that final push, a biotic one.<p>

Many Blood Pack leaders had dismissed the use of biotics, dismissed the power they held. Kreave did not. Krogan vanguards were some of the most powerful warriors in their entire species. He had made it a point to recruit these vanguards into his unit. Krogan battlemasters with no equal, save perhaps for Shepard.

He walked among the three he had with him. He could practically feel their power just being in their presence. For so long now Shepard had the luxury of not having to face the regular powerful biotic juggernauts of their universe. Now it was time to change that.

Clad in their special armour, that had protruding horn like appendage on the head and slender slits for a visor, the krogan battlemasters stood tall for their leader. Kreave dressed them down as he walked in front of them.

"You are my best, there is no mistaking that." He told them clearly "You will break the enemy's resolve. Crush under the might of the korgan. But remember, Shepard is mine. Bring him to me, the rest are yours."

The krogan battlemasters silently nodded and headed towards their transports. Kreave just grinned. This time, there would be no mistakes.

* * *

><p>Tali and the others returned to turret near the bridge. Thane in the meantime had took off again in the banshee to patrol the skies. He was a bit jerky with take-off though, the aircraft shook quite a bit as it rose up. Thane was still trying to figure out the hovering controls from the looks of it. Tali in the meantime had more or less figured out her new vehicle. She wasn't an expert with it, but the ghost was solid and stayed in a straight line from now on.<p>

As they arrived at the turret Halsey sent out a wideband message.

"I'm almost done team," she stated "I just need a few more minutes."

"No problem, we're doing great." Kasumi said optimistically. "Few close shaves sure, but we've managed to hold out this long right?"

"I'd still prefer it if we were out of here sooner rather than later." Tali told her

Tali felt a bit guilty in fact, she hadn't been on her feet nearly as long as the others thanks to this ghost. At least it wouldn't be much longer. One final group of covenant at most and they'd be home free. At least that was what her initial hope was. She barely flinched when Thane sounded the alarm about an approaching Phantom towards their position just moments later. Why raise a fuss about their luck now? She had chosen to be on the front lines. She positioned herself to greet the enemy. She fully expected Covenant, instead she got something else.

As the phantom settled down near the ground its doors opened wide. Three red and white clad armoured beings flung themselves out of the transport and landed with a tremendous thud. Biotic shockwaves rippled out in front of them a bit as their towering mountainous forms rose up. There was no mistake these things for anything other than krogan. They were the worst kind of krogan in fact, one with biotics.

"Battlemasters." Tali squeaked out, shocked that the blood pack even had any krogan biotics among their numbers. She had always thought the crimson mercenaries relied on pure brute strength. Apparently Kreave hadn't been so quick to pass up potential.

Tali had feared the prospect of fighting a biotically inclined krogan ever since she met Wrex all those years ago. The idea of fighting the powerful lizard brought terrible images to her mind. Partly because she sorta considered Wrex a friend and hated the idea of killing him, but mostly it was because she saw what his biotics could do. It was why she endeavoured to constantly and consistently remain on his good side during their tenor on the first Normandy.

Now she was facing down three krogan with biotics. The terrifying prospect had turned into a living nightmare. She knew there were strategies, tactics to use against biotics of any power level. She had learned a number of them before setting out on her pilgrimage. But right now she was more concerned with warning Shepard.

"Wade," she spoke into the radio "we got krogan vanguards on the bridge."

The lumbering reptiles were already plodding off the steel span over the abyss. Their feet crunched snow and icy beneath them as they trudged along the path. In their arms they lofted heavy plasma weapons, fuel rod guns to be precise. On their backs was a secondary, a concussion rifle. Krogan biotic warriors armed with covenant heavy guns, a deadly combination.

"Alright Tali, don't worry." Shepard told her coolly "Just keep an eye on them for now, let the turrets whittle them down a bit."

As Shepard told her this one of the turrets indeed opened up on the group of krogan. The bullets chattered away out of the barrel, but the rounds just seemed to bounce off their barriers. One of the krogan slowly raised his fuel rod cannon to the turret and fired four whole green blasts dead center into it. The turret quickly closed up for repairs. It was clear to Tali that the turrets weren't gonna work against these guys.

"Shepard, you may want to consider sending a few people up here." She warned the commander

"I'll make sure a forward assault team is..."

Shepard's sudden pause worried Tali. That always meant trouble. She didn't even have to ask what it was, Shepard filled her in.

"Another Phantom, closing fast." He stated, seeming very concerned "Looks like they're dropping a payload right on our front door. Tali, I'm not sure I'll be able to send someone to help you. Pull back to us instead, we can regroup and figure out how to deal with these battlemasters."

Tali was normally very stubborn when it came to abandoning a post, but Shepard was right. She needed time to think something up for these guys. However, before she could move to leave one of the Krogan looked over to her from across the snow. Tali couldn't see his eyes, but she could feel them. He began slowly marching towards her and her little group of three. In his arms he lugged a concussion rifle.

"Shoot and fall back." Tali managed to squeak out to the others.

They began firing all they had on the lone krogan. As he approached a powerful barrier formed around him, their shots, even the plasma from the ghost, just seemed to either get absorbed or bounce off the krogan's protective layer of energy. Tali could tell they were doing damage, but it just didn't seem to be enough.

Then the real scary part came.

The phantom hadn't left it, was dropping off more cargo. A single metal ox was tossed to the ground, its lid opening wide as it hit. Charging out of the box were a number of ravenous little husks of former grunts, gremlins. Their packs full of plasma and methane tubes they rushed forward across the bridge. They ignored the krogan and made a beeline to targets of greater opportunity. There swarms of them. Worse still, some came towards Tali's team.

They shifted fire away from the krogan now, the explosive little monsters now charging at them were a greater concern. The turret joined in the firefight. It was more than a match for the pack of suicidal undead beasts. Tali's ghost did the most damage however, easily cutting down the gremlins as they rushed forward.

The krogan didn't seem to appreciate the stalemate, however, and came up with a plan to break it. He grabbed one of the gremlins as it scurried past. The little monster screeched and bellowed aloud, clawing at the air. The krogan suddenly lofted the gremlin slightly higher and then biotically pushed the living bomb forward. Like a tumbling rocket the gremlin soared at Tali and the others. They all bolted away as fast as they could as the little screaming monster hurtled at them. They quickly abandoned the turret as the gremlin fell to back to earth.

Even as the first one was falling, the krogan picked up another gremlin and threw it as well. The first gremlin the turret locked onto and fired a burst of rounds. That gremlin exploded just inches above the turret. The emplacement wasn't fast enough to take out the second. The explosion tore into the turret and with an added blast from the concussion rifle it was forced to take refugee inside its stump like hollow.

Tali, Kasumi and Mordin had just barely escaped, the blast throwing the latter two to the ground as the rushed down the slope and shaking Tali's ghost almost to the point it tipped over. Tali looked back to see the krogan's gaze returned to her and the monster now continued to walk after them, gremlins following just ahead of him.

"Fall back!" Tali ordered as she fired the ghost's guns on the swarming gremlins "Fall back to the bunker!"

* * *

><p>They had landed just outside. They were so close they were practically breathing down their necks. The Covenant obviously didn't care that the landing zone was hot. It didn't matter though, for they had sent their heavy troops in anyway. Elite Ultras and grunts armed with fuel rod guns now scrambled across the snow terrain just in front of the bunker door and the defenders had been forced to into close quarters combat now.<p>

The grunts were actually hanging back for one, firing their fuel rod weapons. There was something both intimidating but bizarre with the little gas suckers using weapons that were almost bigger then they themselves were. It looked silly, but it showed that they weren't to be underestimated. No one, not even Garrus, could get a good bead on them. Not because they were hard to spot, but because they didn't stop firing. A barrage of green plasma kept bombarding the porch. Everyone was forced to seek shelter.

The Elites had gotten closer, practically on the ramp up to the bunker. The only thing stopping them was Jacob who had taken up a machine gun turret situated on the porch. It was their last real line of defence and it was getting a workout. The Elite Ultras refused to make themselves easy shots. They were either darting back towards the rocks or ducking behind the metal slab coverings in front of the door. Jacob opened fire on one and he quickly rolled back into cover before any real damage could be done.

It was starting to seriously get on Shepard's nerves. He kinda wished had brought the Cain right about now, especially with krogan battlemasters on their way. They needed to get this situation under control before they arrived. He turned to Carter.

"We need to take their big guns away." He told the Spartan.

"Agreed." Carter replied as he fired on an Ultra to keep his head down "We have them focused on the door for the most part. We can circle around and take the grunts from the side."

Carter motioned Six over to him, calling him away from Legion. The Geth had released a drone into the battlefield, hoping it could get past the Covenant to their rear. The Spartan lieutenant rushed over, his body hunched forward as he ran. Plasma sailed over him as he slid towards Carter and Shepard.

"We're gonna jump down to the rock field and move out from it, catch the grunts off guards." Carter told him

"Lead the way sirs." Six complied.

The three rushed across the porch and jumped down into the rock field to the left, plasma striking their shields or sailing past them all the while. Thankfully, by this time Legion's drone had gotten into the ranks of the elites and was methodically blasting at them, draining their shields. The action kept the Ultras at bay. However the Ultras were wary of the drone and were keeping their distance from it best they could. A few precise hits from a plasma repeater caused the drone to detonate, however the elites had killed it from a distance this time. None died in the explosion.

The action had at least not been in vain. Now Shepard and the two Spartans had a chance to kill the heavy grunts pinning their forces down. The little aliens were exposed from this angle, their position further up along the clearing in clear sight. They could see about five of the little gas suckers scurrying about the terrain, rushing into position, trying to find a good spot to shoot from before darting away as fast as they could waddle. As they looked on, one off their attacks struck close to Miranda and Samara who had to duck behind the weapons lockers that lined the edge of the porch to avoid the shot. The explosive mixture of gelatine travelled past them and struck the back wall. Next time they would be so lucky. This had to end now.

"I'll fire on the guy in the center first." Carter told Shepard "They're usually the ones in charge. Meanwhile you and Six can rush in and finish them off."

"Good idea," Shepard agreed, glowing with biotic energy. "I'll move on your shot."

Carter had already figured out what Shepard was about to do. He liked it already. It meant the grunts had less time to react. So Carter took aim with the DMR and fired three rounds in quick succession. The bullets struck deep into the alien's flesh, blood spurting from its neck where one the shots hit.

Before the grunt even fell to the ground, Shepard had already thrusted himself forward with a biotic charge. The attack slammed into another of the grunts, sending him toppling into the air with several fractures to his tiny little body. Shepard quickly fired a spread of his shotgun into another of the grunts just a few feet away. As he shifted to attack a third of the little waddling creatures it turned to face him firing his fuel rod cannon. Shepard rolled to the side and away from the attack, the burning gel nearly singing his skin. The only missed him by mere inches as it sailed by. He could feel the heat radiating from it as his roll ended.

Six had by now closed the distance between him and Shepard. Firing his assault rifle like mad, he filled the offending grunt with holes. It still took a half a clip to properly kill him. That armour the little guy was wearing was certainly a lot tougher than the standard stuff his comrades wore. He then shifted his focus to the final grunt among the pack, switching to his pistol sidearm in mid run. He fired off three quick shots. Two missed, but one found its mark dead center in the grunt forehead.

With that the threat of the heavy grunts had ended, but it was soon replaced. When the final grunt fell a far taller and more threatening creature replaced him. A blue blur jumped up the path swatted itself into Six. The Spartan was smacked against the metal slab the grunts had previously been using for cover. Six's vision came into focus after the hit and he saw the towering figure of a krogan battlemaster standing before him armed with a concussion rifle.

Not willing to take two hits to the chest so soon, Six rolled out of the way as the shot from the rifle struck the metal behind him. The krogan followed the rolling Spartan only to have his barriers peppered by shotgun buckshot from Shepard's position. The krogan swatted his hand towards the commander and Shepard was suddenly thrown back several feet, sliding across the snow.

"Ugh," he thought "I remember this."

He hadn't fought a proper biotic in a long time. He had started to forget what it was like to actually face one. Carter had never faced one either, but that didn't stop him from trying to rush to the rescue. He charged up to Six's side firing at the krogan with his fellow team mate. The bullets just seemed to do nothing against the barriers. The towering lizard swished his hand at them, sending a shockwave across the snow. The two Spartans were tossed away, Carter to the side and Six further down the slope.

Shepard got to his feet and fired on the krogan as he moved back. His submachine gun rapid fire had proven effective against barrier before. Especially since his gun tore through the barriers of two presidents under a different owner, but while the locust was effective it apparently wasn't enough. Shepard could only assume these Krogans had tougher implants or upgrades that made their powers a bit more potent. That would make beating them require a bit of forethought. Shepard would have no time to think, for the krogan's friend suddenly made his move. A second battlemaster charged into the battle as a blur of blue. He rammed his head into Shepard's abdomen. A biotic head butt, yeah these guys were krogan through and through. Of course Shepard's only thought when he eventually stopped rolling across the icy ground was 'oh so that's how it feels.'

Shepard was helped to his feet by Carter, placing the Normandy commander's arm over his shoulder. They moved back towards the porch. Garrus, who had watched the whole thing, provided cover fire for their retreat. His incisor seemed a bit more effective against the krogan biotic's barriers, but the giant lizard pinpointed the sniper's position with ease. He threw surging ball of energy as the turian sending him hurtling back against the wall. He groaned angrily as Miranda rushed over to help him up.

"Bastard's got a real nasty left hook." He quipped as he held his shoulder. He seriously hoped he hadn't broken it or something. Hopefully he just cracked a plate a bit.

The krogan tried to turn to face Shepard once more, but was once against distracted from his task. A green blast struck the ground near him, devastating his barriers. More plasma lurched out of the sky the strike at him. Thane's banshee had flown in to confront the two krogan. Truthfully it was probably their only advantage right now. Thane wasn't the best flier though. He should've pulled up about now, but instead he maintained a steady and straight dive on the target. It gave the krogan plenty of time to ready the fuel rod gun and fire a shot up into the aircraft. Thane wasn't inexperienced enough to not realise the danger, no one was. He pulled back and away from the plasma blast, but it struck the banshee along its left wing appendage. The aircraft rocked wildly, red lights flashed across the dashboard, the banshee was losing altitude.

Thane knew when to cut his losses, so he prepared to make his jump out of the falling craft. Before he did though he aimed it at one of the krogan battlemasters, maybe the crashing vehicle would crush him.

Thane waited until he was close enough and then popped the canopy. He leapt from the doomed aircraft and rolled across the ground. He stopped stomach down in the snow and brought himself to his knees. His banshee did not have so graceful a landing. The krogan took one look at the falling purple aircraft and shoved both his arms upward and across from him. A large wave of biotic energy slammed into the side of the falling ship and sent it hurtling onto the central path. It crashed down just feet away from the krogan, flames rising up from the wreckage. The krogan had already renewed its stride towards the bunker. Intending to finish what he and his friend had started.

* * *

><p>The onrush of gremlins finally slowed as the plasma shots from Tali's ghost. Forced through the tiny gap in the rocks their devastating numbers counted for nothing. One explosion was enough to set off a chain reaction that killed even more. Still, the guns of the covenant vehicle were still glowing red hot by the time they were done and Tali knew that these little creatures were nothing compared to the rapidly approaching krogan and his biotics.<p>

"This sucks," Kasumi complained "kinda wish we had a concussion shot capability or something. That would probably hurt the bastard's barriers quite a bit."

"Krogan battlemaster's power levels exceedingly potent." Mordin said, stating his observations "Most likely using high functioning biotic implant. Highly unusually for Krogan to invest that highly in biotic powers. Then again, highly unusual for vanguard krogan to be enlisted by Blood Pack."

Tali ventured a guess as to why. If Kreave was anything like Shepard described him after he first met the Krogan then he greatly admired her Commander's powers. He was a Shepard fanboy and Shepard was a powerful biotic. Kreave had no biotics himself obviously, but he doubtlessly wanted to emulate his 'hero', for lack of a better word to call however Keave saw Shepard. So he no doubt found powerful Krogan biotics, the best he could dig up and then gave them top of the line implants to boost their abilities. How much it must've cost him she could only hazard a guess. The ultimate point was that they were here and they needed to stop them. Figuring out how or why Kreave was going against the typical recruitment roster for blood pack mercs wasn't gonna help with that.

"We need to bring those barriers down somehow." Tali informed both Kasumi and Mordin "We'll never get through them just blasting at it, at least not in time anyway."

"Well doesn't your energy drain work on barriers too?" Kasumi asked

Her friend was right, Tali knew properly upgraded the energy drain could work on barriers and shields. The problem was she honestly didn't think it would help.

"Those barriers are strong enough to shrug off rounds from your locust Kasumi." Tali reminded her "I have a feeling I'll get half of them down with one hit. We need to get all of them down at once, and maybe injure the bosh'tet if we can."

"Based on probable power potency," Mordin began stoically "objective requires tremendous concussive force. Lack of sufficient firepower makes that plan... problematic."

She knew he was right. They'd need some explosives and a lot of them. Then the quarian remembered something. Tali looked to the dead elites, still on the path from their previous encounter. She eyed their ammo belts and saw the little blue orbs attached to them or laying beside their bodies.

"I think I have a way around that." She said as she went over the plan in her head slowly and methodically "Quickly, gather all the plasma grenades you can find."

* * *

><p>The krogan stomped into the open at last. He surveyed the area slowly and methodically. The turret just across from him opened up on him a few seconds after his arrival. He quickly pulled out his fuel rod cannon as the bullets peppered his barriers. He fired three successive shots at the emplacement. He also flung a warp attack at the thing, just for good measure. It quickly closed up, the damage too great for it to sustain. Now he just needed to find that Quarian, Salarian and Human that got away from him back there.<p>

"Hey bosh'tet!"

He looked to see the Quarian on his left, just a little further down the slope. She was in that ghost she had no doubt hijacked and at first he thought she was going to open up on him, but she seemed to refrain.

"Block this!"

The ghost flew across the ground towards him at ramming speed. The krogan battlemaster barely even flinched at the onrushing vehicle. Why bother even wasting a round from the fuel rod gun on this? He'd just turn it to scrap with a simple biotic punch. How pathetic and stupid was this quarian? A suicide run on him, what would that accomplish?

But the biotic krogan had made a grave error in judging the quarian. As she neared her target, Tali leaped from the driver seat and rolled to the ground. The ghost kept going, into the waiting fist of the krogan it was directed at. As the ghost neared though he saw the little blue spheres covering the vehicle and noticed a blue glow emanating from the driver's seat.

Tali was thankful that both Mordin and Kasumi's omni-tools had adhesive fabrication kits installed on them. It was a very useful tool to have in more than just coolant system maintenance, like sticking plasma grenades to the front end of a Covenant rapid assault vehicle, for one. Tali looked to the Ghost as it collided with the krogan's biotically charged fist. She saw the grenade she had stuck to the vehicle's console explode in that very instant. Just like the gremlins, the close proximity of combined explosion of the grenade and the ghost detonated the other plasma grenade stuck to the vehicle. The giant blue blast that followed suit completely obscured the krogan from vision. It looked as if the fire had consumed him.

Both Kasumi and Mordin moved into the field as Tali stood up, surveying the burning aftermath. The burning hulk of the ghost was all that remained of the vehicle. A few feet away the Krogan battlemaster lay on the ground face first. His weapons had been blown off to the side. Pieces of his armour were strewn about the area and orange blood seemed to smearing the snow.

Then the krogan started to get up, his hump rising as he forced his hands to get him to his feet. He slowly turned to face his aggressors. His punching arm was completely charred, devoid of armour. His chest plate was broken and burned. Another piece of it fell off as he stood before them all. Part of his mask had broken apart, revealing the upper portion of the right side of his face. This gave everyone a good view of his angry orange crest and his vicious crimson blood eye that stared back at them.

"Keelah." Tali spoke up, completely shocked that the krogan had actually survived that.

As the krogan approached them, fury in his eyes, Tali opened fire on him with her pistol. The krogan seemed to feel no pain as he advanced forward. It only just then hit the quarian mechanic that by taking down his barriers she may have damaged the krogan enough internally to trigger his blood rage.

A terrible throw attack confirmed her suspicion as the biotic attack struck her full in the chest. Tali was tossed into a rocky wall and fell into a kneeling position. The krogan, thinking the quarian dealt with, turned to the others. He grabbed a plasma rifle from the ground enar a dead elite and continued his advance.

Mordin stepped up to fire an inferno blast at the wounded battlemaster, but even set on fire the krogan barely batted an eye. Either his rage was so consuming that he no longer cared or that explosion had somehow damaged his nervous system in some capacity. Mordin wouldn't find out as a biotic shockwave rippled across the snow and tossed him aside.

Kasumi was now facing the titanic beast alone. She tossed a flashbang at the krogan as she opened fire with her locust. The krogan took the bullets in kind and grabbed the flashbang in his hand. He tossed it away as he continued to close on the thief. He charged forward into Kasumi knocking the little woman to the ground with a thud.

By now, Tali had regained her composure from the attack. Her head stopped spinning just in time to see the krogan advancing on the downed Kasumi. Her eyes wide in fear Tali rushed forward, preparing her omni-tool. With the krogan's barriers down she could hack into the one thing that could stop this krogan. Ironically it was the one thing that made him so powerful.

As the krogan raised his gun to fire point blank into Kasumi's face, Tali executed her hack program. She directly linked her omni-tool to the krogan's biotic implant. Then she made it backfire. A potent electric shock blasted through the krogan's brain. He clutched the sides of his head as the surging energy tore at his grey matter. Obviously he could still feel pain up there. He stumbled backwards, dropping his plasma rifle. He violently turned to Tali, who stood there with her omni-tool outstretched and at the ready. She could see blood dripping from the holes in his faceplate. Most likely it had come from his nose. The krogan's eye was vastly different then they were before. No longer was it screaming in anger, instead it seemed to show a tiny bit of fear or perhaps astonishment that a quarian had beaten him.

Tali just stared back at him, the fury in her eyes now.

"Fry." She demanded of him, her voice cold and composed.

She closed her fist and clicked at the command key. The implant overloaded and sent a second even more devastating shock attack resonating through the krogan's brain. The giant lizard's claws clenched up as his eye rolled back into his head. Then there was a tiny explosion on his temple, like a little bullet had just gone off. The implant had blown out. Smoke billowed out of the krogan's head before he fell to the floor kneeling. He collapsed to the ground and this time did not get back up.

Tali raced over to check on Kasumi, pulling her back to her feet. Mordin had already righted himself and joined them.

"Thanks for the quick save." Kasumi told her, still trying to catch her breath.

"I was not gonna let that bosh'tet take my best friend." She steadfastly replied "Not if I could help it."

"You think you could hack the other krogan like that?" the thief asked

Tali looked to her omni-tool. In theory any of them could do it, they just needed to know what to expect. Implants were easy to turn off or cause to backfire, if one knew the proper settings. She was familiar with a lot of implant technology. Thanks in part to Kaiden having a nice long talk with her about so long ago. Her curiosity had been piqued. Ancestors bless his soul, he probably just saved Kasumi.

Tali could hear the commotion above them near the bunker more clearly now. The krogan were already there no doubt and they were making a mess of things. Even with one of their number down, two powerful biotic-inclined krogan could bust their way through, especially if they were anything like their brain fried compatriot. Tali raised her shotgun, ejected the spent thermal clip and slammed in a new one.

"Come on," she told the others unfalteringly in her tone "my ancestors as my witness, no one dies today."

* * *

><p>The gremlins had poured onto the battlefield in force. Everyone had rushed back onto the porch the second they showed up. The base instincts of the creatures drove them towards the ramp and Jacob's machine gun which he used to cut them down in quick succession. The little monsters exploded as they tried to make their way up to the ramp to the bunker door. No doubt they intended to blast it open.<p>

Jack added her power to the fight, letting a shockwave tear through the little exploding bastards as they tried to run up and give her the deadliest hug of her life. No way in hell was that how she was gonna go out. No fucking way.

The ultras had instinctively fallen back. They weren't about to get blown up by their own husks as they tried to rush the area. Too risky to stay when your allies could kill you just by doing the only thing they were good for. Of course this came with a price, they were now exposed. This meant they had to resort dodging the shots taken at them. Not an easy thing to do. One unfortunate elite discovered this the hard way when a three round burst from Garrus' incisor tore apart the alien's shields and raked across the back of his head.

However there were greater concerns currently, the blasted krogan vanguards to be precise. They had advanced up and were intending to take the bunker entrance by splitting the defenders' focus. The approached from two sides, laying down a combined barrage from their fuel rod cannon as well as their own biotics. It forced everyone's heads down, save for Grunt.

The tank-born wasn't afraid of biotics, even if they were other krogan. He still had the rocket launcher; he figured that should be enough to take the guy out. He fired a single rocket at the krogan approaching from the right. The blast collided into the battlemaster, or at least it seemed to. When the smoke cleared the krogan appeared unscathed with a biotic barrier dome around him. If the blast had fatigued him at all Grunt couldn't be sure, the krogan seemed as ready to fight as ever.

"That's cheating!" Grunt screamed aloud as he threw his rocket launcher to the ground.

Without even thinking, Grunt jumped off the porch and charged at the krogan. He held his gravity hammer on high as he rushed the biotic powerhouse of a lizard. The battlemaster stepped forward, his stride unbroken and unwavering as the krogan super-soldier bore down on him. He threw his arm back and then let a biotic punch send Grunt hurtling backwards. The tank-born slammed against the side of the porch, his hammer at his side.

Seeing what had happened, Garrus and Zaeed jumped down to defend their fallen team mate. They fired their sniper rifles at the advancing krogan biotic, using their concussive shots to break apart his barrier, bit by bit. But while the attacked seemed to be effective, the battlemaster was more so. His biotics picked Garrus straight off the ground and then rocketed him backwards into the porch. The turian landed on his side, groaning in pain. Zaeed tried to pick up the slack but the krogan charged into his, knocking him away.

The krogan didn't have a very long rest bit, as warp attacks and ammo rounds struck his backside. He turned to see Miranda and Jack staring him down. He fired his concussion rifle at them, forcing the two to scatter.

They had done their job, it gave Emile and Kat enough time to circle back to his side and strike the lumbering biotic from there. They jumped out from the frontal metal slab and unloaded round after rounded into his barriers. The krogan turned wildly and let loose a shockwave that tossed the two aside.

His fellow krogan on the right was having a just as easy time. Jun and Thane, both from different positions (one on the porch the other among the rock field respectively) had been unloading rounds on the battlemaster constantly. But every bullet just seemed to bounce clean off. Eventually one of Jun's managed to pierce through, hitting the krogan in the shoulder. Angered the biotic reptile stuck out his hand let loose a pull attack. It tugged Jun clean off the porch and face first into the snow once it released him.

Thankfully, the krogan was unable to fire concussion shots on him as Jack's shotgun cut into his side. Her warp ammo finally broke through. She then charged at the wounded krogan, teeth bared and first raised high. The battlemaster grabbed her arm thusly and flung her towards the rock field in anger. She landed just a few feet beside Thane. He looked her over as she tried to sit back up.

"Kill the fucker already!" she ordered him, swatting his hand away "I'll be fine!"

At her request the assassin quickly darted out of cover, long range attacks weren't gonna work. He needed to get up close. Jack had wounded him, she proved that much. The drell let a warp strike the krogan as he rushed forward. At the same time Miranda stepped out and while firing her sunmachine gun also used warp. The biotic detonation sent the krogan reeling, pieces of his armour coming clean two kept their distance as the krogan retreated back behind the metal slab for cover. The close on his position, their guns held high. He was wounded, but he was also a krogan. They never stayed wounded for long.

Sure enough the giant space lizard jumped out again, firing off his concussion rifle like mad. He also started to intentionally close the distance between him and his two assailants. He slammed his arms on the ground, unleashing his barrier's combined energy on the two. It sent them hurtling back, tumbling over in the snow before they came to a slow stop.

The krogan began to move forward, but suddenly stopped dead. It wasn't by his choice though. Samara stood just feet away and had her hand outstretched to him.

"He's frozen!" she shouted over the radio "Do it! Now!"

Six and Legion burst from their respective cover behind the porch and the rock field. They charged at the alien head-on, firing their respective assault rifles as they closed. Legion closed in on him first, just as the stasis dropped. The krogan grabbed the geth by its neck and tossed him aside. Six charged forward, intending to jab his knife into the xeno's filthy eye. The krogan grabbed him by the helmet and slammed him into the ground.

He would've finished the job, had Samara not unloaded a full clip from her vindicator at him. The krogan stepped over the downed Spartan and marched towards the Justicar. She threw out as many biotic attacks as she could at one time. The Krogan flinched at each one, but still managed to let loose a shockwave that sent the asari into the wall of the porch.

Meanwhile Legion had crawled back up across the snow. It could hear footsteps crunching the snow behind the programs pushed the platform up to its knees. Tali reached the downed Geth and helped it to their feet.

"You still function tin man?" Kasumi quipped as she too appeared beside the geth.

"We are fully operational." It assured "We are more concerned for the functionality of Six Noble."

The Geth looked to the downed Spartan. Without even being asked Mordin rushed over to the Spartan and pulled him up from the snow and away from combat. He began to administer medi-gel accordingly, after waking the soldier up with a quick slap to the side of his head. That always worked back in STG, no different here.

In the meantime Tali watched as Samara and the krogan battlemaster duked it out among themselves, biotic punches and kicks and shockwaves flying everywhere as the two tried to wear the other down. She was gonna need to shut the bosh'tet down and fast.

"Legion," she looked to the geth anxiously "can you hack into the krogan's implant?"

"We can." The machine assured "Provided proper connection can be established."

"Alright then," Tali nodded succinctly "do it. I'll help. Together we can probably shut it off and cause some blowback for him."

Legion nodded and they both raised their omni-tools up towards the Krogan. A few quick commands and they let loose their attack. The krogan's assault on Samara halted as it clutched its head in pain. It clawed at its helmet his implant jutted out green light from the short circuit. Samara used the temporary lull to strike a biotic punch so hard that it sent the Krogan hurtling into the forward metal slab cover.

"Get him!" Tali shouted out to all who could hear "Get him now! Hit him with everything!"

The call to arms attracted the attention of several downed or injured members of both teams. They quickly rallied their strength and rushed to answer.

The Krogan looked up to see the combined force closing in. From the distance, Jun stood up and fired on him stirking him with bullet after bullet. Samara moved to fire her vindicator upon him as well. Mordin launched an incineration blast at him as he stumbled forward. Miranda struck out from his left with a throw attack while Kat struck him from the right with as many bullets as her pistol could fire. Jack rushed up to fire her shotgun at the alien who had tossed her like a ragdoll just moments before. Thane closed in with her, shredder rounds spewing from his SMG. Tali, Legion and Kasumi each fired their best weapons into the krogan as he tried to keep his foot. Six let his assault rifle tear into the battlemaster's hump.

And yet, through all of that, the krogan still kept standing. He refused to simply fall. He looked to be preparing to charge yet another nova strike. But he never got the chance. Emile rushed up to space-dino, kukri knife in hand. With one swift motion he jabbed the knife upward straight into the krogan's neck.

And then he sliced.

Orange blood poured straight out of the gaping wound and the krogan finally collapsed dead to the battle scarred snow on the ground. Emile flicked the orange blood off his knife in one swift motion.

"Fucker didn't know when to just die did he?" Emile asked to no one.

No one answered, they were all too exhausted to do anything but look at the dead krogan. They could see every hit they made, every wound they had caused. They could even point out a few that were theirs if they wanted to, no one did. What no one could see, however, was that while he asked that question Emile had a bit of an admirable smile on his face.

* * *

><p>The final Krogan had already forced his way up the steps by the time the second of his blood brothers had fallen. He taken a pounding from Jacob's machine gun, but in the end it proved futile. He grabbed the barrel of the gun, broke it away from its tripod and used it to smack Jacob to the ground. Now he was staying in cover while his barriers recharged. A good strategy, considering Garrus and Carter were shooting at him from afar. Their rounds chattered in his ear as the sand bags broke apart with each hit. Finally having enough of their constant attacks he let a biotic throw toss the two of them aside. They landed on their backs just a few feet away.<p>

The krogan now moved for the door to the bunker, only to be slammed in the side by a biotic charge. Shepard had come back for round two against the blood pack vanguard. With submachinegun raised to the merc, he fired point blank into the krogan's barriers. They buckled, but held regardless. The krogan jutted his hand up and sent shepard hurtling away.

The giant of a lizard stood back up and charged into the stumbling human. Shepard sent a shockwave at the krogan, throwing him off balance. Shepard slammed a biotic punch straight into the side of the krogan's jaw. He flew straight into the back wall, but again the krogan recovered quickly and charged into Shepard.

Wade was sent backwards into the weapon shelves on the right side of the porch. He made a grab for a DMR and quickly fired into the Krogan as he pulled out his concussion rifle. Shepard rolled away from the red concussive blasts. The krogan's shots scattered the remaining weapons on the shelves. Shepard kept firing all the while, before taking one of the shots to chest. It knocked him off his feet and he quickly scrambled to get up.

The krogan charged up his fist and prepared for a running punch to finish Shepard off. Then suddenly, the blue aura around his limb dissipated. He then suddenly clutched his head, slightly in pain. He looked behind the krogan and saw the friend "face" of Tali staring back. She waved her little omni-tool innocently. Shepard just grinned and then he charged head-on straight into the krogan with a biotic charge. The blood pack vanguard fell to the deck and Shepard quickly plugged a shotgun into his head. He fired an inferno at point blank range, ending the krogan's life at long last.

"Nice save." Shepard told Tali as she walked onto the porch.

"Well I can't let you have all the glory can I?" she asked him cheekily.

Shepard just chuckled a bit. He certainly knew how to pick his girlfriends.

* * *

><p>Zaeed helped Grunt onto the deck. He was fine he just needed some time for his healing factor to kick in. Everyone else had joined the only still breathing krogan in the cavern. They all looked tired, battered and exhausted. Miranda's hair was rattled. Jack had almost enough cuts and bruises on her as she did tattoos. Tali's envirosuit was covered in blood and her headscarf was looking a bit torn. Garrus' armour was beaten up. Legion was busy repairing damage to several parts of their platform, particularly around the neck. Jacob was nursing a nasty blow to the head. Thane was holding his arm, concerned about whether or not it had been cracked. Even the shiny armour of the Spartan hadn't gotten out of this unmarked. To say Mordin was having a field day was an understatement. He was already swamped checking on everyone and just administering medi-gel. He was loving it, said it reminded him of the clinic on Omega.<p>

Nevertheless Shepard was proud of his team. They had performed superbly out there, against everything that had been thrown at them. Carter seemed to feel the same, although he was positive this wasn't over until those doors opened for him. He tried to be optimistic though.

"That has got to be their last push." Carter told Shepard "It has to be."

Carter had a point, what else did any of them have to give now? They were exhausted, on their last legs. They weren't gonna be standing for another round. Halsey said she was almost finished, that had only been about seven or so minutes ago but it felt like hours.

Kat had already finished up her check up from Mordin. She cocked her pistol as she rose to her feet again.

"We can take them." She said adamantly "How much more can they have left after that? They just threw their heavy hitters at us and we buried them."

"Thank in part to the little Xeno in the space suit." Emile said giving a little a salute towards Tali "Nice brain roasting."

Tali just modestly shrugged, although she was a beaming a bit under her mask. Shepard in the meantime wanted to share in the enthusiasm of the moment, but he had remembered something.

"What about those Ultras that bolted?" Shepard asked "They're not gonna stay away forever."

"They aren't." Jun spoke up ominously.

A phantom appeared out of the sky, flying towards where they had come in. They could see in the undercarriage it carried a wraith. The Ultras were racing back as well, they had apparently requested back-up and it was now being delivered. With the team exhausted they were moving in for the kill. When the phantom reached the drop point it quickly dropped a tank and flew away.

"Oh no, not another one." Groaned Garrus.

"Relax," Carter told him "we just have to sit here while it tries to blow us away. We'll be safe under the roof."

But the wraith did something unexpected. Moments after it had been dropped down, it was racing across the snow towards the bunker. It dropped down from the overhanging ledge on the right path and down into the very center of the open clearing below. It fired a arcing plume at close range towards the bunker, striking the side of the roof.

"Crap, they're showing initiative." Jacob said as he rose from his seat.

"They gonna try and smoke us up close and personal!" Carter shouted aloud "We gotta hunker down and see if we can-"

That was when Kat rushed clean past him, out past the ramp and towards the wraith tank.

"Kat! What are you doing!"

Carter demand went unanswered as the lieutenant commander rushed out onto the field towards the wraith as it fired another shot at the bunker. It struck near the ramp, shaking the porch with an intense ferocity. Carter's next command was swift.

"Cover her! Now!"

* * *

><p>She knew he'd be mad at her for this, probably get read the riot act too, but it seemed like the only way. Everyone else was exhausted and the tank had way too much space to move around now. They'd be wasting their trying to shoot it with rockets. Lock-on was for air targets only and it would still take two to three hits to kill the thing. They'd all be dead by then. The quickest way to end this hovering gun carriage was to stick a grenade into its hypothetical tail pipe. Yes, there were Ultras in her path by now. Yeah, she was low on ammo and running on fumes herself. She just didn't care. She would get to that tank, she would stick a grenade into it and she would kill it. This time no one was gonna pay for her inaction. She could still run and hold a grenade. This time she'd make it the whole way.<p>

The sprint to the tank was easy for the first couple of feet. The metal slabs she had used for cover before kept up their usefulness. It was when she got into the open field that the problem arose. Two Elite Ultras and the wraith's gunner opened up on her. She wished she had taken a proper armour upgrade right about now. Maybe a holo to split focus or a drop shield to cover a foot or so to the back of the tank, those would've been useful. Instead all she had were her two feet, so she used them. She rushed forward, trying her best to avoid the plasma fire coming at her. Her shields spiked constantly as stray rounds hit her.

Then the wraith's gunner slumped forward in his seat. A single shot had torn through his shields. A huge exit wound in the back of his head appeared. Another of the Ultras took two rounds, one that cut his shields apart and another that struck him in the lower jaw that tore it apart. Kat didn't look back, but she could only guess that it was all the team's doing. They were covering her. Nice to see she hadn't pissed off Carter enough to force him not to help her.

What was she thinking, of course he was gonna help her even if she was being stupid. He was Commander Carter, Noble One, it was what he did. He always had her back.

Regardless it took the pressure off her. The tank shifted back to the bunker door and charged up another shot. This one struck where Jacob's machine gun once was, destroying what remained of the sandbags. Thankfully everyone had moved to the left trying to support Kat's mad dash. The next shot would be on the deck proper and it would more than likely kill everyone. It was now or never.

Kat jumped onto the back of the tank. Her metal arm grappled onto the vehicle tightly. In front of her she could see the glowing center of the plasma core that powered the vehicle. She shoved the frag grenade into it and quickly disengaged. In a matter of seconds the wraith exploded, rendered asunder by the detonation of the little explosive charge within the vehicle. The large cannon atop it fell to earth with a resounding crash and the vehicle itself was split in two by the explosion. The remaining Ultra nearby lost his shields in the explosion and stumbled forward trying to regain his balance. A single shot from Carter's rifle put him down for good.

Kat walked out of the smoke now rising from the burnt out husk of a tank behind her. She looked back at her handiwork for a moment. A slight smile spread across her face, although no one could see it. She had taken it out, her. No one else had to try and pick up the slack this time.

"That was for you Thom." She said to herself quietly.

She turned back to the porch and saw the rest of the team looking at her. They appeared to be cheering her actions. She could hear the faint hurrahs and see a bit of fist pumping. She still knew Carter was gonna kill her for this.

"Spartans, Normandy Crew," Halsey's congratulatory voice spoke over the radio "the package is ready. Well done, all of you. The door is open. Get in."

That was their cue. Kat began to march towards the ramp, head held high. They were gonna get out of here, all of them. She raised her metal arm and waved at the others in response to their cheering. For once she could share a bit in the bravado. They had survived, they had made it.

It was then that Kat heard a loud bang followed by a sound of metal breaking apart. She suddenly felt a bit lighter on one side. She moved her metal arm down to see that it had been shot clean off at the elbow. The next shot came just a second after the first. It cut into her shoulder.

"KAT!"

She could hear Carter's voice but she couldn't respond. She was already falling to the ground by that time. Another shot sounded, this one got her in the leg. She winced in pain as the round struck her. By now the shock had worn off and the realisation that a sniper was taking pot shots at her from somewhere had finally become clear to her. Why wasn't he shooting her head off? He was good enough to hit her arm and he had a powerful enough rifle to do it.

Then she understood. She was bait. She could already see Carter rushing out onto the field, the rest of the team following. She raised up her only good arm now, trying to signal them to stop. It didn't seem to work they were still coming. Another rounded clipped her side as she crawled, the pain was horrendous. Carter heard the scream, he wasn't gonna turn back. She knew that. Only one way to save them, she needed to kill the sniper.

She saw one of the dead heavy grunts on the ground, his fuel rod cannon still at his side. She pulled herself over to the weapon, grabbed it and then flipped herself onto her back. She aimed the large weapon at where she guessed the shot came from. She surveyed the top level across the bridge from them and could see the shimmer of a scope. She wasn't sure who was behind it, but she wagered he was using one of the rifles from Shepard's universe. Those last three hits didn't feel like plasma.

She let the targeting reticule on her HUD turn red and then let loose every single round she had in the covenant weapon. The green bursts arced towards the shimmer of the sniper's scope. The three large explosions that followed devastated the upper level. The reticule dimmed blue, target eliminated.

With the sniper dealt Kat, completely exhausted now, let the fuel rod cannon fall to her side and allowed her body to go limp. She had never felt in more pain than she did now, bleeding out from three gaping wounds in her body. At least no one had to die saving her this go around, save for the sniper himself. At least her carelessness hadn't gotten someone killed.

Carter slid to a stop beside her. Her pulled off her helmet and raised her head up. There was some blood pooling around her mouth, cough ups from the shock she had received.

"Kat, stay awake, stay with me!" he ordered

"Sorry." Was all Kat could say through the haze of her rapidly depleting blood levels "So sorry."

"Just lie still, you're gonna be fine." Carter tried to assure her before shouting aloud "Mordin! Mordin I need you up here with bio-foam! Medi-Gel! Anything!"

The Salarian was already on his way, rushing towards the fallen Spartan. He quickly jabbed the bio-foam canister into every hole the sniper had opened up. A quick fix, but at least it stopped the bleeding.

"Should've been more careful." Kat said, trying not to lose consciousness, per Carter's orders.

"Do not talk like that!" Carter ordered "You did good, you did as expected! Now just hang in there!"

Already a small cadre of squad mates had formed around Kat and Carter, concern across all their faces. Shepard was the first to pull his head away from it all. He looked to the skies and saw more Phantoms moving in.

"Carter, we need to move." Shepard told him.

Noble Team's leader silently obliged and picked the downed Kat up. He carried her forward as fast as he could, following the others as they headed for the bunker entrance.

"My choice." Kat whispered softly to him "Don't blame yourself. My choice."

"Just stay alive, Kat." Carter responded, trying to keep her conscious and awake "We're gonna get you out of here. I promise."

Kat looked up at her commander as he carried up the ramp to the porch. Six had already slammed the keypad console with his fist and the door to the bunker opened with a creaking groan. As they entered, she spoke again.

"Least I got him right?" she asked

"Yeah," Carter assured her "I think ya did."

* * *

><p>Halsey was busy at her console as both Noble and Normandy teams finally arrived. As predicted they stared in awe of the relic's data store, she supposed even though Tali and her had described it a bit, nothing did it justice. You had to see the thing to actually believe it. The sphere was an eye catcher, no doubt there.<p>

"So this is what you were working on Tali?" Kasumi asked her Quarian friend

"I had a few side projects to keep me busy in the off hours, but more or less yeah." Tali explained "It's amazing isn't it?"

"Oh yeah sure," Jun replied looking at all the machinery "just kinda wished I knew what the hell I was looking at exactly."

Halsey was quick to field the answer, although she had no time to give the full details like she did with Tali. They deserved a proper explanation for everything, why they were here, why she made them risk their lives. That was never clearer then it was when she saw Noble Two in Commander Carter's arms, wounded badly and just trying to keep her eyes open. She needed to make this quick.

"It is knowledge, as I explained before." Halsey reiterated, trying not to sound agitated. A birthright from an ancient civilization."

She moved away from the holo-tank revealing the purple form of the AI that had brought them all here. Halsey continued.

"This AI is its custodian and she has chosen you as her carriers."

The choice of the words themselves was a bit suspect to everyone.

"Chosen? By an AI?" Emile asked, disbelieving of the concept.

Strangely enough it was Tali that was the first to come to the defence of the concept.

"This AI is special, more than you realise." Tali explained "It's only a piece of the whole and it still retains a sense of personality and conceptual value."

"Her measure of Noble Team carries as much weight as my own." Halsey added as she stepped beside Tali "Perhaps even more so. Although to be honest, while you are all her carriers in sense, she picked Noble Six to take her."

Everyone turned the newest edition of Noble Team. Six suddenly felt a bit smaller.

"Me? Why me?" Six asked, confused at it all

"Possibility that it sees the inherent trust you have inorganic species." Legion suggested

Halsey quickly interjected.

"There are a number of reasons for her choice, but it doesn't matter really." She elaborated "She's made her decision, it would be best that you honour it."

Halsey turned to one of the console for a brief period as Tali walked over to the AI in question. Shepard tried to get a better view of what she was doing. She appeared to be hovering over the little purple woman in the holo-tank, ringing her hands nervously. He couldn't fathom why.

"You are to take her to the UNSC ship-breaking yards in Aszod." Halsey continued, speaking fluently "By the time you arrive a Halcyon-Class cruiser will be waiting to take her off planet."

"Halcyon?" Shepard asked, a bit puzzled at the name.

"It's one of the larger ship types," Tali explained, looking only momentarily away from the AI "big enough to fit several Normandies inside it. At Over 1 kilometer in length they should be classified as dreadnaughts where we come from, not crusiers."

"They were largely decommissioned for being a bit too clunky." Six added "They handle like molasses from what I hear, but they still use them for... special ops as I understand."

That final line made the severity of it all hit home, at least for Carter. He was just trying his best to pay attention, his focus was split between Kat and Halsey's briefing.

"I understand, Doctor." He informed her

"Do you?" Halsey asked, seemingly not sure that he did "Mankind is outmatched. When Reach falls, and it will fall, our annihilation is all but certain. Unless...we can glean from this artifact a defense against the Covenant. A game-changer. On the level of the conical bullet in nineteenth century, or faster-than-light travel in the twenty-third."

She stared into the roving sphere above them as she spoke, the direness of the situation apparent in her tone and speech. After New Alexandria and with Kat cradled in his arms, Carter understood the reason for her troubled thoughts of the future. But as always, the "if" of the situation raised the counter-point to that scenario.

"And what if we can't?" Carter asked her

"An apt question if there was somewhere else to place our hope." Halsey answered as she walked over to the holo-tank. "There is not."

The little AI stood up and Halsey nodded at Tali. She pressed a button on the side of the holo-tank and the purple visage of the AI construct vanished into the console. Tali pulled out a long see through tube and handed it to Halsey, her hands somewhat shaking as she did.

"It's alright Tali," Halsey told her quietly "it's alright."

"Sorry, nerves I guess." She admitted "Is it always like this?"

"Depends on the attachment I think." The doctor admitted "You acclimated quicker than I thought actually."

The quarian brushed her arm a bit, still visibly nervous.

"Well, it's just, it's a really important mission and everything so," she cleared her throat quickly, as she tried to keep herself from stammering "you know. I'm hoping I prepared her... I mean programmed everything correctly-"

Halsey stopped her with but a little stare and Tali gulped, embarrassed a bit. Shepard saw a weird mix of emotions in Tali's body language. It was both a feeling anxiousness and concern. She seemed like she was handing in some kind of assignment while at the same time it meant something more. Shepard just didn't know what. Tali probably didn't even know what it meant.

Halsey walked over to Six directly and held out the AI unit in front of her.

"Take it lieutenant, she has made her choice." She told him

Six looked to the unit and then Legion, he didn't know why he just did. He nodded at Halsey after sometime and grasped the unit with both hands.

"Do you have it?" she asked

It was strange question to ask. Halsey wasn't blind, of course he had it, his hands were over it weren't they? It took a bit longer to figure what Halsey actually meant though. She meant something besides the physical acquirement of the device, something more personal, more connected.

"Yes." Six replied

"Say the words, please." Halsey requested

Six nodded once more and answered.

"I have it."

Halsey at last let go and allowed the Spartan take possession of the unit. She pointed Noble Team towards the exit and promised that Normandy Team would join them shortly. She needed to discuss some matters with them, matters that did not require their involvement. Besides, they needed to call in transport for them. The sooner they got Kat to a proper medical professional the better. In the meantime she spoke to Shepard's crew.

"The ship the AI is destined for is most likely your best chance of getting off this planet as well. You won't make it far without it otherwise." Halsey informed them "The ship should be big enough to fit the Normandy inside one of its hangers."

"Great, we're gonna be a turducken." Kasumi slyly remarked

"Better than skurting through the galaxy on fumes I say." Jacob added

The thief simply shrugged, Jacob had a point. No sense in arguing with a free ride. There was a hitch in the escape plan though.

"We have a few things we need to take care of first." Shepard explained to Halsey.

"I wagered you did." Halsey agreed "The ship in question will need to break off from any engagement over Reach in any case before anyone can board it. You'll need to make sure it's there when Noble Team needs it to be."

"I understand." Shepard assured "we'll make sure of that."

Halsey turned to Mordin next. She pulled out a small metallic device from her pocket. It looked like a OSD from Shepard's perspective.

"Professor Solus," Halsey began "this data drive contains some of the work notes I complied concerning the upgrades we discussed before I went underground. You'll need them more than I."

"Appreciated." Mordin replied as he took the drive "Will go over them after mission completed. Should be fascinating. Wish I could have worked more with one on one doctor. Circumstances... not in favour."

Halsey smiled at the salarian and then turned to Tali, who was just behind her.

"Before you go Ms. Zorah I want you to have something."

Halsey walked over to one of her desks and picked up a small leather bound book. She handed it to Tali, placing it in her hand.

"This is a culmination of several decades of work." She explained to her alien pupil "It contains everything you'll need to know and then some."

Tali looked over the little book, caressing its spine softly, spreading her thumbs across the leather in an attempt to feel it. Something felt personal about this book, and she reasoned soon as to why.

"This is... this is a journal isn't it?" she asked Halsey.

"Yes, my personal journal." Halsey confirmed "I've transferred many of my notes from my other books into it. It's a little haphazard, but I did not want you to leave without something that could help you. It may be my work, but I think you can improve upon the foundation. Make it better."

Tali looked over the little book in her hands, flipping lightly through the pages. There diagrams, essays, personal thoughts, discussions about everything from weapons to interfaces. This wasn't just a journal, it was everything.

"And you want to give this to me?" Tali asked, astonished at the level of trust this must've required

"I can think of no one else Tali." Halsey told her "You're one of the best students I've had the pleasure of working with. I'd be honoured for you to have it."

She trusted her with this. Her, after everything she had ever said about Halsey when they first met. She wanted Tali to carry on her work. The work they had been doing in this little cave for weeks on end since she arrived. Tali hadn't felt like this since Shepard actually gave her the geth data back on the first Normandy. Barely able to contain herself through it all she embraced Halsey in a tight little hug.

"I promise. I'll take good care of it." She told her

"I know you will Tali'Zorah." Halsey responded, patting her student on the back "I know."

* * *

><p>Three pelicans and a Normandy Shuttlecraft were waiting for them at the end of the long twisting secondary escape tunnel. They loaded Kat onto the shuttle first. Tali, Kasumi and Jacob got on board.<p>

"Get her back up to the Normandy and have Chakwas working on her stat." Shepard ordered "Then head over to the fight and get that cruiser down to the ship-breaking yards."

"We got it commander." Jacob assured with a thumbs up as he took a seat in the shuttle.

Tali looked to Shepard as she got inside.

"Once we're done we'll get the Normandy to your position and-"

"No," Shepard quickly cut her off "you stay with the cruiser. They'll need you."

"But Joker can manage covering the ship without us." Tali informed him, slightly flummoxed as to why Shepard was cutting her out from going with him.

"He'll need you up there on the engines if something goes wrong." Shepard replied in a rushed hurried tone.

Tali didn't seem at all convinced by the reasoning, but her took seat on the shuttle anyway.

"Be careful Wade." She said, trying her best not to sound worried as she spoke.

"I'll see you back on the Normandy, that's a promise." Shepard assured her, a determined and resolute look in his eye.

The shuttle's doors closed as it began to lift off. Shepard clambered into the Pelican with his strike force team as Six, Emile and Carter walked into theirs. They were followed by Garrus, Grunt and Legion.

"You sure you won't need me Shepard?" Garrus asked as he hopped into his pelican. "Taking down a wormhole generator is some pretty heavy stuff."

"No worse than usual buddy." Shepard replied confidently "Just help Noble get that package to its destination. We'll rendezvous on the cruiser. Count on it."

Meanwhile Carter had sent Jun off with Halsey. The doctor had protested she didn't need an escort, but Carter insisted. They were off to CASTLE Base to make sure the place was scrubbed of potential intel the Covenant could use. They wished each other good luck, best they could do at this point with how small Noble Team was starting to get. Carter set that thought aside. With any luck, they'd meet up with Jun later once this AI business was resolved along with a recovering Kat.

Emile sat on the edge of the pelican, looking down as the collection of aircraft took off for their respective destinations. The others all took their seats on the pelican as Carter piloted the thing into the air. Connection with Auntie DOT was soon re-established.

"I need a heading Dot." He told the AI

"The ship-breaking yard in Azsod. The only off-planet extraction point left on this continent. Small scale air attacks have decimated many convoys en route. An armada of Covenant cruisers have hastened to site as well."

"Great, a welcoming committee." Garrus sarcastically quipped

Dot continued.

"The UNSC Pillar of Autumn will be wait for us upon on arrival in due course." She assured

"The Autumn?" Six said astonished, his head shooting up at the name "That hulk's as old as the damn war itself I hear. Maybe older. It's not obsolete, but still. Why'd Halsey pick that ship?"

"Maybe the AI picked it." Emile suggested. "It's picked everything else."

Carter just shrugged in his seat as the pelican continued to ascend.

"Well it wouldn't be a Noble Mission if it was easy." He reasoned

Emile in the meantime looked to the ground below them. The glacier the Covenant had been so hot to breakthrough. He shuffled back a bit in his seat on the edge of the loading ramp. Then it happened. The ice shelf detonated in a large circular pattern. The entire site seemed to concave on itself. The ancient alien complex below, Sword Base, they were all gone in a flash along with any Covies still inside with any luck. Water from the surrounding filled the empty hole, drowning what secrets remained uncovered. Now they were the only ones that possessed the secrets of the relic. Emile smiled at what this meant. They had pretty much foiled the Covenant to the point of embarrassment and they would definitely be itching to get back what they just lost.

For Emile, even with the world crumbling around them, it meant things were gonna get messy. And he liked messy.

* * *

><p>OOC: Ugh, that was exhausting. There was no Author's note last chapter because I consider these two chapters one update in its entirety. They're one chapter I had to split apart just to make things readable for everyone. If I hadn't this would've been a slog to read through. It turned out longer than it did, but I'm proud of it for what it's worth. I think I actually managed to capture more than just action in this. I captured some actual drama as well. But you'll be judge of that of course.<p>

Two things, yes Tali made an augmented reality viewing mode. Not that I came up with this before I found out they had essentially given that to the male Quarians in the new Rebellion Multiplayer pack. Although I admit, the possibility that is the result of an innovation of Tali's is pretty kickass in my fanon addled brain. And yes, I'll make sure everyone gets one and uses it sparingly.

Also, I have seen all the footage from E3 and I am looking into it concerning the future of this series. Yes it's all really friggin awesome and badass that Halo is trying to introduce new elements into its gameplay and shake up dynamic and more power to that. The only real concern I have is if they're thinking of killing Cortana off in the very first game of their new trilogy. Which would kidna suck cause I just can't imagine going through an entire two Halo games where I have Chief but Cortana ain't in my ear helping out. Hopefully the dangers of rampancy won't make Chief turn on his constant AI companion.

Less awesome is ME3 coming to the WiiU. Sorry Nintendo, you can't make me buy a game for your console when over half the fucking content will unavailable because the other two games will never be on your stupid system. Unless you get at least Mass Effect 2, I see no reason why anyone should buy ME3 for the WiiU. Besides, the game is also for the PC as well, as long as someone has a competent rig they can play it just fine. Argh, stupid move, why anyone would want to play only the end of a game that's entire premise is based on it being a trilogy is beyond me. They don't fix it with something everyone is gonna be forced to kill either the Geth or Tali, all I'm saying. And that ain't acceptable for me. It's like the default choice on ME2 being Wrex is dead. It's terrible.

Anyway, read and review my beloved viewers, read and review. Look forward to the next chapter soon enough.


	22. Dark grows the Sky

Chapter 22: Dark grows the Sky

**August 29****th****, 2552**

The wait on the elevator was agonizing. Tali had always hated elevators, but this time it wasn't for some petty reason about having to stand and wait for several minutes to ever get anywhere. She, Jacob and Kasumi had all crammed inside the little shaft, Kat over their shoulders. They had rushed the injured Spartan straight off the shuttle once they landed on the Normandy. Tali quickly called Chakwas and told her to get the med-bay ready. The good doctor was surprised to find out that she was alive, but Tali didn't have time for warm welcomes back.

It had been a long flight back to the Normandy. The ship had been holding a flight pattern just a few miles out near the staging area. However Covenant reinforcements had flown into the air space just moments after the destruction of the relic. They had begun shooting anything that looked remotely human. With nothing left for them in the area the Covenant had begun outright glassing what was left of the ice shelf. The Normandy was forced to 'bug out' along with everyone else. The shuttle had picked up an escort of longswords on their way out of the ice shelf and hooked up with Normandy as it reached the designated safe zone. Everyone was either headed to the other side of the planet now or just holding on to what little was left. The continent of Eposz was being evacuated completely as they began to land.

Kat had been lucid just moments before, but when the elevator doors closed her head drooped down. She had finally lost consciousness. Mordin's Bio-Foam had closed up the wounds, kept her from losing blood, but that hadn't stopped the internal damage it seemed. The salarian didn't have the means to fix something like that, not in the middle of the snow and ice. She needed surgery.

Tali had been given the responsibility of making sure she got Kat back up to fighting speed, she was not going to lose someone under her care. Not again. The second the doors opened Tali rushed Kat into the medical bay. Chakwas was waiting by the door for the three as they carried the injured super soldier. They carefully placed her on one of the medical slabs and let Chakwas took look at her.

"What happened?" she asked

"Sniper rounds," Jacob replied quickly "one hit her cybernetic arm and broke it clean off. Three others hit her next, shoulder, leg, abdomen. We stopped the bleeding but... she's real bad dock."

Chakwas looked over the woman lay on the table. Tali placed the Spartan just beside Chakwas' computer on her desk as the doctor looked her over.

"We need to get her armour off first." She reasoned "Anyone know how?"

Tali looked over to the doctor and offered her services.

"Halsey showed me a thing or two about the Spartan armour when I was working with her." She explained "Jacob, Kasumi, you'll need to help me."

Tali showed them where to find the emergency release valves for Kat's armour. They were installed for easy access so medics could tear the stuff off in a flash if need be. MJONIR armour was really complicated and usually required advanced mechanical assistance to be placed onto the body. It was after all the most advanced protective armour in the UNSC.

Bit by bit they tore off the heavy MJONIR armour that covered Kat's body. The chest plate went first, the shoulders and arms and the under armour next. It was a bit harder finding the emergency release valves for the leggings. Easiest to take off were the boot thought. They managed to get Kat's armour off relatively quickly and discarded it in a corner as Chakwas prepared for surgery, getting a mask on as well as proper gloves.

"Jacob, you had medical training when you with the alliance right?" she asked him

"Yeah, basic field medic training," Jacob elaborated "Mordin's the doctor not me, but he's not here."

"I'll have to teach you on the job then." Chakwas reasoned. "Get yourself sterilized properly so you can help me."

Jacob obliged and quickly began to get himself prepped for surgery. Chakwas in the meantime turned to Tali.

"Tali I need you to get everyone on the crew with medical expertise in here, now." She demanded "We have multiple entry wounds and I need to start closing the severe ones up now. And break out the emergency supply of medi-gel while you're at it. It's in the drawer there."

Tali did as she was told, she dragged the box of medi-gel out to Chakwas and quickly patche dintot he PA system of the ship through her omni-tool.

"All hands, this is chief engineer Tali'Zorah vas Normandy! Any medically capable personnel to sick-bay! Now! We have a critical medical alert! Repeat! Emergency!"

Already people were jumping out of their seats they get upstairs, if they weren't up there already and looking over the medical drama past the windows. As soon as people flooded into the room, Tali and Kasumi were ushered out. Tali wasn't much of a doctor, Halsey hadn't taught her that. In any case she'd just get in the way if she tried anything now. Best to let Chakwas handle it, she was the professional.

Both her and Kasumi slowly paced themselves back towards the elevator.

"You think she'll be okay?" Kasumi asked her Quarian friend

"I hope so," Tali answered, her shared concern apparent "right now we need to focus on the Pillar of Autumn. They need to get down planetside as soon as possible."

Tali slammed her fist against the elevator's controls. The doors opened wide and Tali entered with Kasumi. She pressed the button that would take them to the bridge and they began their ascent.

"What if they're having trouble of their own?" Kasumi asked

"Then we'll need to help them resolve it." Tali reasoned "Only thing we can do."

The tense nature of the conversation was broken up by a small giggle from Kasumi. Tali turned to her, a bit of a glare in her eyes.

"What's so funny?" she asked

"Nothing," Kasumi said composing herself "I just kinda realised that... with Shepard planetside and Jacob technically busy... you're the acting captain of the Normandy aren't you?"

Tali hadn't honestly thought of that. She was in command now. Normally she'd hate that, but what choice did they have. They had one too many things deal with at once. Wormhole generators, AIs, Covenant invaders, their focus was split all across the board. They couldn't bother complaining about not wanting a specific job. They needed to act first, worry about their insecurities later.

So if that meant she had to take command she'd take command. Even she hated the idea.

As the doors to the elevator opened wide Tali stepped out and straight onto the commander's podium. She surveyed the CIC before her. The blinking orange panels and consoles below her, as well as the galaxy map staring her in the face. She suddenly knew how Shepard felt a bit. She looked to the side and saw Kelly there giving a salute to her as she stepped up. Tali returned a nod and then spoke directly to Joker through the comms.

"Joker, EDI, find me the Pillar of Autumn and get us there yesterday." She commanded, trying her best to imitate Shepard.

"Aye Aye, Tali." Joker shouted aloud back over the comms "Good to have you back aboard and not dead by the way."

"Always a pleasure Joker." Tali assured "Now find me that ship."

* * *

><p>Satel was dead. The fool decided that when he heard the humans were retreating that it was time to claim their prize. He had taken a portion of his troops down into the tunnel to break open the bunker doors. Kreave didn't bother to follow. Shepard is long gone by now, he thought. He wouldn't abandon the battle unless he had accomplished what he needed to do. Whatever it was, Kreave didn't care. He let Satel enter the relic's cavern and used the opportunity to pull his blood pack forces out.<p>

As the blood pack phantoms rose up into the sky Kreave looked down to see sword base in its final moments, swallowed by the explosion and rushing water that followed. He could not take pleasure in the fact the field marshal was dead. All he could think about was how he failed.

His vanguards, dead. His varren and vorcha, decimated. His blood pack, humiliated. Again, he had pushed his enemy into the wall, beaten them, bloodied them and yet they still slipped away. As the thoughts sank in he began slamming his fists into the bulkhead.

"We don't have Shepard! We don't have his crew! We don't know where he's going! We don't have anything!"

The other krogan assembled within the craft stood back as their leader dented the side of their ship with each pounding fist. His destiny had been robbed of him again, they were fearful of what he'd do to them as punishment. For Kreave's part, he didn't know what to do. If he could find the Normandy perhaps his forces could raid the ship while its occupants were still devastated by the defensive action. Or maybe he could just kill some random humans to make himself feel better. He doubted it would work. There was no glory in killing such weak opponents. He wanted Shepard. Only Shepard. But now he had completely lost him.

Then, he heard a beeping. His omni-tool on his wrist activated. A bright shining green light was blinking as he looked down on it. That was his message alarm, but who knew his address? Was it the Sangheili telling him his next assignment? Trying to berate him for his actions? Tired and worn out he supposed it wouldn't matter if he listened. He couldn't feel lower anyway.

Kreave pressed the blinking light and a text message appeared on screen. It wasn't signed by anyone and it only had three sentences in total. But the content of those lines were enough to return the smile to Kreave's face.

_Shepard is headed to the construction site. Equipment will be made available to you. Inform your men and lay in wait for him._

Kreave tried his best to restrain himself, for all he knew this was just the Covenant trying to trick him into staying at the construction site from now on. They could be using his desire to kill Shepard against him, to keep him out of the way. But really, what other lead did he have? What other hope did he have? If Shepard intended to destroy the very device his Blood Pack was supposed to be guarding, then his last best chance to kill the legendary commander was there.

Kreave turned to his men.

"Men, I was wrong, we do have something."

* * *

><p>They weren't gonna stay here long, not with what they had to do, but they needed the rest. Shepard could see it in the pelican when they were on their way out of the ice shelf. The crew was exhausted, their condition way worse than even they realised. They only found out the full extent once the adrenaline rush had worn off.<p>

Miranda kept holding her left shoulder, trying to keep a straight face as she did. Her usually perfectly straight hair was matted into a mess of knots and clumps. Shepard just hoped the shoulder wasn't broken or cracked. Jack's nose was bleeding a bit, probably caused during one of the biotic hits to her face. She was kept her head back a bit until it calmed down. The bleeder was nothing though, what really worried Shepard was that she kept holding her wrist, wincing as she clenched her hand in a ball. She also kept scratching her leg where the plasma had hit her. Every now and again someone told her not to do it, reminding her about how it wasn't smart to pick at scabs. Zaeed didn't seem nearly as bad, but that was probably because he wasn't the best looking man in the first place any way. Shepard noticed how hard he was holding his leg though, it could be sprained or something.

The alien crew members weren't doing too great either. Samara had a black eye from her fight with the krogan vanguard. Thane was taking deeper breaths, never a good sign with him. Mordin kept busy checking over the other crew members. He had Samara follow a little light for one to make sure she was still able to see properly out of her blackened eye. Meanwhile he was walking a little slower. He was in his thirties now or so, senior age for a Salarian. He was more at risk of injury then any of them to be sure. A limp wasn't that big a surprise considering what happened. Shepard was just happy he was still walking, they'd need him.

However, as he looked around at his beaten and tired crew he could only imagine what the ones not with him were suffering through. Especially Noble Two, she was in real bad shape last they saw her. She wasn't part of the Normandy, but she was the worst among them in terms of injuries. It was hard not to think about her. She was in Chakwas' hands by now though. As was Jacob, he took a big blow to the head. For all he knew the man was suffering a concussion. Kasumi could've broken something as well and Tali may have gotten a suit rupture and only just noticed it.

He shook his head at that. He couldn't focus on that right now. His team down here needed him. They needed some rest, some medical attention and they needed to know he had a plan. That was why they had stopped at this UNSC outpost. It still had a little activity from the military, but they were quickly leaving. Soon, Shepard and his team would have the whole palce to themselves, what little good it did. The camp consisted of four buildings and one observation tower. Hardly a fortress, if the Covenant showed up as the UNSC feared they'd need to get back on their pelican fast. It was why Shepard wanted to get the briefing for the assault on the portal device wrapped up, even while the team was recuperating inside this little dump of a barracks they found themselves stuck in.

So while Mordin tended to their wounds and got some water from the barracks bathroom, Shepard filled them in on his plan. He was currently using the omni-tool to properly show three-dimensional version of the portal device's blueprints. The object itself was shaped liked a stubbed-legged starfish. It was segmented with little slits running all along the structure. In the middle was a large pointed triangular spire pointing upwards towards the sky. From what they could see the spire was covering a giant blue pulsating eye.

"The device is several feet high, not including the spire." Shepard started "From what we can gather from the plan's Legion acquired the centre of it is where all the power generated is fluctuated too and then focused upwards. At a certain height it becomes concentrated enough to tear open the fabric of time and space. The computing systems within the structure then properly determine a set of designated coordinates. Somehow it's gonna use all that to redirect the wormhole's exit into this dimension and pull it over Reach. Or just replace the original exit with the artificial one it creates."

"Who cares how it works," Jack asked glowering at the schematics "how do we blow it up?"

For once Shepard preferred Jack's direct approach. Figuring out how the thing worked wasn't important, making it go boom was.

"We could pound it from the air, but I believe a direct approach is our best bet." Shepard explained "I think the key is the power focusing eye in the center. If we can find a way to remove that spire from the equation we can toss a grenade down there or something. Hopefully that should nullify the focusing machine and thus overload the device completely."

Miranda cupped her chin in her hand and tapped her foot on the ground slightly as she looked over the schematic. Her eyes surveyed the triangular spire meticulously.

"How exactly are we going to tear apart the spire?" she asked inquisitively "It looks like a pretty heavily armoured piece of equipment."

"I know," Shepard admitted "that's why I wanted to make sure when Joker sent down the shuttle he also sent down this."

He hefted the large M-20 Cain off his back. The some-what mischaracterized nuke launcher shone red as it unfolded in the commander's hand. Zaeed and Jack seemed to approve of the idea.

"I figured that's why you brought it." The old merc stated "A few hits from that monster and the whole place should come tumbling down. Hell, we throw a few hits on the superstructure maybe we won't even need to hit the eye."

But Miranda still didn't look convinced. She looked directly at Shepard now, concern in her whizzed stare.

"Do we know what kind of defences the area or the device itself has? What kind of forces are guarding it? How many ships are massed there?"

Shepard could understand Miranda's concern. Her questions were good ones. The kind any leader would ask first before committing to any strategy. The problem was Shepard couldn't answer any of them.

"Covenant took out all spy satellites around the construction site." He explained, a bit dismayed at the fact "I asked the UNSC if they had done any fly-overs recently, but there's a lot of covenant activity in the area. We have no idea what we're up against."

Miranda's stare narrowed, her arms crossed as she stood up from her seat.

"Then I suggest we request more support from the UNSC." She said emphatically "If we don't know the odds we're up against then we should head in with as many big guns as we can carry."

"Hey, for once the cheerleader has a good idea." Jack chuckled

Miranda was a bit surprised at the remark and even gave a little smile at Jack. Shepard's delight at the convict and the former Cerberus agent actually getting along was tempered by the fact he knew that request wasn't doable.

"The UNSC doesn't like the idea of committing forces away from the evacuation of the planet." He explained "They're barely holding on as it is. Every ship they pull out of the fight to help us is another covenant assault ship left to its own devices. We're lucky we're getting as much as we are now."

"Which isn't much." Miranda reminded him "A few frigates isn't going to hold back any reinforcements for very long. Hell, they won't even give us proper ground support. Warthogs for insertion and extraction? That's it? That's all we're getting in terms of ground firepower?"

"It's not their universe under threat is it?" Zaeed asked, sounding as realistically cynical as ever "They got bigger problems to worry about. They may not like the idea of a portal to more alien threats on Earth's doorstep but with Reach getting torched I can see why they put this inter-dimensional can opener low on their priorities list."

Shepard didn't like it either to be frank. He didn't blame the UNSC for not offering much in the way of help, maybe if things were going better they'd be more willing to lend a hand. As of now, they were going in with the bare minimum of help. Shepard would've preferred it if they had a few Marines following them into the fray, probably riding some scorpions to boot.

The lack of support was a concern, but it wasn't the only thing he and Miranda shared. He could tell just by looking at her.

"What's really on your mind Lawson?" he asked her plainly "No sense in keeping it in."

Miranda sighed greatly and let her arms fall to her side. Her stare softened and her tone became more composed, yet still with an apparent air of anxiety.

"The Inquisitor was way too chatty for a reaper." She stated "It may not have told us anything important or even anything we hadn't figured out yet for ourselves, but it still felt like it was practically daring us to head to the device as quick as possible."

Shepard just decided to say what she and everyone else was no doubt think. No point in dancing around the possibility now.

"You think it's a trap?" he asked

"Of course it's a trap," Miranda replied somewhat aggravated at the comment "and you think so too. We're walking straight into an ambush and we have no idea or strategy that involves actually counter-acting the ambush cause we got nothing on the place we're going to."

Shepard wouldn't deny it, they were doing just that and he hated it. But real choice did they have?

"We can't just leave this thing alone Miri." Shepard reiterated calmly "You've seen the Covenant. They have ships that are dreadnaught size by the dozens, hundreds, thousands even. And the battlecruisers are just their standard fighting ships. A few supercarriers by themselves would even give the turians pause. If they get through with that kind of power with an armada sized fleet instead of little exploration chunks think of the damage they could do? Think of how much more damage they could do if they manage to hold out long enough for the reapers to show up?"

"I know," Miranda agreed "but we can't just go into this blindly. The Inquisitor wants us to go to the device. He wants us to try and stop him. He has a plan for our arrival and we don't know what it is. If we're gonna intentionally spring this trap on ourselves we should at least be prepared."

Shepard refused to endanger his crew recklessly again. Miranda was right. They needed to play this smart. The Inquisitor obviously wanted to make sure they went to the device itself. Whatever he had in store they needed to be ready for it.

"I'll try and make some calls, see if we can cash in what few checks we've gotten, push them a bit." He promised her "Don't expect much though."

"Hey you're Commander Shepard," Jack grinned "you could convince a krogan to a fuck a turian if you wanted. If anyone can get those dipshits to give us bigger guns it's you."

Jack attempt at building confidence was a bit colourful, but Shepard appreciated the sentiment. He had little time to act though, what little else he could squeeze out of the UNSC would be worth the effort.

* * *

><p><strong>August 30<strong>**th**** 2552**

It was still dark by the time they had found a decent place to land. The shipyards were still good couple hundred miles away from their location as well as heavily surrounded by the Covenant. They needed to refuel first and re-arm. Not to mention plan. They were hoping they could just fly all the way to the Autumn, once they were sure it would even be there. However, Garrus believed a back-up plan was in order and Carter agreed.

So while their pelican got its tank topped off the assortment of three Spartans and three Normandy crew members rallied at the firebase's communication center to plan their strategy. Should their bird fail to take them all the way they would need it.

The base itself was one of many in the area being used to coordinate people rushing to the evac point. It was the only way many of the fleeing soldiers would be able to send warning of blocked routes ahead of time. That way the people coming in from behind them would know which paths not to take. Garrus could see the desperation of the operators, all of them trying to connect with incoming and outgoing squads. You could see their tired eyes and pained expressions, none of them were getting any sleep. Too many people needed them for any one person to sleep. There weren't just soldiers trying to escape, there were civilians among the evacuees as well. Along with trying to get people out of harm's way though, they were also getting constant updates of people in far greater peril. They were keeping an eye on the deteriorating situation across Reach. Whole platoons and battalions just went dark, no response from anyone. There were even rumours the Joint Chiefs on Reach had been evacuated from the planet ahead of time.

If that was the case then what Halsey said was right, Reach was doomed. The longer anyone stayed on or near this planet the less chance they had of getting away from it. Garrus knew the Covenant were tightening their noose, standard operating procedure in the military. The sooner you cut off all avenues of escape the more people you'd have to essentially bombard to death from on high. The Turians had used a similar tactic in the Relay 314 incident or First Cotnact War as the humans called it. Except back in their home dimension the Turians stopped their bombing campaign when Shanxi's garrison surrendered. The Covenant wouldn't stop.

He couldn't help but think of the trouble his friends were getting into with that in mind. He was headed for an escape off the planet. Still dangerous, but at least they'd be leaving sooner. Tali was headed into combat no doubt to contact the very vessel they'd be using to escape and assist it if need be. He was grateful for that and he knew Tali wouldn't let them down, but it still meant she was in harm's way. At least she'd be backed up by the UNSC fleet and everything.

Then there was Shepard, running head long into enemy territory. Never a good idea when the enemy was about to shut the exit door. He knew the team was good, they could handle it, but all things considered this was a mission on par with the collector base. They had everyone in the thick of it for that one. Shepard had less than half the crew for the portal device.

He couldn't help but feel guilty. Here he was trying to get off the planet, running away from the fight, while his CO was running into the middle of it. He wanted to help, but he was just too far away to do anything. He knew that getting this AI fragment to the Autumn was important, but shouldn't looking out for his friends' well-being be just as important?

The thought was interrupted when Carter brought their objective up on the holo map in the center of the comms room. Blue polygons shifted and melded into the very structures that constituted the shipyards themselves.

"Shipyards in Aszod are a military installation, have been since the war first started." Carter began "As such there's a ton of checkpoints between here and the yards proper. Not to mention several miles of rugged mountainous terrain and twisting canyons. Depending on where we're forced to set down we're gonna have a hell of a walk to get there."

"It's not like the shipyards have fallen, how hard can it be?" Six asked, the AI fragment tightly gripped in his arms as he sat

"I'm working on the assumption that if we are forced to set down we're gonna have a mess of them in our way." Carter explained "That and Dot has confirmed the Covenant are in a holding pattern around the Aszod territory. She thinks they're waiting for something."

Garrus had two guesses what that was, both involved the Inquisitor in some capacity.

"Maybe some of the fleeing Marines and Army Personnel can help us out." The Turian suggested

"Chances are we're gonna have to help them out." Emile countered "Kinda come to expect it to be honest."

Garrus hated to admit it, but he supposed Emile was right. If they were in as much trouble, being forced to land and all, then it stood to reason other escapees were as well. They would be the cavalry more likely. Not exactly a great prospect.

"Terrain is gonna be pretty open for the most part. Expect it to get narrow once we hit the yards proper." Carter warned "The Autumn is gonna be a pretty big target once it touches down, so I get the feeling we're gonna need to move before they start tearing it apart. And they will, whether or not they know what we're carrying."

"But they don't right?" Six asked hesistantly "I mean, how could they know?"

Of course, Legion was quick to answer the question.

"Chances of Covenant deducing the contents and purpose of the package given the current amount of information they likely possess stands at around 23.64 percent of likely hood." The synthetic said "Should they realise the importance of our mission, resistance likely to increase at approximately 75 percent rounded down."

"You always know just the right thing to say bud." Six replied, trying to sound a tiny bit amused by the synthetic's little statistics. Although a bit of him felt a tinge bit uneasy as well.

The one person who wasn't uneasy was Grunt of course, who was bashing his fist into his palm.

"I hope they do figure it out then." He said jovially "Means we get a good hard fight."

"Priority is the package Grunt," Carter sternly reminded him "killing Covies comes second overall."

Grunt just groaned.

"Yeah, yeah, I know." He assured "Relax, I'm not stupid enough to put that objective at risk okay. I just want a challenge is all."

"Relax gator-man," Emile informed the lumbering lizard "you'll get your fight. Trust me, I got sixth sense about these things."

Suddenly one of the radio operators burst out of his seat and began to shout madly.

"We just got something!" he yelled "New Covenant Fleet in orbit! Slipspace jumping in! Battle is widespread now, not just Eposz people!"

"How long ago?" asked another operator

"Thirty or so minutes ago, they've been trying to get updates out to everyone but the commlines are a mess with activity!" he explained "Multiple pings below orbital defence grid! Heading towards major population centers! Covenant have already been reported dropping in everywhere!"

They all looked at the panicking operator as he began to tune the frequencies into the loud speakers across the camp. The armada the Inquisitor had promised had finally arrived and it was every bit as powerful as the machine had claimed. That was the impression they got from the loudspeakers.

"Covenant all over us!"

"Coming in hot! Brace yourselves!"

"I just lost half of my wing! They're shredding us!"

"We just lost our bird! Repeat, Falcon is down! Close range air support gone!"

"All our officers are dead! We can't hold this position for much longer!"

The background noise made it even clearer what these people were going through. Explosions, gun fire and blood curdling screams were the accompanying music for the lyrics of this soundtrack they were all entranced by. For many, these words spoken over the communication lines to complete strangers would be the last anyone ever heard of them. It was hard to listen to and for a moment Carter wanted to turn it off. He only let them keep it on because the people here needed to know there were still people out there and they needed to help.

Garrus, however, didn't just want to listen to their suffering. He wanted to stop it. For him, that meant taking up the operator lines himself for the duration of their stay at this fire base. He walked over to one of the vacant operator terminals and began tuning in the frequencies. One of the base's officers was about to pull him off, but Carter vouched for him. He didn't think the turian could do much to save anyone, not in this position anyway. But why dampen his hopes, at least let him try. Maybe, if he could get the word out about the Autumn, they could save even more lives than Halsey intended them too. Considering she was hoping this AI could save the human race that was saying something.

So Garrus plugged away at the radio signals. Trying to reach anyone he could. For at least twenty five minutes he worked the terminal, repeating a message concerning possible escape via the Pillar of Autumn. Until he heard something on the other end of one channel that made him stop changing channels rapidly, a familiar voice.

"Repeat, I'm calling off the drop. Covenant have overwhelmed the position, I have instructed the frigate's captain to bombard the area. There is nothing left to save."

It was Sergeant Buck, Garrus recognized his accent immediately. He was still kicking. In fact he was already aboard a ship. That probably didn't mean he was any safer than anyone else was now, but he was still in the fight. That fact alone gave Garrus an idea. He spoke into the receiver.

"Buck, come in." He said "Buck do you copy?"

"Archangel?" Buck replied after a moment, no doubt rather surprised "How'd you get on this frequency?"

"I'm at a firebase acting as a comm-relay for evacuees." He explained "How are you holding up sergeant?"

Buck didn't respond for a bit. Garrus could only assume he was trying to properly convey how he was "holding up." The situation they were both in wasn't exactly something that called for a casual response.

"Frustrated mostly." Buck admitted "They give you a mission to help secure vital assets and before you know it the target is already in enemy hands. Damn Covies are slaughtering us out there. Wish we could bite back somehow, but we don't have a clue where command wants us or for what. We're kinda on our own here."

Garrus tapped a single talon on the table, trying to work up the nerve to ask. This was important though, and he'd be damned if he wasn't gonna at least try to get Buck's help.

"I may have something for ya Buck," he began slowly "this is basically me calling in a favour. Interested?"

"My boys are hungry for a fight and you saved our asses Archangel." Buck replied adamantly "Point out the target on the map. We'll be there."

A little smile stretched across Garrus' face. There was some hope, if only a little.

* * *

><p>Manassas was one of the three largest cities on Reach, keyword was. By the time Kowalski's unit had arrived in the place it was burning. Had been for a while now of course, this city was hit hard during the attack on the Viery territory. The defenders had been holding off the Covenant for awhile now, but with news of more Covies in orbit they were out of time. They needed to get people out and fast.<p>

The worst city had seen before were terror bombings from separatist forces, now it was getting wiped off the map. Covenant ships had by and large surrounded the doomed metropolis. The spaceport was the last hope for many people. Not the Marines defending them though, there was no more room for them. In any case they had their own escape plan, pull out and get to one of the other evacuation junctions on the continent.

There was only one more transport to see off, Kowalski was helping to load it. He tried his best to keep his thoughts on the matter at hand, but the burning remains of Manassas pretty much took precedence. First New Alexandria and now this, it was pretty clear that Reach was crumbling. Nothing they could do would change that now.

The unit had been hit pretty hard in New Alexandria, directly redeploying to Manassas hadn't lifted their spirits. Even Pearson had stopped cracking wise, for the most part. Ellingham had been quiet, then again what could he possibly say in any capacity? Agley was pale as a sheet, Kowalski honestly wondered if he had any more fight left in him. He couldn't blame for being scared, not when the thought of dying was constant. Ramirez was more or less contemplating how potentially quick his career in the military would end, like Kowalski was currently. The prospect of an honourable death on this mudball was little comfort to either of them.

Sergeant Taylor and Lieutenant Colonel Jensen were doing their best to keep everyone optimistic, but they could tell they were feeling the pressure too. They knew how bad things were, probably more than anyone. They couldn't hide it. All the NCOs and officers had the same look on their face, that of the inevitable fall of Reach.

Kowalski tried to think about the real wins they could rack up here. Like the kid he was with currently. A little guy whose mom had left the planet just days before the invasion came. Thing was, according to the kid's dad, she had promised she'd only be gone for a few days, not over a month. She was no doubt safe by now. Winter contingency meant she would've been restricted from returning. The kid however was a bit frantic when he heard he'd be leaving too. He kept asking "what if she comes back? What if she can't find me?" Questions Kowalski could've easily answered with "She's not coming back cause this planet is gonna be burned to glass." He didn't say that because he wasn't sure how much of a comfort that was. He just told the kid that his mom was waiting for him and he'd get to see her. That seemed to work for awhile, but he was still anxious as he began to board the craft.

He wondered how much the kid actually knew, what was going on, why his mother hadn't returned, why he had to leave. He must've had an idea, but what did he truly know? Beyond the fact his home for however short time was burning in the rubble of the city, he probably knew very little. That these aliens simply hated him for existing, that they believed their religion gave them the right to cut him down like an animal. That there were other aliens currently on the planet no doubt trying to save little boys like himself. That some of their people had been turned into cannon fodder zombies.

In the past month Kowalski had been exposed to more than he ever truly imagined. He had signed on to defend humanity, but he never suspected what he'd get in the end. He was just like this little kid a few weeks prior, unaware of so much going on outside his little world. Kowalski then thought, how much did he really know now? Somewhere out there was a wormhole that led to another dimension with a race of aliens that were entirely female. What else was out there?

Pointless questions now, he supposed. What with what was happening around him. At least he could rest with the knowledge that this little boy wouldn't have to suffer another second of this planet's dying days. At least he hoped so. He looked to the kid as he ushered him onto the craft.

"Alright, this ship is gonna take you to your mom." Kowalski told him as he bent his knee down to the child's level "We're gonna make sure you get to her."

"What about you?" the kid asked "Why don't you come?"

"We still got other people to try and save. Like you." Kowalski quickly answered, trying to comfort the kid, although honestly not really believing much of what he was saying. What was left to save on this rock?

Kowalski looked to the kid's father who was waiting patiently by the door of the ship. According to him, his son had never left the planet before. This was the first time for him. Hell of a first to be sure. Anything Kowalski could do to ease the kid in would be a great help.

"Hey, you gotta name kid?" he asked, figuring he probably should've done that earlier.

"Gabe." The boy answered

"Well listen Gabe, you're really important you hear?" he told him "We call you a VIP in military speak. We need to get you out of here, it's vitally important that we do. So we're gonna stay and make those monsters attacking still think you're here while you escape."

Gabe seemed a bit more confused.

"Why am I important?" he asked

"Well cause you're the next generation of marine son." Kowalski informed with a little smile "If they get to you now you won't be able to fight them in the future. Cause they're just a bunch of cowards see. They like attacking the weak and all that. But, if we get you out, then you can grow up to be strong and meet them in an even fight. Then you can teach them why it was a big mistake to come here and burn down your house and everything. You understand?"

Gabe jus rubbed his arm, slightly unsure.

"I guess."

"Good, so, just be good. Don't be afraid. Humanity needs you to be brave. Your mom needs you to be brave." Kowalski continued "Now, go to your dad. Don't keep mom waiting one more second to see you."

Gabe nodded and walked off to enter the ship with his father. He looked back once as the door to the pressurised airlock closed tight. The ship taxied away from the port. Kowalski watched as it lifted into the air and was accompanied into orbit by a following flight of longswords. He wasn't sure if he had helped the kid all that much. He basically just said he needed to survive so they had more meat for the grinder. Not in those words of course, but it still seemed like that was all he had really done.

Was that all they were now? Meat? Was this whole effort just them delaying the inevitable by a couple more months? How long did that kid really have before the Covenant just followed him to wherever he and his family were?

Again, a whole bunch of questions he would probably never get the answers to. How quickly he had essentially depressed himself after attempting to make a kid be brave for his first flight off planet. Never had he felt more useless and ineffectual then now. Well, except maybe in New Alexandria.

As he turned to leave he found Ellingham rushing up to him, a bit more of a skip in his step then before. He was unusually happy for the given situation. Perhaps it was because he knew they'd be leaving now with all the civies away.

"Kowalski! We got word on a ride we can bum!"

That was certainly not something the young private thought his friend would say.

"Excuse me?" he asked

"We got a ride off planet! Word is going around that a ship called the Pillar of Autumn is gonna be waiting at the ship breaking yards in Aszod!" Ellingham elaborated jubilantly "Jensen's already gathering everyone up and shipping us back out to the staging area to get there! We're gonna make it off this planet man!"

"You really think that?" Kowalski asked him "After all we've seen you really think we're just gonna wlak off this burning pile of dirt?"

The private's bad mood did not seem to deter Ellingham's enthusiasm. He remained uncharacteristically optimistic.

"Hey, better chances then we had a couple hours ago am I right?" he asked

Kowalski supposed he was right. He looked back up to the sky and saw Gabe's ship already disappearing into the void above. He was away, he was safe. If he could make it, why couldn't they?

"Alright, give me details along the way then." He told him

Ellingham led Kowalski off the docking plank and back to the others. Maybe, just maybe, he'd get those answers after all.

* * *

><p>Tali stood in the cockpit as Joker chartered their flight path. He kept his eyes glued to the various screens and panels that made up his flight console, but you could never keep Joker from talking period.<p>

"We should be just a few miles out from the defending fleet forces," he told his temporary quarian captain "not sure how much damage we can do to be honest. Not like we can board every single one of the ships and blow their engines. For one we don't nearly have as many crazy people on the ship right now and the kill-happy zealot in lock up doesn't count. Nor do we have enough explosives, I checked with EDI about that. I never thought we'd run low on things that we can use to blow stuff up."

"We certainly go through a great deal of them." EDI added "Perhaps this should've been anticipated given the Commander's record."

"Things do tend to explode around Shepard," Tali admitted with a little laugh "at least it means nothing is ever dull."

The little jokes and nostalgia certainly helped ease the tension a bit. Getting clearance to enter the battle zone wasn't easy. They were technically drafted by the UNSC military, but that only counted as far as Colonel Holland was concerned. It was awhile before the finally reached him. Evidently he was in the thick of it, trying to get his battalion of army troopers to safety. Tali informed him that the Pillar of Autumn would be waiting at Aszod, but only if they could help get it there in time. So Holland pulled what little weight he had left. The situation was bad but he was one of the most senior officers still planetside.

The quicker they got the Autumn down the better chance the people they were sending towards it would have of reaching it. That meant partially securing the skies above Reach, if only a little. There was no way in hell they were gonna destroy the entire Covenant fleet. Not with the numbers they were looking at. All they could do really was to make sure enough of them survived to fight again. Tali was just happy they were willing to let the Normandy get into the fray. She supposed the stigma of an alien crewed ship was overridden by the fact they needed ships, even tiny ones like theirs.

However the impending fight wasn't the biggest topic for discussion in the cockpit. As Joker turned his chair he faced Tali directly.

"So, now you and Shepard share something else in common." He started "You're both military brats, you were both raised on ships and now you've both been 'killed' and come back. How's it feel?"

"A bit humbling I suppose," she admitted "reminds me of my mortality a bit. Although I definitely wasn't gone as long, nor did I get billions of credits spent on me."

"Hey if it could've brought you back the same way, we all would've donated to the fund." Joker assured her "We missed you, like a lot. We had an impromptu wake and everything. Put a picture of you on your station downstairs. Poor Gabs and Kev were crying their eyes out. You probably should go say hi next chance you get."

Now Tali was even more humbled. They really missed her that much? She felt a bit terrible for putting them through all that, she really did. Hopefully, like Joker and Chakwas, Kevin and Gabby would be just happy to have her back. She'd make sure to apologise for the stress she put them under.

"I will, as soon as this business with the Autumn is done. I promise." She swore to Joker.

With all that said Joker quickly asked the next obvious question.

"Hey exactly what did you and Halsey work on in that little mad scientist lab in the ice of yours?" he asked "Any cool new guns we can strap to the ship? More shielding? I wouldn't mind some extra zing in our step for tight turns. It ain't easy plugging so much power into the mass effect fields to keep our ship limber after all."

They had worked on a great deal of things. There were no secrets among shipmates, so she supposed there was no harm in letting Joker in on a few of the things she and Halsey did. She was gonna tell them specific details later anyway.

"I was working on some modifications to Spartan armour, mostly shields." Tali explained "I think we can increase the output for them. Primarily though we were working on weapons systems and artificial intelligence."

"Given your maintenance record with both me and Legion you were no doubt a tremendous help to Professor Halsey's efforts." EDI quickly praised.

Tali felt a bit weird having EDI commend her talents. Someone could argue in fact that EDI had congratulated her more than her own father had at times. She tried to ignore that a bit. Given what she had worked on with the Cortana fragment and what lay ahead should Six get it to safety there would be time enough to ponder the matter later.

"I'll admit it was a bit strange." Tali answered "Quarians get taught how to bring down Geth if the situation arises. We don't get taught how to fix synthetics or more accurately how to upgrade them."

"Does that mean you can perk up EDI a bit?" Joker asked "I wanna see if she can playback my extranet song downloads."

"That would be an irresponsible use of my resources Jeff." EDI told him firmly

Joker just snickered.

"Fine, whatever, just an idea." He stated "If nothing else maybe we could give you an actual face or something. You know so I'm not always talking to a weird little blue ball."

"I did not realise my appearance was insufficient." EDI responded, her voice just a bit irritated in tone "I cannot help I was programmed in this form."

Joker put up his hands, trying to calm the little blue glowing orb beside him.

"Easy EDI, I was just saying... you know forget I said it." He retracted "Sorry. Forgot you're not supposed to say crap about a lady's face... even if the face is... well... a blue ball with a talk box."

Tali shook her head at the two. Sometimes she honestly wondered.

"Most of the information I went over with Halsey pertains to AIs in this universe." Tali explained "It's a mix of neurological and computer sciences. In theory I could translate it to more familiar AIs given enough time. But that's more of a long term goal."

"Well I'm sure some of it will come in handy down the road." Joker figured "I'm just happy you're back. Normandy just ain't the same without ya."

As Tali's conversation with Joker finished she heard the sound of the elevator doors opening wide. Kasumi stepped out and walked her over to the cockpit proper. Tali had sent her down to check on the others, see if Kat was gonna make it.

"Good news, they've stabilised Kat for now." Kasumi informed them "Chakwas is a miracle worker. Bad news, Jacob's head injury finally got to him. He's got a concussion thanks to that Krogan, so Chakwas says he's gotta take a sit down for awhile."

"Which means I'm still acting captain," Tali sighed "wonderful."

"Hey come on Tali," Joker tried to assure her "this ain't a ground op. It's a space fight. You can handle that. You're the ship master... uh, mistress."

Tali smiled a bit at Joker's show of confidence and she straightened up.

"Well, complaining about it won't help us." She reasoned "Let's just focus on how the Normandy is gonna handle against a swarming horde of angry ships ten times our size."

"Better think fast though." Joker quickly added as he turned his seat back to the console "We're entering the combat zone now."

Truly it was hard to miss the approaching battle. They could see the explosions and shots off for miles. As they neared it however the full gravity of the situation finally hit home. The Normandy bobbed and weaved through a debris field of demolished ships. From the looks of it most of them were human. The Normandy gave the wreckage a wide berth, but a great many ships had apparently been taken down before they got here.

"They sure as hell took a beating." Joker observed.

Despite the destruction they could still see ships in the fight. The UNSC fleet was firing like mad into the void, striking the impressively large Covenant armada that held formation across from them. MAC and plasma cannons fired back and forth at one another. Ships caught fire from the blows. Missiles and torpedoes traded sides as well. The humans were putting up a fight, but their alien adversaries barely seemed to flinch.

"We need to even the odds a bit," Tali stated as she looked to Joker "send out a hailing frequency across UNSC fleet channels. Find me the Autumn."

"Aye, aye, captain." Joker quipped with a little salute. Clicking a few commands on the console he spoke out the hail "This is SSV Normandy contacting Pillar of Autumn. Pillar of Autumn do you read?"

There was no response at first. Tali grew concerned. Maybe one of those ships they passed was the Autumn. No, don't think like that, she quickly said to herself in her head. Halsey told her the captain wouldn't get shot down so easily, that he was alive. She hadn't been wrong before.

"Pillar of Autumn do you copy over?" Joker asked again.

There was a bright silence before a voice responded.

"This is Captain Jacob Keyes of the Pillar of Autumn," said a curt, weathered and burly voice "who are you and how did you get this frequency?"

Tali turned to Joker and nodded. The pilot locked onto the signal and isolated the channel so Tali could speak to the gruff sounding Keyes.

"This Tali'Zorah of the SSV SR-2 Normandy," she began quickly and plainly "we are here to deliver a priority message and offer any assistance we can."

"I appreciate the offer of support Ms. Zorah," Keyes responded, a sceptical tone in his voice "but your ship isn't registered on any of my databanks as UNSC."

Tali supposed Holland had never got around to registering them properly. Either that or the Autumn's files hadn't been updated. But Halsey had planned for this. She told Tali she would inform Keyes of their arrival and that they'd be giving the message. Tali just had to make sure he knew it was them.

"Please leave the combat zone and let us handle-"

Tali didn't let Keyes finish.

"The priority message comes directly from Doctor Catherine Elizabeth Halsey." She stated "Authentication code 20380760406704. She sent us here personally."

Another brief moment of silence swept over the ship as the Normandy floated towards the mass of UNSC vessels. Tali hoped she got the password down right. It had been difficult to memorize. Not like a passage from the scroll of ancestors. She supposed it was a bit more official and probably a bit more secure.

"Sorry about that." Keyes finally said "Cath-... Doctor Halsey said you were coming but she said for security reasons she wouldn't tell me the ship's name. It sounded like she had something really important for me. Mind telling me what it is?"

"We need to get you out of this fight and down to the ship breaking yards in Aszod." Tali told him "It's a matter of great importance."

"I'd love to go Ms. Zorah," Keyes responded regretfully "but I can't just leave all these men to die. We got the biggest guns in the fleet. They need us. There are still people down there that need to be evacuated. The longer we keep them at bay the more time they have. I'm not abandoning these men in the middle of a fight, especially when it's going so badly. One covenant ship took down several of our frigates in the first attack. Twenty percent of our firepower, gone in the blink of an eye! Didn't even get a chance to fire back! The bastard was out of range."

Tali looked to the battle proper and saw a heavy frigate among the human fleet. It was glowing bright with the fires across its deck. With every volley it was struck with on more set of guns fell silent along its bow.

"That's why we're here Captain," Tali assured "we're gonna make sure you survive long enough to get yourself planetside and to Aszod."

"We could always use an extra hand I guess." Keyes admitted "Where are you exactly? I have no visual."

"We do." Joker spoke up, pointing ahead.

A massive ship came into their view as they closed on the fleet's position. It was a hulking mass of steel. Its stern was huge. It needed to be to hold its colossal engine from the looks of it. The only kind of propulsion system Tali could compare it to in size and scope were the live ship engines back on the fleet. Despite the hefty stern the ship narrowed in sections the further along the bow you went. It sorta looked like the barrel of a massive gun missing its stock. According to Halsey many ships were essentially massive flying guns as their hulls had to be built around the gigantic MAC cannons that comprised their main weapon. Of course looking at the ship made it clear that wasn't its only weapon. Hundreds of little guns and pieces pointed off the side, the titan of military might was well defended. The large bold letters of its rather poetic name filled the cockpit window.

The Pillar of Autumn, Halsey and Six said it was big. They didn't expect it was this big. It shouldn't have come as a surprise, not with the carrier they had first seen over a month ago. It was just that the Normandy was dwarfed by this thing. If this was what passed for a cruiser in this world Tali wondered what their dreadnaughts looked like. She guessed somewhere between this and their massive carriers.

"If I were a man I'd feel emasculated." Kasumi said was she whistled "You're not gonna try and overcompensate now are you Joker?"

The alliance pilot looked back at the thief in a look of annoyance. He decided to ignore her question and focus on a positive of this situation.

"We could probably fit the whole Normandy in one of their hangers." Joker observed "We'd definitely save on gas."

"Let's just focus on getting it out of here in one piece so it can do just that." Tali told Joker.

She surveyed the goliath before her and eventually found the bridge. For such a hugely armoured ship Tali was surprised to see a giant glass window underneath the overarching nose of the cruiser.

"Normandy now flying on your port side Captain Keyes," Tali informed the Autumn "We're the little white spec."

A few moments later Keyes returned the call.

"Damn, no offence to your ship Ms. Zorah but we have enough fighter bombers out trying to slow down the Covies."

"We have something they don't I bet." Tali informed him "The Normandy has a stealth drive, we can sneak in behind the covenant fleet and cause some damage for you. Maybe not enough to kill, but we can wound them a bit."

Keyes seemed to be impressed by that.

"You mean you got cloaking tech on that rig?" he asked

"Not the same as the Covenant or yours, it just hides our heat emissions." Tali explained "But it's fooled the Covenant before."

Keyes went silent for a bit, obviously giving the idea some thought.

"Alright Captain Zorah," Keyes relented "pick your targets carefully and hit them where it hurts. Don't take any unnecessary risks out there."

"Don't worry about us, we've got a great pilot aboard, we'll manage."

Joker smiled at Tali's little show of confidence. He always did like being told how good he was. In contrast, Tali still felt weird being called captain, but again she'd have to get use to it. No sense in arguing schematics right now.

"So taking another lesson from me huh?" Kasumi teased at Tali

"Well we can't expect to just rush at them like we're Krogan now can we?" Tali responded cheerfully "We need to play this smart."

Tali walked back to her station at the CIC, Kasumi joined her while Kelly managed the communications from her terminal.

"EDI, bring up a screen of the Covenant armada on holographic display." Tali commanded

Instantly the galaxy map was replaced with tactical read out of the Covenant armada. Tali surveyed the little dots on the screen indicating the Covenant ships, looking for a suitable target. It needed to be a ship that was causing significant damage. She found it in a battlecruiser at the head of the pack that was giving the UNSC ships within the center of the defenders a major headache. Worse still, its seraph fighter escort was already swirling around the smaller frigates among the fleet.

"If we can get behind this one and blow their engines we'll leave them a sitting duck for the UNSC to pound into space dust." Tali reasoned

"You know once we fire we're gonna light up on all their scanners." Kasumi reminded her

"That's what Joker is for." Tali stated "He can get us out no problem. We just have to worry about making enough trouble among the Covenant to falter their line of attack."

The Normandy motioned away from the UNSC fleet, its stealth drive kicking in the second it pulled away. Slowly but sure they approached the Covenant side of the battle. Blue arcs cascaded by them silently as they began to sneak among the formation. They were soon surrounded by a mess of purple toned bulkheads as plasma continued flying out passed them.

"Don't worry Joker," Tali said trying to keep them focused "they can't see us. We're just in their line of fire."

"Yeah, that's what worries me." Joker shakily replied as he kept his hands on the console.

Thankfully EDI had plotted in a course that would keep them away from the predicted firing lines and adjusted accordingly. Although the ship did get a closer view of one plasma cannon then they would've liked. The streaking blue shot sailed clean past them, making everyone tighten their grip on something nearby.

"That came close enough to spike our shields a bit." Kasumi said as she monitored the ship's status "But we're still good, rerouting power now."

"Let's start warming up the Thanix then." Tali ordered "We'll fire at him one and then pull away quickly."

They finally got to the backside of the hulking behemoth at the head of the Covenant pack. Joker pulled further away from it before he turned to target. He didn't like how much thrust the engines were giving off. One surprise shield spike was enough.

"Alright we only got one shot before they realise we're crashing the party." Joker said as they got into firing position. "Let's see if how much damage we can do with that."

"You're the engine whiz Tali," Kasumi spoke up as she turned to the quarian "What's the best thing to shoot from here?"

The holographic map of the battle had by now shifted to a view of the battlecruiser's stern. Tali surveyed the target, her eyes darting across the backside of the Covenant ship. She kept her hand curled up to her mouth as she thought aloud.

"Propulsion systems are different here." She explained "They don't have drive cores like we do, they don't use mass effect fields. Their engines are a little more conventional in a sense."

The quarian gave it a bit more thought. Normally just firing center mass at the drive core's approximate location would be good enough. You could go for the thrusters to slow it down and probably overload it. This? They'd need to be a bit more accurate. She finally settled on a plan and pressed her finger to the central large exhaust port pointing towards the back.

"There." She said "Fire it straight in there. The shot should head straight to their engine core. That should cause some damage. Probably won't blow up the entire ship but it will shake them up quite a bit."

The cannon locked on target as soon as Joker put in the firing solution for the gun. The Thanix cannon quickly dropped into position and charged up its shot. With a burst of blazing blue light the weapon discharged and sent a pure stream of liquefied molten metal straight into the exhaust port. The shot easily overcame the blazing flames coming from the engine and travelled into the ship proper. When it struck the back of the port it detonated. A huge explosion erupted through the backside of the ship. Pieces of the battlecruiser were blown clean off and a rippling torrent of fire cascaded along the stern. The battlecrusier soon looked like a cracked eggshell with little jutting fires pouring out of the breeches.

The covenant warship ceased firing and began dip downwards in an attempt to get out of the line of fire. UNSC ships, the Autumn included turned to target the crippled ship, firing everything they had at the limping battlecruiser. This was their chance to make an opening in the enemy front and pour into it.

But while the UNSC began their counter-attack, the Normandy was just trying to stay alive amidst the enemy that they were now surrounded by. As predicted, the thanix cannon had pretty much lit up their vessel for the entire Covenant armada to see. With their position now pinged on every tactical readout scanner within the fleet, the fanatical aliens were firing every gun they had on the little human craft that had slipped into their lines. Joker had immediately veered hard to starboard, just missing a powerful blast of plasma from one of the Covenant ships. Before long the Normandy was dipping and rolling away from plasma blast after plasma blast. This was easy to do in open space, not so easy in the middle of an armada.

Joker's hands were practically attached to the console with how much he kept his fingers to it. He was worried he was gonna break his hands under all this stress. The Normandy had barely survived a ship to ship fight with a Covenant battlecruiser. Now they were surrounded by them. A streak of plasma slashed across the cockpit view window and Joker pulled hard to port to avoid the next incoming shot. Joker fired back when he could in the meantime, it wasn't hard to find a target with so many around. For all its power the thanix cannon was only so effective against the covenant ships. They could punch holes in them, damage them, but they were so massive and bulky they weren't gonna kill it in two shots like they did the collector ship.

Smaller ships they fared better against. A covenant corvette pulled up into position, trying to block their path. Joker let loose two torpedoes at it before firing the thanix. The cannon broke the ship's shields before cutting clean through several decks. The torpedoes struck next and the corvette was soon ablaze, limping downward out of sight.

Joker once again tried to do the same to the battlecrusier to his Starboard, but the best he did was just seem to irritate the ship a bit. They managed to score a good hit on the engine of the first one they ever encountered. Now they didn't have the luxury of space or time. That and their shields were absorbing much of the attack, unlike when EDI had taken down the shields around their engine slightly before. The aI was far to busy currently to even think of implementing cybernetic warfare suites though.

EDI was helping best she could, yelling out a constant stream of warnings and course correction statements. Her scanners were looking for any rise in heat around the Normandy. So far she could detect incoming plasma shot within three to five seconds of its launch. But again, there were so many it was hard for even her to keep track.

"Four coming from above!" EDI shouted

"Gotcha!" Joker replied

The Normandy pulled to a stop and flipped over. The plasma busts sailed past it and the little ship boosted upwards towards the Covenant ship that fired them. Joker let the thanix cannon fire enough another shot, no sense in worrying about them finding the ship now, they all knew they were here. The cannon blast tore into the Covenant ship's underbelly but it still kept firing regardless. The Normandy rolled away from another volley of plasma bursts as the battlecruisers themselves began to tighten their formation, trying to box the Normandy in.

Joker saw the Normandy was suddenly on a collision course for one of the battlecruisers along its nose. He pulled the frigate up and out of danger, Covenant turrets along the length of the ship fired up at them. These anti-aircraft rapid fire plasma bolts tore at the shields and rocked the ship itself.

"Undercarriage armour holding, but its sure getting hammered from the looks of it" Kasumi said as she looked at the status screen. "We need to pull away from these battlecruisers! Like, now!"

"Trying, but the big guys keep blocking off our escape routes!" Joker shouted back through gritted teeth "Assholes are trying to box us in!"

Tali should've realised why they were so gun-ho to get them. They were the Normandy after all. The Inquisitor had painted a target on them for the Covenant to shoot at. For the moment though, the reaper's stated mandate to kill them had played into their favour or at least the UNSC. They took their minds off the planet they were sent to conquer and tried blasting them out of the sky instead.

As the Normandy flew along the length of the battlecruiser it let Thanix shots rip across the bulkhead of the ship. The attack split open the side of the ship and cleared a path for them as well, taking out a number of turrets as they sped along. Another battlecruiser above them fired downward at the Normandy, its plasma blasts hurtling towards them like giant flaming comets. The Normandy was more than capable of dodging them, twisting and turning within the void as the blasts sped past them. The plasma collided with the ship below them as Joker launched two torpedoes up into the ship above. They collided into the stomach of the covenant vessel as the Normandy flew past them, but they hadn't gotten out unscathed.

"Residual heat from the plasma shots is scorching our shields." EDI warned "I suggest we give the plasma a greater birth of about ten yards or more."

"We barely got any room with all these ships crowding around us!" Joker shouted

Their problems were certainly mounting. Tali decided to check in on the UNSC and see if they were faring better. She was able to get a feed of the final few MAC rounds from the autumn, tearing apart the battlecruiser they crippled. The other ships in the fleet were already pressing the attack as well, firing upon anything that was coloured in a purple hue. The Covenant line was now disorganized and the humans had gained some momentum.

But the Covenant were quick to adapt. The last volley from one of their ships and the friendly fire it had caused forced them to rethink they eagerness to destroy the Normandy. They refocused their bigger guns on the more appropriate targets, the UNSC ships now cutting into their lines. Meanwhile the AA turrets took up the slack firing upon the Normandy in earnest. The rapid fire was quickly draining the shields and cutting into their armour.

"Pour all non-essential power in the shields!" Tali ordered "Joker get us to the UNSC ships now! We stay here we're scrap metal!"

"Trying my best Tali!" Joker assured "But it's a bit harder to avoid hundreds of millions of little bolts than it is to avoid a couple dozen big ones!"

That was when the Normandy's cockpit view centered on one of the assault carriers within the Covenant fleet. It was a smaller version of the super carrier, certainly not as imposing, but still pretty intimidating. It wasn't the concern though, it was the thousands of tiny little black dots speeding out of it towards the Normandy.

"Multiple incoming fighter craft!" EDI blared "Charging up GARDIAN laser arrays!"

Tali let the CIC hologram switch to a scanner view. Thousands of little dots were pouring out of the assault carrier and heading for them. Not good, not good at all.

"I hope you learned a few new dog fighting tricks from Six when you were last up here Joker!" Kasumi nervously shouted as she looked at the screen

Before long the fighters had closed the distance and the blows between their plasma cannons and the GARDIAN lasers were traded. The ship shuddered with every hit, the Normandy dishing out as much damage as it was taking. The Covenant were gonna tear them apart bit by bit, as per the Inquisitor's demands. They needed to get back to the UNSC ships. Tali knew that without any support their little frigate wouldn't stand a chance against so many fighters. She was not about to let her first command of the Normandy end up the second time this ship was torn asunder.

* * *

><p>It was a little less grim at the company staging area, but a lot more hectic. It was still dark by the time they arrived, a few hours before sunrise, but they could see everything clearly. Every Marine was rushing about, loading transports and vehicles with as many supplies as they could carry. Warthogs, Pelicans, Falcons, they were all getting loaded up and sometimes overloaded. Anything they weren't leaving behind was gonna get burned, just in case the Covenant attempted to use it.<p>

Kowalski just hoped this Pillar of Autumn had enough room on it for all of them. That is, if any of them made it to the ship at all. How many Covenant were just waiting for the chance to catch fleeing humans on their off world? How many guns were they gonna be driving into? Kowalski supposed it wasn't a good idea to focus on that, but it was hard not to. The image of that brute standing over him back in New Alexandria was still fresh in his mind. As was the vicious centipede and that bunker with the plasma gun. They said he was gonna get use to this in basic. When? When was he gonna get used to this? That was what he should've asked. Maybe he got use to it when he felt like they were winning.

All he was feeling right now was a terrible numbness, a pit in his stomach when he thought about what they were facing. They had been running since the Supercarrier had appeared and they even when it exploded they still kept running. How long were they gonna run? Until they were out of road? When the Covenant armada was flying over Earth's atmo?

This wasn't fear talking. After New Alexandria he had long since come to peace with the fact that probably none of them were gonna make it out alive. What he couldn't handle was not knowing when death was coming and in what form. What he couldn't stand to contemplate was the fact that his death would mean his family would probably get a letter saying he died heroically in battle. When in reality he probably died fleeing for his life on the off chance he and his fellow Marines could survive. Then a few weeks later they'd be more than likely wiped off the face of the earth with one swift plasma blast.

The smoke rising in the distance around the camp said all one needed to know about the situation, the future they faced. There was no great or glorious victory here, just survival. Just running around trying to save everything they could in a fleeting hope it would be useful or that they could "live to fight another day" as the old cliché went. Was that what this whole thing had boiled down to? Survival? Yeah, Kowalski reasoned, that was what it was now. It wasn't about tactics or strategy anymore, but how long they could outlast the enemy. Which from looks of it wasn't gonna be very long.

Finally Lieutenant Colonel Jensen broke Kowalski out of his depression. He marched over to the briefing table, a holo-map, outlining the Aszod province. The whole squad now had his attention.

"The ship-breaking yards are a quagmire of enemy activity within a sea of canyons and mountainous passes." He began "From what we know of the area, and we know little mind you, the quickest way to Aszod from here is along a highway that stops a few miles short of the ship-breaking yards along an exit. We're exposed more or less the whole way, but we'll be able to see them coming at least. When we get into the canyons and dirt we'll be prime targets for ambushing. So we'll need to keep our guard up at all times, no slacking, no belly aching and no distractions period. You see anything that don't even look human you call it out and then blow it to hell."

Kowalski looked to his fellow Marines, all of them more or less beat, tired and worn at this point. The only thing keeping them going was the chance to get off this rock. Save for Agley, he was keeping his eyes open because he couldn't stop shaking. Back in basic, Agley always had been a bit nervous and twitchy. When he was behind a machine gun though he became a little less jittery and a lot more focused on the task at hand. Kowalski had seen back in the silo. He wondered if maybe Agley just liked that he had a powerful gun in his arms. Maybe the rapid fire the weapon gave him the confidence to keep fighting and not break down screaming. Although to Agley's credit he hadn't screamed blood murder all that much since Jensen dropped their warthogs into Traxis. Either he had blown out his vocal chords or the poor guy just didn't have it in him anymore. Screaming had become redundant to him.

Kowalski wished all it took was a machine gun to make his own anxiety go away. He thought to himself if it was better to have your emotions on your sleeve rather than bottled up like he was doing. He didn't like the idea of being freaked out of his mind like Agley, but he had to admit it was a strain holding it in. Suddenly Agley spoke up.

"What if the ship ain't there sir?" he asked gulping "What then?"

"Then nothing, it has to be there." Jensen replied steadfast. He looked upon his Marines, their weary dirty faces staring back. He kept the same look on his face as he continued. "I know this is a long shot boys, but it's the only one open to us. If we just keep moving, foot glued to the floor we can make it. The Corps has been tougher spots than this."

That was kinda hard to believe. After all, the Corps' history had only recently added "Alien Invasion" to their list of exploits. The word "recently" of course in massive quotation marks. This conflict had raged for close to 27 years by now. Jensen thankfully elaborated on his statement.

"In Korea in the twentieth, our predecessors were surrounded by a Chinese invasion force," he stated with conviction "but one of our greatest legends, Chesty Puller, didn't bat an eye at that. He knew that them being surrounded just meant the enemy couldn't get away from them. 'We're surrounded, that simplifies things' he said. He got his men out alive and I swear we will follow in his footsteps today. We will cut a path through the Covenant to the Pillar of Autumn and it will be there. I promise you men, we will get off this rock, one way or another."

Jensen's words were spoken with such drive and assurance. His eyes practically steeling at the very thought of the task ahead. He wasn't afraid of the odds. He honestly felt they could do this. That this was nothing they couldn't handle. For a brief moment, Kowalski believed him.

"Now get your asses in your warthogs and move people!" he ordered

The squad all rushed to their designated Warthogs. Pearson, Ellingham and Kowalski took one, Agley Ramirez and Taylor the other. Jensen was in his own hog, one armed with gauss cannon on the back. Next to the missile battery attachment it was the strongest gun a warthog could have stuck on its read end. Jensen would be leading the charge of course, right out in front. As hard and crazy as he was, the Marine Commander wasn't about to just sit behind at the rear on this one.

Kowalski piled in beside Pearson as Ellingham took up the gun. Kowalski still had his concerns, but it wasn't his place to talk. There was no reason to complain. Whatever happened would happen, he probably wouldn't even be able to avoid it. He just had to hope this cruiser would be waiting for them, that they'd get out of here alive, like Jensen said they would. Then, of course, Pearson was kind enough to remind them of their situation.

"We got less than twenty four hours to get off this mud ball, Aszod is over 75 miles away from our current position, we have no idea if this ship is gonna be there or how many bad guys are in our way, we're tired, low on fuel, food and ammo, it's dark and..." he paused briefly to put on a pair of shades that were resting on his army cap's ridge. "...I'm wearing sunglasses."

"Just punch it." Kowalski told him.

The warthog revved to life and followed the small convoy of fellow four wheelers out of the camp. In the distance, peering through the smoke on could see Covenant battlecruisers sailing across the sky burning everything in their wake. Kowalski looked back one final time towards the monstrous vessels, their red hot plasma beams visible even this far away. He could wonder why it had taken them so long to start glassing, why they were starting only now. He just hoped he wouldn't be a permanent resident, forced to watch the entire grisly display of this planet's death. That the Autumn would be there when they arrived. Hope was all any of them had left now.

* * *

><p>The fighters closed on all sides. Their plasma guns burned red hot as they swarmed the area. GARDIAN lasers lashed out on the little ships. Banshees exploded as the Normandy sped through the void, but more simply came to take their place. The Seraphs were worse, their shields holding out against the constant laser fire. Every now and again another shot rocked the side of ship, sparks exploded from the collisions as the shields weakened. Worse still their only defence was under attack.<p>

"We've lost another GARDIAN." EDI warned "The Covenant are targeting specific turrets. We need additional cover."

"I'll get us there don't worry!" Joker assured frantically as a series of wires were loosed from the side of the wall.

Tali just knew she was gonna have to fix all this when things were over. At least the damage wasn't nearly as bad as the suicide mission, not yet anyway. They needed to lose all these tails and fast. She just didn't know what kind of input she could give Joker. He knew more about piloting than her.

But she did know something she could offer, that being her technical prowess. Tali had an idea, admittedly a bit crazy, but better than sitting around like a log and hoping for the best. She turned to Kasumi.

"How much power do you think we can transfer to the GARDIAN turrets without sacrificing current shield power?" she asked

Kasumi quickly rushed over and looked at one of the screens on the CIC consoles.

"We could temporarily transfer power from the Thanix and dump it into the lasers, but I don't see how that helps us." Kasumi explained "We could overload them."

"Yes and thus create a sustained focused beam if fire them all at the same time into the swarm of fighters." Tali explained "Then Joker can double back and we can dump all power back into the Thanix. If we time it right it should be ready to fire at the Carrier."

Kasumi looked a bit stunned.

"You want to shoot at the carrier that's flinging these little plasma blasters at us?" she asked, just trying to be sure Tali knew what she was suggesting.

"If we hit one of their hangers we could seriously damage their ability to send reinforcements." The quarian continued, her confidence in her plan unwavering "The UNSC ships are within the Covenant lines deep enough that they can fire on it with their MAC rounds. The remaining fighters will be forced to disengage and we can make it back to the safety of the UNSC. They'll be able to handle the fighters a lot better than are lone little frigate can and we can offer assistance as well."

The ship rocked again as a heavy plasma blast struck their rear.

"Just to let you know... this is kinda freakin' crazy, especially for you." Kasumi told her friend "I mean... this is Shepard level crazy. You've been spending WAY too much time with him."

"This will work Kasumi, trust me!" Tali pleaded

The thief looked into the quarian's eyes for a moment, trying to find the words. Tali was her best friend, she had always been there trying to keep her spirits up in the past. Now, the quarian was asking her to trust her judgement. In the end, there was only one response.

"Hell, why not?" she finally spoke up "Gonna be one hell of a stunt if we pull it off. Kinda want to see it myself actually."

Tali smiled under her mask and turned to Kelly.

"Get a message to Ken and Gabs," she ordered "tell them to transfer all power from the Thanix to the lasers. Send another message to the Autumn, tell him to have the fleet target the carrier and fire on my signal he'll know it when he sees it."

"Already done," Kelly informed her new quarian boss "just to let you know though Garrus is gonna be pissed you screwed up his calibrations with a hard shut down and reset of the thanix."

"He can yell at me later," Tali informed her "we got a battle to win. I'm sure he'll forgive me."

* * *

><p>Down in the bowels of the engine room Kelly's message appeared on the young engineers' screens. It was an unusual request, draining power from the main offensive weapon to the point it overloaded the lasers it was being dumped into. Where Tali got this idea from they could only guess.<p>

"Does she really think the GARDIAN turrets can handle all the energy the bloody Thanix sucks up?" he asked Gabby "I mean... it's asking for trouble I tell ya! We could blow out several key systems on the ship for all we know!"

Gabby looked around at the mess of the engine room, the drive core itself was glowing bright blue. Not to mention they fire they had to put out a few minutes ago when one of the plasma shots struck the thrusters. The residual heat shot through the ship and blew out a regulator panel. Thank Cerberus for the extra extinguishers they installed when they made the ship.

"Well if we don't do something Ken we probably won't last long enough anyway." She reiterated "Let's get Tali the power she needs."

* * *

><p>The screens in the CIC lit up as the energy transfer was completed. Kasumi watched as the power output for the GARDIAN lasers increased tenfold, overshooting the allotted safety regulations from the looks of it. Kasumi didn't like how the computer glowed red and the little bar continuously blinked on and off in a rather ominous manner.<p>

"This is probably gonna blow out a few of our defence turrets, or maybe all of them," Kasumi warned Tali "just letting you know."

"I know the risks here Kasumi." Tali replied "I wouldn't do this if I thought there was no chance it would work."

Kasumi tapped her fingers over the console screen. Tali was the ship expert, who was she to question her? If she thought it could work what was there to doubt?

"Well, I'm gonna cross my fingers and hope we don't explode then." She commented

Tali didn't blame her in the slightest for being a bit scared. She would be too if this plan relied entirely on her. Half of the work was in Joker's hands as a pilot. That alone eased her fears somewhat. If anyone could make it work it would be him.

"GARDIANs charged," Tali stated "EDI target the fighters, Joker prepare to make beeline for the carrier!"

Targets appeared on screen for Joker. The pilot sat in his chair and tried to calm himself.

"Okay then..." he whispered to himself, swivelling his neck from side to side "you can do this Moreau. You dive bombed a Reaper, you can head-on charge a damn carrier. No sweat."

"Firing pattern locked." EDI informed Joker "Fire at will."

Joker complied and the lasers all fired once. They intersected together and formed a single solid sustained beam. It slashed through the mass of enemy fighters, cutting a hole through their formation. The covenant quickly broke off their pursuit, lest their ships were set alight. The seraphs escaped with moderate damage, the shields absorbing most of the attack. The banshees were quickly eliminated.

Joker pulled the ship back into a turn and sped through the miniature debris field of covenant fighter craft. He gripped the controls as they closed in on their target. The assault carrier grew bigger and bigger as the Normandy closed in on it.

"EDI how long until the Thanix Cannon is back up?" he asked nervously

"Current rate of recharge is at 58.6 seconds." EDI replied "In response to your next question we will be within firing range of the assault carrier's weapons within 37.3 seconds."

Joker was kinda hating the fact the Normandy was so fast right about now. He looked back to Tali.

"Charge the gun faster damn it!" he screamed in terror, the carrier growing ever bigger in his cockpit window

Tali knew they could reboot the cannon in time, not if they waited for the energy transfer to reset. Only one option, all non-essential power had to be transferred. That meant gravity, lights, they'd even have to drop the shields to critical.

"Ken! Gabs!" she shouted plunging her fist into the intercom system next to Kelly. "Pull everything we have into the Thanix! Now!"

"Shoving everything into her gob now Tali!" Ken shouted back in a panic "Hold onto something! Gravity going offline now!"

Tali gripped onto the railing as the gravity field shutdown. Kelly did the same to her console, as did Kasumi. Everyone else aboard floated to a seat strapped themselves down in it with an emergency belt. The motion dampeners were working, but their power had gone down to minimal. Everything was being put into the Thanic cannon.

Before long anything not nailed down was floating in the air. Tali herself found herself floating slightly off the ground, her legs kicking in the air. Tali could only assume Kasumi and Kelly were doing the same, she couldn't see them, the whole CIC had gone dark. Even the emergency lights hadn't kicked in, Ken and gabs must've transferred that power to the guns too.

"I'm gonna hork I just know it!" Kasumi shouted through the darkness.

The carrier now took up three fourths of the cockpit window, Joker's teeth were chattering now, his hand hovering over the firing button as they closed on the vessel. He was floating upwards, attached to the chair only by his seatbelt.

"Cannon online! Hanger bay targeted! FIRE!" EDI shouted suddenly

The most beautiful words he had ever heard.

The thanix sprang to life once more at Joker's touch of the button and a single blue beam of liquefied metal shot out. The blast hit the hanger bay at the exact moment a squadron of fighters was about to leave the ship to engage the Normandy. The cannon's blast struck the lead craft head-on. The rest of the squadron was obliterated in the next instant. The blast then struck the back of the hanger itself. A mere two seconds after contact the hanger exploded outward with a fiery flare gushing from the ship.

Joker didn't take much time to admire the handiwork. He pulled the ship into a dive back towards the UNSC fleet. Tali's grip on the rail loosened at the sudden lurch and she was flung into the back of the CIC. She didn't fall back of course, the gravity was still off. She stayed there, stuck to the back of the room as the g-force of the turn forced her arms and body against the wall. A moment later emergency red lights flashed on.

"Emergency power restored." EDI chimed in "Gravity online in five seconds."

Tali knew how to react, she braced herself, placing her hands out in front of her best she could. When the gravity reactivated she fell back to the ground. She caught herself as she fell, saving herself from cracking her faceplate. She slammed into her floor and rolled to the side. She looked to Kelly who was resting against the console. Kasumi was huddling over hers, wheezing.

"Oh God, I so called it." She complained, sounding on the verge of being sick "Can someone get me a bag?"

The Normandy eased out as the ship closed in on the UNSC fleet. Joker could see the Autumn already firing upon the Covenant carrier they had just designated for them with their little light show. The other human ships joined in. Their MAC rounds tore into the bulkhead of the carrier and the covenant aircraft responded to their mothership's peril. They flew towards the Autumn and the UNSC ships en masse, their blips filling up the screen.

"At least we're among friends now." Joker presumed.

Being among bodyguards now was little comfort though. There was a hell of a lot of blips after all. Per their typical luck the Normandy had pulled off an incredible feat and they had just gotten stuck in another mess. Their little stunt had just gotten them the attention of every fighter in the covenant fleet it seemed.

But then the other part of Normandy's luck kicked in. Another set of blips appeared on the screen from the UNSC side. Longsword fighters flew past the Normandy, speeding towards the Covenant at full throttle. Joker turned the ship back towards the battle proper. He watched the first wing of longswords loose a salvo of missiles towards them, devastating the Covenant, breaking their formations apart.

"Where the shit did they come from?" he invariably asked

A hail came over the comm-lines to answer that very question.

"Admiral Gravelston to fleet, the Nebraska is here to offer fighter support. We woulda been here sooner, but we were providing escort for some civies jumping off planet."

Tali got to her feet and looked to her holographic screen. The Nebraska's image appeared as she pulled herself back up. The carrier had come to their aid, thank the ancestors.

"Normandy to Nebraska," Tali spoke up over the comm-link "great timing. Thanks for the assist."

"I heard you guys were flying around the sector." Gravelston said, laughing back "That you Ms. Zorah? Where's Shepard?"

"Special mission, I'm in temporary command." Tali explained quickly

"And doing a damn fine job of it too." Kasumi quickly added as she rose back to her feet. "Excuse me while I head to the nearest trash can."

Kasumi rushed into the armoury, trying not to trip over the doorframe in the low-level red light. Tali gave a little smirk. If she wasn't so used to ship gravity going down back on the flotilla she'd have been sick too. At least they had made it, her plan actually worked. Maybe she wasn't that bad a leader after all. She decided to check in on Keyes though.

"Normandy to Autumn," she began "how is the fleet holding up?"

"We're taking losses, but holding." Keyes assured "Assault Carrier looks like it's breaking up but there's plenty more where that one came from. Still, looks like we're making progress on these bastards."

Suddenly the Normandy's klaxon alarm sounded. Tali almost expected it with Keyes telling them how good things were going.

"Warning! SlipSpace rupture! Covenant ship entering sector!"

A ship suddenly sped in view on the edge of the covenant lines. Tali rushed to the front of the cockpit to get a direct view of it. EDI enhanced the image on the screen for all to see and its identity soon became clear. It was the same giant ship that chased them into the wormhole when this whole thing started, the supercruiser.

"Well shit." Joker groaned "just when I was getting comfy."

Tali quickly contacted Keyes again.

"Are you seeing this Captain?" she asked

"Yeah, I see the asshole." The human captain assured "That ship is responsible for most of our losses in the first wave. It pulled out with the others last time, it's not gonna get that chance again. All ships, prepare to fire on that supercruiser!"

Tali did not like that order. She had seen the aftermath of the supercruiser. They had been fired upon by this thing. As good as the UNSC fleet was she didn't think attacking it like that was a good idea.

"Captain I don't think that's very wise." She tried to warn Keyes "That gun is gonna tear your ships apart."

"We don't have much of a choice Ms. Zorah." Keyes replied "It's coming towards us now, we're gonna have to fire back at some point! Might as well be now!"

"Maybe we can try and slow it down." she insisted "Give us time to come up with a better plan."

Without even missing a beat, Gravelston cut in once more.

"I'll send every aircraft I got to try and keep that bastard occupied." He proclaimed "Hell I'll take him head on if I have to. You just figure out a way to kill it without the damn thing taking half of us out."

The carrier quickly pulled away from the fleet, heading towards the supercruiser. Every longsword in the area quickly followed it, speeding towards the approaching supercruiser.

"Good luck admiral." Tali told him

"I don't need luck ma'am." Gravelston assured "I got guns, lots of guns."

The expected human bravado out of the way, Tali returned to the matter at hand.

"Is there anything we have that can crack that ship's shields and armour?" she asked

"I could fire every missile I got at it and hope that the shields drop far enough for a MAC round." Keyes suggested "But that could take awhile and I'm not sure how many missiles would even get through to it."

Stumbling out of the armoury and towards the cockpit, Kasumi joined the conversation, slightly holding her stomach.

"What about a nuke?" she asked "Anyone got a nuke?"

"One." Keyes answered "But I doubt we'd get its shields down far enough for the missile to get through. We don't have enough penetration power or thrust on them for it to work. We'd need something fast enough to crash through the shields and contact with the ship. Maybe if we're lucky we could at the very least kill the gun on it, but we'd still need something tough enough and fast enough to get through. As well as something small enough to fit the warhead inside but not big enough to register as a threat to the cruiser."

Tali gave it some thought, what could they use for that. Her eyes suddenly lit up, another plan seeping into her head.

"The probe!" she shouted aloud "We could use the probe!"

Kasumi and Joker both perched and eyebrow at the idea.

"The what now?" Joker asked

"Don't you remember? The probe!" Tali shouted aloud with glee "The one we made to investigate the wormhole! If we removed the observation and scanning equipment we could fit the warhead inside it's mechanism!"

"But how are we gonna make it go fast enough to cut through the shields?" Kasumi asked

Tali looked out the side of the cockpit. She looked to the burning little planet below them and grinned a little.

"The exact same way we were gonna get it to the wormhole." She answered "We're gonna use the very planet they're burning to blow them out of the sky."

* * *

><p>Shepard held his gun tightly in his hands. He looked out the slowly opening back door to see the ground beneath them rushing by. From what they could understand on the way in, the Covenant construction site was locate in an old abandoned quarry. Perfect spot, the space had already been cleared out for them, less work on their part. Shepard checked the Cain situated on his back one more time. He wanted to be sure it was ready to go. From the looks of it, he had three or so rounds for his. Miranda had the second one, opting not to give the "nuke gun" to someone like Zaeed or Jack. They were, after all, just a little too trigger happy at times. The third belonged to Samara. Although she didn't like the idea of using such an overly destructive weapon she didn't shirk from it either. Mordin and Thane said they wouldn't need a bulky weapon anyway, it would just slow them down.<p>

Thankfully that "nuke gun" nickname was just that. There would be no radiation from the forthcoming mushroom cloud after they fired. This meant they could get close to or on the structure if necessary. Shepard hadn't used the heavy weapon all that much. He only recalled firing it aboard the derelict reaper, and that was only because he was afraid of having to deal with more husks than they could handle. This was another matter entirely. They wouldn't be facing scores of Reaper slaves, but the Covenant, free thinking, fully functioning Covenant. Worse yet, they no doubt knew they were coming this time. He didn't want to think about what surprises were in store for them. He just hoped they had prepared accordingly.

Miranda stepped back from the cockpit towards Shepard.

"We have a visual on the construction site," she informed him "but we may have a bit of a problem."

Shepard walked to the front and stared out the cockpit window. He could see what Miranda was worried about. There were six or seven anti-Air batteries, the smaller ones known as shades to be precise. They were lining the ridge of the quarry, staring up into the sky.

"Commander this is turning more and more into a suicide run by the minutes." The pilot said looking over to him "Support says they've sighted a Covenant battle group in the area for one and now we got double A. They may be able to hold off the former but my bird is gonna get torn to shreds we get any closer."

Shepard concurred, he wasn't surprised. The usual kerfuffle in their plan had just come a lot earlier than usual.

"Set us down," he ordered the pilot "we'll head into the quarry on foot and take down those shades so we can get some support once we're in there."

"Just watch yourselves down there." The pilot warned "Anything that big is bound to be trouble, specially with covies involved."

He didn't know the half of it. Best he didn't. Only a few select people in the UNSC knew what this was about. Anyone below the officer rank of captain was unaware of exactly what they were trying to kill here. Holland needed to know, the captains of the ships helping him needed to know, would troopers and Marines be so willing to stay on this dying rock longer if they knew they weren't even helping their own universe by destroying this thing? They were devoted, but Shepard knew all too well that every man had his limits.

The Pelican levelled out on the ground and everyone rushed out. They had landed in a clearing in the middle of a burnt forest. You couldn't call it a forest anymore though. The trees were more like twisted misshapen giant blackened twigs than anything. Still decent enough cover for their approach.

"Should we use the Cains to clear them out Shepard?" Miranda asked as they moved through the devastated brush.

"We only got nine shots between us. I'm not wasting them on these guns." Shepard informed her "We're gonna try something more conventional."

Shepard looked to Zaeed who hefted a rocket launcher onto his shoulder.

"Perfect," he grinned "let's blow a hole or two through them then."

Shepard looked to Thane, already steadying his rifle on a log. They were about 40 or so yards away now from the shades, best to make every shot count.

"On my mark Thane you start popping heads and everyone else falls in behind me." Shepard told them all "We don't stop running till we're at the quarry you hear me?"

Everyone more or less nodded. Shepard looked back to Zaeed and gave him the signal. A single rocket flew out of the tube, heading straight for one of the shade turrets in the dead center of the firing line. The AA gun buckled back as the rocket collided, a blue explosion signifying its end. Zaeed fired again at another shade. It took a few seconds but the rocket impacted with similar results to the first. While Zaeed reloaded Thane began firing into the mess of covenant scurrying about the area. It was mostly grunts, they weren't doing too good a job of keeping their heads down either. Every couple of seconds they looked up to see if the shooting had stopped and Thane simply touched them off.

But the Drell and the rockets were a distraction, keeping the defenders off focus. When he was confident enough, Shepard launched himself over into the open plain ahead, his shotgun pointed forward. Jack, Mordin, Samara and Miranda followed soon after. Thane covered their point of entry as well as their flank. The skirmishers and jackals within the defensive line never got a chance to get a clear shot of the assault group. Thane was faster on the trigger then them.

The wood just a meter away from Thane's head suddenly splintered apart, a needler round exploding against it. Someone had zeroed Thane in. He ducked his head for a moment and rolled away. Wasn't much of a relocation but he didn't have time to think much about it. He popped up again and scanned the area. His perfect memory recalled a glint just a few seconds before the shot. He focused on it and sure enough found the skirmisher poking his head out from behind a transparent stand-up plasma shield. He fired one shredder round as the covie prepared another shot. This one sliced clean through the scope, the momentum of the shot not slowing in the slightest. The skirmisher fell dead, his left eye gone.

Another turret exploded as Zaeed loosed one more rocket. He bolted from his position and joined Shepard and the others. Jack and Miranda were the first to assault the defences directly, sending a barrage of Biotic energy bursts that sent the covenant defenders hurtling back. Mordin in the meantime fired his pistol in the mass of covenant and flung incineration blasts whenever he could. The resulting miniature pyrotechnics display broke the line. Samara covered them with assault rifle fire as Shepard closed the distance. A single Elite was among the crowd, trying to take point and rally the defenders.

Shepard didn't give him a chance.

In a biotic charge he rocketed across the field and slammed into the elite. As the alien was thrown up into the sky Shepard fired several inferno round from his shotgun. The alien fell dead to the ground. Moments later the rest of the team was crest the hill.

"Not difficult Shepard." Mordin declared "Hope the portal device will be as simple."

Shepard walked over to the edge of the quarry. He looked down upon their target, now clearly visible amidst a sea of alien construction materials and equipment. The massive purple structure was already glowing brightly in the distance, its spire reaching towards the heavens. Off to its side they could see a field of equipment, spaced evenly apart from each other. From this distance however Shepard wasn't sure what they were. He thought he saw electricity arcing between them, were they the portal device's power source?

"Still optimistic Professor?" he asked the Salarian

Mordin took a big breath through his nose and merely shrugged at it all.

"Illumination makes it easier to target." He reasoned, still somewhat confident "So does overbearing central spire. Previous assessment unchanged."

Shepard rolled his eyes, but appreciated the professor's optimism. He wished he could share it.

"Wait till we get down there." Sherpard warned.

* * *

><p>Many aboard the Normandy feared for the ship's survival. One soul aboard hoped it would be ripped asunder. In his cage he sat, stripped and humiliated by blasphemers, defilers and infidels. Chained into the makeshift prison the Normandy had made for him. How he hated it. Field Marshall Xytas, proud servant of the glorious hierarchs and the Covenant, reduced to this. How he wished for one plasma beam to rip through this ship and take all aboard into the unyielding unforgiving void. His only regret in such a scenario would be that he would be unable to choke the life out of the False Shepherd and his followers.<p>

He had long thought of escape, but the humans and their alien allies were no fools. They kept him barely conscious, heavily sedated, it was a miracle he could comprehend anything. The chains themselves were now bolted into the floor. His armour and shields were stripped of him and he had no weapons. Even if he got out of this cell he would not get far.

This was not the end he had wanted. He wanted to die in the field, serving the gods, serving the hierarchs. He wanted to further advance them along the path, to see the journey through. Instead, he would rot here, while the humans impeded their righteous mission. He took small comfort in the fact his feet tread the path. Paradise would eventually come and everlasting peace would follow. He only wished for a better end. Shackles and bondage were not the way a warrior was to die.

Perhaps there was another way, he thought. A way to escape this place, one he hadn't thought of before. This cage could not hold a field marshal of the Covenant, let alone Sangheili. They were the chosen right hand of the prophets! They were the second highest ranking race of the Covenant. Was this any way for him to act? Moping like a child?

Xytas suddenly stopped himself, and asked himself... where were these sudden thoughts of action coming from? They seemed... foreign. As if... someone was feeding them to his mind. Was he being contacted by the Forerunners? Had he made some kind of spiritual connection?

"_Xytas,"_ a wistful hissing yet poweful voice called_ "you are needed. Heed my calling."_

It didn't take long for Xytas to understand who was contacting him.

"In... Inquisitor... is that you?" he asked quietly

"_Yes."_ The voice replied in a lower more subdue tone _"Your implants allow me to contact you directly. I have need of you."_

Xytas merely lowered his head.

"With the most respect oh great oracle, I am of no use to you." He explained, seemingly ashamed "I am chained, caged, you would do better ask one of greater worth."

"_You are the only one who is in a position to act the swiftest." _The Inquisitor explained _"It must be you and only you. Will you do as I ask?"_

Xytas still seemed unsure.

"But... how will I be able to escape?" he asked "I am powerless as I am."

"_I shall grant you the power you need."_ The Inquisitor answered _"You need only accept to accomplish a single task. Destroy the False Shepherd."_

Xytas didn't even need to contemplate the idea. He clenched his talon like appendages into a balled fist.

"Your will shall be done oh great Inquisitor." He swore "By the glory of my forefathers, the False Shepherd shall die by my hand."

"_Good. Prepare for transference."_ The oracle announced _"Upload of implant unlock commands shall now commence. You will require a momentary period of time to recover. When you have... strike."_

Xytas suddenly felt a terrible pain course through his body, he grit his mandibles, trying to keep the desire to scream in check.

"_Your pain is temporary."_ The Inquisitor claimed _"Embrace... true power."_

Xytas eyes shone bright blue as a new energy surged through his body. It was terrible, immense... and yet he some part of him relished it. Enjoyed it. Bathed in it.

He lost himself to it.

* * *

><p>Keyes made the men work double time to ready the warhead. It wasn't easy detaching it from the warhead, but they got it done. Hearing how the battle was going outside helped speed things along. The Nebraska was holding its own, but its fighters were being picked off one by one. Worse still it had taken a few good hits, shields were now out and the carrier was relying on its armour now. Keyes kept trying to contact the admiral, ask if he needed assistance. There had been no response. Either the communications were down or Gravelston just didn't want to answer.<p>

After the pelican had docked with the Normandy Tali and Kasumi rushed the to get the warhead down to the AI room where the probe was still stored. The nuke didn't look like much sitting on in its sealed container on the gurney. The flat topped cone of an object didn't look all that threatening, but the yellow and black on the sides reminded Tali what a deadly piece of cargo they had.

It was a scary ride down the elevator shaft to be sure.

"We have the warhead Keyes," Tali spoke over the radio as they entered "how are things looking outside?"

"Bad," the Autumn's captain replied "Nebraska just lost one of its engines, it's stopped firing. Their MAC cannons are still firing but there's only so much punishment a heavy carrier can take. This Supercruiser is bigger and meaner and it's showing its teeth."

"Are we doing any damage to it at all?" Kasumi asked

"Interceptors have pierced the shields now and again, but its bug bites so far." Keyes replied "It's holding out against the MAC as well, shields are just absorbing the blasts. I'd try to get closer, but if even a heavy carrier is having trouble I don't know what chance we got. We're just trying to hold off the smaller battlecruisers as it is."

It was a horrible thought, but the Nebraska's continued engagement was probably going to help the in the long run. The more they pounded the thing the weaker the shields got and the better chance they had of taking the supercruiser down. In any case there were other concerns, like actually getting the probe turned into a delivery system.

Tali and Kasumi rushed through the med bay, catching a glimpse of Chakwas standing over Kat on the table, a breathing mask over her face. Jacob was sitting in the corner, holding his head. There was no time to give them a proper update. So Tali sped through it.

"Making a probe into a bomb, stay back." She stated quickly as they rushed past, one of the Autumn's technicians behind her.

Chakwas could only look at them with a tinge of both horror and confusion.

"What... what did you just say?"

The AI room's doors slammed shut before Tali could give an answer. They placed the container with the warhead beside the probe on the table in the back. Getting the observation equipment out would be easy, reprogramming the probe to act as detonation device would also be easy, but hooking it up to a nuke... not so much. That was the hurdle they had to jump for this to work. Something Kasumi recognized.

"I really don't know how much help I can be here." She told Tali "I ain't the bomb squad."

"You're best electronics expert on this ship besides me." Tali responded as she frantically began opening up the lid for the probe.

"With safes and bank accounts!" Kasumi reiterated "I'm a thief! Not a nuclear physicist! There's a huge difference!"

Tali pulled out the probe's data collection scanner at the tip of its nose and threw it away. She placed her focus on the hard drive now.

"We don't have time to doubt ourselves here Kas!" Tali told her "You're the one who tried to tell me I could be a squad leader!"

"That didn't involve potentially blowing up the whole ship!" Kasumi informed her. She joined in, helping Tali pull out the main hard drive before unhooking the secondary one "Plus, I'm not sure if I told you this, but my people haven't had the best history with nukes."

"And mine haven't had the best with AIs and I spent weeks learning how." Tali answered "If I can get a crash course to work for me, you can too."

Tali ripped out the hard drive and tossed it to the side. Kasumi moved over to the nose cone on the probe and unhinged it. They were gonna have to remove some of the extra scanning equipment they installed there. Kasumi got to work, unhinging every single piece from within the cone. They needed a big enough cavity for both the nuke and firing mechanism.

"Do YOU know how to improvise a nuclear bomb?" she asked the Quarian as she tossed a dark energy detection unit aside.

"Not really," Tali admitted "that's kinda what he's here for, to talk us through it."

Tali pointed to the man behind her, the Autumn's weapons technician who had been part of the team that removed the warhead.

"We've already disarmed the warhead, there's no need to worry about it going off prematurely, not much anyway." He explained "The real issue is rearming it and properly setting it up within the new housing. Also the firing mechanism needs to be properly aligned..."

Okay, so maybe it still sounded complicated, but it was less dire than it sounded two seconds ago. Tali pulled one final data storage container within the probe. It was time to get the warhead in.

"Alright then," Tali began, clapping her hands together and staring at the warhead "so... uh... how exactly do we start?"

"This was your plan girlfriend, don't look at me." Kasumi reminded her "Remember, not all that good with the stuff that explodes in a mushroom cloud."

"I am."

Both Tali and Kasumi looked to the door. Standing there in the open door was Kat, her armour gone, her slightly scarred face looking over them and leaning against the door frame with her one good arm.

"This is a little slipshod I admit, but I can make it work." She assured as she tried to stagger into the room.

Chakwas rushed up behind her, absolutely livid.

"Lieutenant Commander! You are not in any condition to start crossing wires and playing with nukes!" she shouted "You need to rest!"

"Don't make me pull rank on you, doctor." Kat answered as she lumbered into the AI core.

Chakwas threw up her hands in anger.

"Why do I always get the crazy uncooperative patients on this ship!" she asked as she tried to follow Kat in.

Kat placed her one arm against the edge of the table as Tali and Kasumi stood back.

"Chakwas has a point Kat," Tali told the Spartan as bent herself over the table "this is a two handed job."

"I always said I could do it with one tied behind my back." Kat weakly boasted with a laugh "I can help with the placement and everything, so long as you're holding the other end. Everything else, I can manage more or less. We need to work together on this one regardless. My familiarity with the weapon, your expertise with the delivery system, that's how we're gonna ready this thing to kick some ass."

Tali looked to the probe and the warhead and slowly nodded.

"Alright Kat, just tell us what to do, guide us in." She relented.

Kat smiled at the Quarian and looked to the warhead.

"First things first, we need to get it into position and fasten it to the chassis of the probe." She began "Can't have it jostling and going out of alignment."

* * *

><p>This was probably gonna be it. Most certainly gonna be it. The Nebraska was a good ship, a strong ship, but even it was struggling against this supercruiser. They were lucky they were still standing so far. Their second MAC gun was offline, half their defence turrets were destroyed and gravity had been lost several key sectors, including the engine room. Worse still they were venting atmo on a number of decks and they were still taking a pounding.<p>

"Fires on decks five and nine!" shouted one technician at his red flashing console

Computer screen sparked and blew as overloading electrical surges blew them apart. All the while Gravelston stood on the bridge, unwavering in his resolve to see this through. As another plasma blast rocked the ship he contemplated why he had volunteered for this.

Maybe it was because he was the only ship that could handle this sort of fight. He had seen a frigate make a run on a battlecruiser one to get torn apart with a full broadside plasma burst. Hundreds of lives snuffed out in an instant. None of Keyes' would be able to withstand a Covenant vessel of this size that was for sure. Even the Normandy couldn't take it head on when they said they originally encountered it. Strangely enough, it was the Normandy itself that made him rush here so quickly.

For over a month since he had found them floating in the darkness of space the Normandy puzzled him. Alien crew, about the size of an ONI Prowler, a commander who claimed he was form another universe. In the weeks that followed while he was marshalled in the red flag staging area he kept tabs of the actions of the Normandy. Only senior officers were aware of what was going on behind the media blackout. That half of Reach had been invaded. He had special access to keep informed on events because of it.

The Normandy and its crew, despite naysayers to the contrary, had performed admirably. At every turn they tried to save a planet that was not their own, people that were not their own. Visegrad, Sword Base, Viery, New Alexandria, each fight they had stuck with them, never once fleeing Reach in fear. His gut had told from the beginning to place his scepticism aside and trust Shepard. It was why he vouched for him concerning his story when others doubted its validity.

He hadn't told anyone among the fleet the real reason he hadn't come here sooner. He wanted to come, but someone tried to stop him. He remembered back to when he first got word of the battle over Reach not too long ago. He had already been launched towards his target in the Red Flag operation. He heard the Normandy itself was already en route to help in the engagement. Once again, Shepard's ship occupants showed just ballsy they truly were. He requested permission to be diverted, it had been denied.

Five seconds later he found out where that denial came from. Ackerson of course, red flag was more important to him than anything. Any other time Gravelston would've nodded his head and accepted the order, but then he remembered how Shepard stood up to the spook.

"Admiral, you are not to alter course!" he had ordered "Reach is no longer a priority!"

His reply was simple and the point.

"Cannot read, repeat last?" he asked "Alter course? Reach is a priority?"

After a furious bout of incomprehensible screaming Gravelston interpreted the rant as a confirmation of his orders, that he was to assist the Normandy. He brought them to this planet in the first place. It only made sense to assure that they would be able to leave it in one piece thanks in part to his intervention. If Shepard was willing to head into the gauntlet to protect them why shouldn't he do the same for him?

It was a small comfort in that sense. He'd die protecting a bunch of strangers he barely knew all that well, but he knew they were good people regardless of what colour their blood was. That was worth protecting.

As a wave of longsword interceptors closed and bombarded the supercruiser's shields, a beam shot straight out from the side of the ship. It obliterated the wing in one fell swoop. That was the twelfth squadron to go down like that. They didn't have much left to give now.

"Normandy, Autumn," he contacted at last "we're not gonna last much longer. What's our time table on that nuke already?"

* * *

><p>"Almost ready Admiral!" Tali answered, a hand up to her headset in her helmet "We're jockeying for position and loading the delivery device into the launch tube."<p>

Assembling a makeshift nuclear bomb was actually less straining when you had a Spartan like Kat helping. Even with one arm she still managed to propery consult and help Kasumi and Tali on arming and priming the weapon. With the added assistance of the Autumn's technician they armed the device and carefully headed down into the hold to load the probe into the probe launching tubes. The difficult part was over, now came the hard part.

Tali, Kasumi, EDI, Legion and Mordin had worked out together how to use a moon's gravitational pull to loop the probe around towards a large celestial anomaly that would slowly pull it into itself. Now just Tali, Kasumi, EDI and Kat remained to work out the formula for this mission. They had to loop a probe around a planet and make sure it hit a smaller, yet still relatively large, object in the middle of a battlezone and they had even less time to do it in.

A smidgen off and they could miss the supercruiser entirely. Worse the probe would fall out of orbit and hit the planet. A friendly fire that was nuclear explosion based was the als tthing the troops on the ground needed.

A remote control guidance system Tali had hastily installed into the probe was their best bet. It was the only way they'd be able to course correct if something went wrong. They had to remove much of the advanced navigational equipment though, which would make the issue of getting the set of coordinates right even harder. As before, the probe would fire in two stages, first for the orbital loop the second for the rest of the flight towards the supercruiser. This was going to be tricky and required some rather tricky math.

For once, Tali thanked her ancestors that her father had practically force fed advanced mathematics down her throat in her youth. Sure, it sorta played into her role as an engineer at times, but never had it been more vital than now. Keeping a probe in orbit was incredibly complicated, keeping it on target even more so. Tali was just happy Kas and Kat knew as much about math as she did and that EDI was probably the best calculator anyone could ever have, next to Legion of course. It felt wishing that machine was here to help them, but then again maybe not as strange as it would've been a few weeks ago.

Eventually they ran out of time, they inputted the coordinates they worked out in the computer. The longer they delayed the less chance the Nebraska had of surviving its distraction duty. It was already on its last leg, half of its engines gone. If the Nebraska fell, the Supercruiser would move on to the UNSC fleet proper, still engaging the Covenant ships as they worked away. It was now or never.

The probe lowered into position, ready for launch as the Normandy aimed itself at the crest of the Reach's horizon.

"Admiral Gravelston," Tali spoke up "disengage! Repeat, disengage! Get out of the blast radius!"

"We'll try. Just make sure you kill this bastard either way." Graveltson ordered.

Tali looked the console and its corresponding launch command. Her hand hovered over the holographic display.

"You sure the calculations are right?" Tali asked once more

"I have done all I can Tali," EDI replied "the probe is ready for launch."

The quarian took a deep breath, her plan, her idea, she hoped it worked. She pressed the command button and the probe fired out of its launch tube. It rocketed away from the Normandy and the hazy camera view of the probe's path came on screen next. The probe was now in a single looping orbit around the planet, cresting the horizon, building up a sufficient amount of speed, hopefully enough to break through the armour on the supercruiser.

Now they just had to keep it on course long enough for it to hit its target.

* * *

><p>The highway was a mess of burnt out car husks and bodies. It was hard to navigate at times with all the carnage in their way. It was even harder to keep their eyes on the road without wincing. Kowalski didn't have to worry about that as much. He didn't need to watch the road to do his job. Pearson did, but not him, he wasn't driving.<p>

He kept his eyes glued to the sky as he sat in the passenger seat. He watched for any sign of Covenant banshees. An air assault was their greatest threat out here, they were pretty exposed out on this open road. There was much scenery on the ground that could distract him. Besides the destruction littering the road there wasn't anything else around. Just arid dry land as far as anyone could see. There were some rock formations off in the distance, evidence they were approaching their destination.

The sooner they arrived there the better. At least then the dread of waiting to get shot at would be over. They'd probably be fired upon the second they showed up. Of course if they were attacked from the air then that fear would already be dealt with.

As Kowalski scanned the skies he thought he saw something shoot pass his plain of view. Like a comet or something. A meteor shower in the day? Not likely. It was probably just falling debris from space more than anything. As he watched the debris fly past and disappear he saw something else in the sky. In the quiet of the open road he could hear the deafening familiar shriek.

"Banshees! Three of them! 2 O'clock high!" he shouted out

Ellingham shifted the turret towards the incoming flight of alien craft. He fired the chain gun at them, the rest of the unit convoy doing the same. Pearson in the meantime began evasive manoeuvres, zig-zagging where he could among the wreck of the other cars. One banshee was clipped along its side and crashed into the sand below with a resounding explosion. Another broke apart in the air as it approached. The third made it through, as did two others. They fired upon the warthog convoy, launching two green plasma bursts. The warthog in front of them burst into flames and began flipping over itself repeatedly. Pearson swerved to avoid the wreck as it flew towards them. They narrowly missed a collision with it, the vehicle tumbling over their heads instead. Other warthogs were sent careening off their road, their tires exploding from rapid plasma fire or the green blasts sending them tumbling into the sandy ditch. Ellingham continued to fire upon the banshees as they flew over, cutting one across its underbelly. The aircraft broke apart as it fell to earth.

"Worst road trip ever." Pearson groaned, gripping the wheel as tightly as he could

"Just imagine what the shipyard is gonna be like." Kowalski told him as the banshees circled for another pass

Ellingham managed to hit the banshee firing at them head-on. The cockpit turned to Swiss cheese and the purple craft fell from the sky. Pearson shifted quickly to the side as the banshee crashed into the pavement and only stopped skidding along it when it crashed into another wreck littering the highway.

"This shit keeps up there won't be any of us left to see the shipyards." Ellingham told them

Kowalski tried to settle himself back into his seat. All he could do now was hope Ellingham's skill with a machine gun held out for now. No way he was gonna hit a speeding banshee after all, not with his assault rifle in this car. They just had to keep on pushing though. If they got to the canyons maybe they'd have better cover. That is, if they made it that far, for Kowalski could hear another familiar shrieking sound in the air.

"7 O'clock!" he shouted "Fire!"

Ellingham complied

* * *

><p>Tali kept her hands steady on the controls. The probe had looped past the planet and was re-entering the battle. As predicted it only took about four minutes or so to complete the task, it was going at top speed under its own power after all. Now with the added boost from the gravity shot it was exceeding top speed. Tali hoped the little rugged craft could withstand the g-force pressure. Regardless, it had be the longest four or so minutes of Tali's life.<p>

The probe had momentarily dipped into atmo but other than that phase one was a success. Soon Tali could see the covenant fleet on the screen. It took only a moment to pinpoint the supercruiser in the massive melee before them. It wasn't hard to miss with its distinctive shape and size. They had a pretty open path from the looks of it, the Covenant had moved forward, pressing on Keyes and the rest of the fleet once the supercruiser arrived. Their confidence was building and with Keyes hanging back for the moment out of the supercruiser's range they were pressing the advantage.

Ironically that would be what killed the supercruiser. There were no Covenant ships blocking its path. Only minor adjustments were required to maintain a proper heading. In three minutes they'd hit the ship. As they got closer to the alien vessel, Tali looked for a suitable entry point. There was some damage along its, left of center of the ship. Probably from some lucky hits courtesy of Gravelston.

"Normandy to Nebraska," Tali warned over the comms "probe is closing, are you out of range."

"More or less!" A somewhat static and distorted voice replied "Ship ... heavy damage... decks. Put all reserve power ... engines. Getting away ... as we can!"

At least they seemed to be out of danger. Now they just needed to make sure the shields wouldn't stand in their way.

"Keyes," Tali informed the Captain frantically, her palms sweating as she did "closing in on target, get their shields down around these specified coordinates."

She quickly typed in and sent the appropriate firing solutions to Keyes, straining to keep her aim set on the carrier as she did.

"Firing solution ready Ms. Zorah, you'll have your opening." Keyes replied

A blast fired from the Autumn's MAC gun. In a matter of moments it slammed into the side of the supercruiser, weakening the shield with ease. The probe could get through it without much difficulty, if it all went to plan of course.

The secondary rocket on the probe kicked in now. Within moments the supercruiser filled the screen and Tali kept her eyes focused on the damaged bulkhead. Her hands gripped at the controls on the console as the distance began to close.

And then, the camera turned to static.

* * *

><p>Joker watched from the cockpit, careful to cover his eyes. One moment he was looking at the super cruiser. The next a brilliant flash of light encompassed his view. It took a moment for Joker to properly see what was going on at first, but when his eyes adjusted to the light he could see a most glorious sight. The supercruiser had been ripped in two. A huge fiery gap had erupted between the two halves and soon the cruiser was listing out of the sky. Explosions rippled across its back as the ship slowly broke apart. The terrifying ship that had chased them into this very universe now floated aimless in the void, broken and beaten.<p>

"Joker!" Tali shouted up over the comms "Status report! Did it work?"

"Oh hell yeah Tali," Joker replied "it's burning quite nicely actually. Congrats girl, you totally made a successful nuclear bomb. Put that on your resume. Few people can."

Joker could hear a sigh of relief and little thank you towards someone's ancestors. He wondered how long the poor quarian had been holding her breath in on this one. It was still good to see that she had done it though, never a doubt in his mind she good. She was the tech genius on this ship.

"So does this mean we can send the Autumn down planetside?" Joker asked

"We'll need to see how the Covenant reacts first." Tali replied "I'll be up shortly with the others."

About two minutes later Tali arrived on the bridge accompanied by Kasumi, Kat and a still nursing a head injury Jacob who himself wanted to see the burning wreckage of the supercruiser. While much of the impressive fireworks display that follows a nuke was gone, the devastated ship was still there.

"Damn, you really did a number on them, Tali." Jacob commented

"All I did was give the probe a weapon." She replied modestly

"You also piloted it in," Kasumi added "so technically it's your kill."

While Tali appreciated the praise, her main concern was the Covenant fleet at large. From what she could tell their bomb had seriously spooked them. The Covenant were pulling back into a defensive position, trying to reconsolidate itself after the losses that had been inflicted. They still outnumbered the human defenders, but the death of their superweapon in such a dramatic fashion had quite possibly demoralised them. As the Covenant fell back out of range of the UNSC's MAC cannons, forming into hardened singular line, Keyes contacted the Normandy once more.

"Well good work Ms. Zorah," he congratulated "you and your crew pulled it off. I have to say, I'm rather impressed. You just saved a lot of lives."

"That fact alone is reward enough captain, just doing our jobs." Tali replied confidently "Can you disengage the fight within good conscience now?"

"I think so, the rest bit should allow our people to consolidate and prepare for withdraw." The Autumn's captain answered "We'll get under way shortly, we'd be honoured to have you escort us."

Tali didn't think was necessary. The Autumn didn't need help from a ship whose wingspan was the equivalent of one of their interceptors, but you never refused a Captain's request. Not when they told you it would be an honour.

"Of course Captain Keyes," Tali graciously replied "let's get underway."

The Autumn began to fall back from the battlefield and head towards Aszod. At last Tali could breathe a sigh of relief. The Autumn would be there for the ground team. Garrus, Legion, Grunt, Noble team and their cargo would get out safely. With any luck, maybe they could head to the construction site and help Shepard out. Then they could get as far away from this planet as possible.

Although Tali still wasn't entirely sure what that ultimately meant.

* * *

><p>At long last, good news arrived over an encrypted channel. Garrus bolted from his seat as his omni-tool flashed a message from the Normandy.<p>

_Autumn en route, get to the shipyards now! _

_- Tali_

Thank the spirits, they had confirmation. Now that they knew the ship would be there they could proceed with the mission. Garrus rushed to Carter to tell him the good news.

"So our exit is confirmed then?" he asked

"Positive." Garrus nodded "If Tali says it will be there, it will be there."

"Good, I was worried we'd have to bum our own ride." Emile added as he stood up "Pelican's been fuelled for hours, time we get moving."

A large red light suddenly lit up the camp, the ground shook and everyone more or less fell to their feet from the shockwave. Garrus looked to the horizon and saw a Covenant Battlecruiser peering out of the clouds, firing its massive plasma cannon at the ground.

"I am really sick of this happening to us constantly." The turian growled

A shout came from the operations room nearby.

"Phantoms on scope! Drop ships in bound! Repeat! Covenant incoming!"

Almost as if on cue the Covenant drop ships burst onto the scene. They dropped vehicles from their undercarriages and before long brute shock troops were swarming the ground. Grunt stepped up, pounding his fists into each other.

"Finally! Something to kill!" he cheered

The defenders at the gate didn't have much of a chance. Before they could even get to their stations the phantoms crested over the area. They fired their plasma guns into the camp, destroying the guard towers and raking the entire area. People ran for cover, those that could anyway. Garrus had to pull Grunt back, just to make sure he didn't get lost in his bloodlust. The krogan followed the others as they rushed into the communications hub, avoiding the strafing phantoms. Then the bombardment started, wraith tanks pounded at the defences at the gate, blowing holes clean through. The defenders near the gate were sent flying as the plasma exploded near them. The lucky ones were consumed by the blue burning gel, it was quicker than the searing third degree burns the others suffered.

"This staging area is about the buy it big time." Emile stated plainly "We gotta move to the pelican now!"

"Don't need to tell me twice." Six responded.

Grunt obviously wasn't big on the idea.

"We can take these pyjaks easy!" he proclaimed "We ripped their friends apart back in New Alexandria."

As the Krogan turned back to the fight Garrus put a hand on the giant lizard's shoulder.

"Grunt, they're not our priority." He reminded the tank born "We need to get to the Autumn, Shepard is counting on us."

Grunt grimaced and looked back to the fight proper, the gate exploded open as brute shock troops poured inside. The troopers nearby attempted to engage the attackers. The brutes brushed off their bullets and smacked the humans away. Other plunged their blades deep into the bodies of the troopers, gutting them like they were fish.

Grunt lowered his head and turned back to the others.

"Fine... let's go."

The group took off running out the back of the hub, making their way to their pelican. Other troopers were other rushing to their own escape vehicles. As one Falcon lifted off the ground however it was struck with green plasma energy. The falcon fell back to the deck, its blades chewing up the tarmac as it spun violently around. It burst into flames shortly after.

The shot came from a brute captain and his squad, who had managed to penetrate deeper and faster into the firebase than they could've predicted. They needed to leave now before he trained his sights on their pelican.

Six boarded first followed by Legion. Grunt was next, Emile standing beside Carter and Garrus. Before they could pile inside several spikes slammed into the side of the aircraft's door. Carter turned to see other brutes were hot on their heels.

"Get in!" Carter ordered Emile and Garrus "I'll cover you!"

The two rushed inside as Carter fired on the Brutes behind them. His DMR caught one Brute in the head the other his neck. Carter moved back slowly into the aircraft. His hand constantly on the trigger, trying to pin the brute's down. That was when one of the covies got a lucky shot. The spike cut through Carter's shields and tore into his body. It penetrated just below his shoulder, cutting into his upper torso. It exited clean through the Spartan's body. He took another devastating hit to the lower torso as well, int he momentary lapse in judgement from the previous shot. As he stumbled back into the pelican, Garrus was quick step up and drag him inside the aircraft as more spike struck the bird.

Emile frantically tried to close the hatch doors, but apparently one of the spikes had damaged the mechanism. He could see the metal thorn stick out of the hydraulics, fluid leaking across the floor. Angered he rushed to the door, pulled out the grenade launcher he picked up from the armoury and fired into the brute position. As Carter got back on his feet, clutching his wound, Emile reiterated what they all already knew.

"We need to get in the air!" he screamed "Now!"

Carter pushed past Garrus and plopped himself down in the pilot seat.

"I'm getting us up now." He stated flatly as he started the bird up

"You're injured." Garrus told him. "Maybe-"

"I'm getting us up!" Carter repeated "Hold onto something!"

The pelican lifted clean off its pad and into the air. Garrus rushed to the door and looked down upon the rapidly shrinking firebase. He saw the brute captain and his fuel rod cannon, now taking aim at them. The turian quickly pulled out his sniper rifle and took aim at the ugly gorilla's face. One shot and the Covie dropped like a sack of rocks, his head spewing a fountain of blood. His fuel rod shot instead flew off into the sky, hitting now one.

Soon, they were high enough to fly off at full speed.

"Let's get the hell out of here." Carter stated as he flipped the pelican's switches into high gear.

The metallic bird soared away from the doomed fire base, the only aircraft that would escape. Everyone else was shot down by circling banshees or fuel rod guns carried by their aggressors. The entire garrison of 64 people were dead. It was then Garrus knew, looking at a bleeding Carter and a burning UNSC outpost vanishing into the background, how little time they truly had left.

* * *

><p>How had things gotten so bad so quickly? Stupid question, things always went bad, that why they sent in Spartans, that was why they sent in his team. Reach Station Gamma had been purged of any data the Covenant could use and the staff, what was left of it, aboard the station rescued, but at a cost. During the assault James had been lost to the cold icy blackness of space. Worse, Linda was wounded, badly. She needed medical attention. So he radioed in.<p>

"This is Spartan 117, where is your position over?"

They may have been off the station and secure in their pelican but that didn't mean they were safe. The Covenant were still in the area. They needed to get aboard a ship fast and get Linda to a medic. Sitting in space with the Covenant still about wasn't gonna help fix her.

Chief looked around the pelican to the four regular marines they had picked up. Jenkins, O'Brien and Bisenti were good tough soldiers and they had even better NCO. Chief had heard much about Sergeant Avery Johnson, most of it from Keyes. He was an old war dog, had been fighting the Covenant since his grunt days on Harvest. Some people claimed the man was invincible, Chief was hoping that reputation held up.

"Even with all that's going on out there the Captain wouldn't leave us behind." The sergeant proclaimed "Hell the fact I'm here assures that alone."

Chief looked to Linda who was being looked over by Bisenti and Jenkins.

"How is she?" he asked them.

"Hanging in there." Jenkins answered "Once we get her into cryo she'll be out of danger. If we get there in time."

"She's a Spartan, she can handle it." Johnson informed them "They're built to take worse than this. Hell they're practically trained to shake off holes through the stomach and strangle the enemy with their own guts. Right chief?"

A little bit of a morbid image, but John said nothing to discredit it.

"Let's just hope we get aboard a ship soon." He said "She's not the only concern after all."

"As long as your buddy's suit ain't punctured he should be fine." Johnson told him "Autumn should be able to pick him up on sensors if we're lucky. Then you can all get back to killing Covies proper, so long as you save some for me of course."

Johnson's pep talk was interrupted mid laugh once Keyes contacted them.

"Chief," Keyes voice replied "I'm sending a ship your way, they're close to you than us. They've lock on your signal. Get the pelican ready to dock. Don't delay. We need to get moving, now."

Well at least they'd get to a safe haven faster and out of this pelican quicker. Better than chugging this heap all the way back to the Autumn. Chief waited for a minute or so, growing more imnpatient for their ride by the second.

"117 to Autumn," he spoke again into his comm. "where's our pick up?"

Suddenly cresting beside them was the nose of a ship. Perculiar design, but a ship nonetheless. A side airlock door on the pelican opened wide revealing a pure white corridor to the occupants inside. In the doorway wearing an unfamiliar uniform was an African-American man beckoning them in frantically as he held his head.

"Welcome aboard the Normandy," he stated "now get you inside."

The soldiers clambered into the ship, Johnson couldn't help but whistle at it all. The lights, the orange holographic consoles, the blue and white wall paint.

"Decorative." Johnson observed "Never seen a ship like this in the UNSC."

Chief recognized the unfamiliar surroundings as well. The interior design didn't look at all like a UNSC ship, it was so radically different it couldn't be.

"You civilian contractors or something?" he asked the man who welcomed them aboard.

"Or something." He replied "Name's Jacob, hope we got here in time."

Jacob held out his hand for Master Chief to shake, the super soldier took it briefly, but he ahd more pressing concerns beyond meet and greet. So he made it quick.

"Spartan 117, Master Chief, good to meet you, but we have an emergency here. I need to get Linda down to cryo." He explained "She's hit bad."

"We have stasis pods. That should do the trick." Jacob informed him "Come, I'll help you down to them."

The Marines followed Chief to the elevator, walking down the long hallway away from the cockpit and towards the inner workings of the ship. It was there they saw a holographic representation of the Normandy at the center of a grouping of command consoles. Its strange bird like design puzzled the Marines. Not so much Chief. He was beginning to recall something. He heard this ship's name before hadn't he? Yes, yes he had, he briefly talked about it with Halsey a few weeks back. That was the name that had been going around, about a ship full of freelancers helping them out. Apparently, those weren't just rumours after all.

"This a prototype of some new class of ship?" Johnson asked

"Why are the thrusters sticking out at the end like that?" Jenkins asked as well

"I'll fill you all in properly later." Jacob assured them "Right now my concern is your friend here."

Jacob led Linda's unconscious body and the Master Chief to the elevator. The other four Marines tried to follow, but Jacob stopped them short.

"Gonna have to ask you to stay up here for a bit." He told them "Check out the briefing room while you're here. Go right, through the armoury and take a left from there. I'll be back shortly."

The Marines again looked perplexed.

"What's with the velvet rope son?" Johnson asked "Lower decks some kind of exclusive club?"

"I'll explain more in a minute, or rather our Chief Engineer probably will." Jacob informed them

"Its fine sergeant," Chief told Johnson "get back up to the pilot, see about tracing James. He's still out there."

Johnson sighed a little, absolving to just salute and be done with it.

"Copy that chief," Johnson complied "we'll handle things on this end then. You just worry about Linda."

The elevator doors closed shut, leaving Johnson and the other three Marines in the CIC. Again they looked around the command deck, still trying to figure out just what they were dealing if.

"You thinking we just stepped into something weird sarge?" Bisenti asked

"Let me put it this way Bisenti," Johnson informed him "I've been on a lot of ships in my time... frigates, destroyers, carriers, even ONI prowlers once or twice. But this... this girl is definitely something unique."

"It is indeed."

The female voice that spoke up seemed to come from the intercom systems. It startled the Marines a bit.

"I guess that's their AI then?" Jenkins asked

A little blue ball appeared on a small electronic pad behind them and began to speak, it's words punctuated by a little outward audio display.

"I am EDI, acting Captain Tali'Zorah vas Normandy has requested I field all your questions within reason for the time being."

Acting captain? That wasn't unheard of, it happened all the time, but what exactly did that mean. The other obvious question also came to mind.

"What kind of name is Tali'Zorah? And where's the actual captain anyhow?" Johnson asked

"It is the name of our chief engineer." EDI replied, seemingly not understanding the question all that much "As for our actual captain he is currently unavailable."

* * *

><p>Tali didn't like hiding below in the engineering deck for the moment, but they all thought it was best. When she had suggested picking up the survivors to Captain Keyes so he could continue planet side she knew she'd have to tread carefully. She was the only alien on the ship currently, but it would still be difficult to explain the situation to a group of humans who probably didn't know anything about the Normandy.<p>

She decided it was best if she stayed below for now and wait for their guests to get comfortable. She wanted to make a good first impression, assure them that just because she wasn't human she was on their side. She briefly thought of using Halsey's journal as proof that one of their best scientists trusted her, but she reconsidered. It would probably work better if she came in with Kasumi and Jacob by her side and had them explain the situation. She'd fill in for the obvious questions they'd ask. Like what was she, why was she in a suit and what did she look like under the helmet? The usual questions everyone always asked of quarians. It would probably be a little fun. She did enjoy sharing her culture with others after all. If they were open to listen of course.

"Just remember not to ramble on." She told herself

In any case, she wanted to be down here anyway. She needed to make sure the drive core hadn't sustained any significant damage during the fight and there always little fix-it jobs to do after any kind of firefight. She even saw Gabby and Ken whe she arrived. They were happy to see her, practically ran over and group hugged her. It was good to see them again. They even showed her her little "funeral" shrine on her old console station. They decided it was best if she was the one to take down the picture. Which she did, although she was happy they picked a pretty good picture nevertheless.

Tali had them take a break, they had earned it after what the Normandy had been through. They said they wanted to stay and help her make repairs, but she insisted. They'd have time to get back into the old group dynamic later, she could handle things down here for now. The solitude would also give her time to gather her thoughts and help her figure out exactly what she was gonna say to these people. One of them said he was a Spartan. Maybe he was one of Halsey's originals, or another third phase Spartan like Noble team. Either way she was more than prepared to meet with him.

She wasn't prepared for what happened next.

"Security to all decks! Security to all decks!" shouted a panicked pained voice in her radio "Oh god. He broke the chains! Just broke them in two. Kicked in the sliding doors. Slashed into my torso with his fucking claws or something. Oh god I'm bleeding."

Tali soon recognized the voice, it was Hawthorne, and he sounded badly hurt. He had been assigned guard duty today for their other guest in the hold. It didn't take a genius to figure out who had attacked him.

"Hawthorne it's Tali," she spoke back to him, trying to keep him calm "I need you to relax. I'll send someone down to you as soon as..."

"No time ma'am, I got Medi-Gel, I'll be fine." Hawthorne insisted "He's headed upstairs, to engineering. If... if he got his gear back..."

A terrible crash sounded from below in the crawlspace. Tali rushed out of the drive core room and into the hall, gun drawn. When she arrived she found Hawthorne's attacker, Xytas. The elite was back in his Zealot armour. Around him was cast a strange sickly blue aura. Small but steadily growing plasma blades jutted out of his wrists. Tali could see a blue light emanating from Xytas' eyes, like that of a husk. But Xytas was no husk, he hadn't become a Reaver from the looks of it. He was something else, something more.

"Where is the False Shepherd?" he demanded

"Killing your friends right about now I imagine." Tali retorted, her gun trained on the monster's head "Lay down flat on the floor and I won't make you join them."

Xytas laughed at the notion.

"As if any of my kind would surrender to a species that cannot live without a suit to protect it." He chortled "Let alone when I have the power of the gods flowing through my veins! The weak do not order the strong to do any-"

Tali shut the elite up by firing on him with every bullet she could throw at him. The elite held up his wrist blade, blocking the shots as the flew at him. He then swung his arm at the window, breaking it apart. It opened a path to the shuttle bay for him and he jumped down below. For a supposedly brave warrior he was running away pretty quick.

Then it hit Tali, he didn't want to fight her... he wanted Shepard. She quickly contacted the others.

"Jacob, Kasumi! Shuttle bay! Now! It's Xytas! He's trying to get off the ship!"

Without even thinking Tali jumped out the window and down to the shuttle bay below. She rolled to the ground, gun pointed out in front of her. She fired on the elite as he rushed through the bay. He couldn't be allowed to reach the shuttle, still moored on the ground in the ready position since they got back from Reach. Tali connected to the shuttle bay controls wirelessly with her omni-tool and had the crane pull the shuttle up out of Xytas' reach. She also locked the shuttle bay doors as a precaution.

The Elite leapt at the shuttle above him, grabbing onto the ledge of it. It was an incredible vertical leap, but not enough to get him to the shuttle. He fell back to the deck with a resounding thud.

"There's no way off this ship Xytas!" Tali shouted at him as she approached with gun drawn "Lay down on the deck now! Surrender!"

"Your commander should've killed me fool." He chastised "Now he'll die slowly and painfully and there is nothing you can do to stop it."

"Like hell there isn't." Tali responded coldly.

She fired her pistol once more into Xytas and had Chikkitika roll out towards the zealot Elite as he ran across the shuttle bay. He made his way for the elevator, charging directly at Tali. The quarian ducked just mere inches away from his blade as the covie passed her by. Tali rolled to the side and kept firing on the alien fanatic as he fled.

But he found the elevator was occupied. Its door opened wide to reveal the combined firepower of Jacob, Kausmi and one green armoured impressively tall Spartan standing in the middle of them. Xytas' face seemed to turn crestfallen at the sight and he turned tail once more and ran for a new destination. Bullets peppered his now advanced shields as his assailants advanced on him. He seemed trapped, but Tali knew where he was going.

The first Normandy had quite a few escape pods in the rear of the ship. It was how a lot of engineering staff, including Adams got out when it was attacked by the Collectors. The shuttle bay in the new Normandy was no different. Xytas ran towards one of these pods and popped the hatch. He clambered inside only to have a little trouble closing the hatch. Tali grabbed onto the handle outside, trying to hold the pod open long enough for someone to throw a grenade or something inside and kill the bosh'tet. But she was fighting an elite and as much as she hated to admit it, he was stronger than her. Whatever was enhancing Xytas' body added to his already powerful strength.

When Tali's arms gave out the hatch closed tight. Her body slammed into the door and she watched as Xytas waved at her with a menacing grin. The pod ejected from the Normandy and rocketed away from the ship. Tali was enraged and immediately contacted the cockpit.

"Joker! Target the pod that just ejected! Blow it out of the sky!" she ordered

"I can't Tali!" Joker replied reluctantly "He's got that thing racing at top speed towards the planet's surface. He's already out of range!"

Tali slammed her fist into the hatch door in anger.

"Contact Shepard! Warn him!" she demanded

"I'm trying!" Joker answered "But... I'm getting interference! I... I can't get a lock on his transponder!"

No, no this could not be happening, Tali thought. Xytas was out, he was on his way to confront Shepard and worst of all there was no way to warn him. And the fact they couldn't warn Shepard said something else, he was already in trouble.

* * *

><p>The construction equipment provided ample cover for their advance. The Covenant probably knew they were here by now after that fire fight with the AA guns, but they still didn't want to telegraph their movements. They approached the portal device steadily, their guns at the ready.<p>

"Keep your eyes open." Shepard told them all "You see anything that looks at us funny you call out."

The group had fanned out, Shepard planned to make it seem like there were more of them inside the perimeter than the Covenant suspected. Maybe they'd think they were outnumbered and would surrender. Fat chance, but better than having no plan at all.

It was weird though, from the look of everything the device appeared abandoned. It looked like ti was on, but there was no one around it. He knew they were probably waiting in ambush, but he suspected they'd have sprung it by now. What was taking so long? Were they waiting for one of his people to step on a mine, freak them out, make them distrust every step they made? Were they just lining up sniper shots? Was a plasma cannon aimed directly at all their heads? What were they planning?

The "what" became known to him soon enough, for in that moment there was a loud klaxon sound, Suddenly the walls of the quarry sprung to life as a blue honeycombed energy field expanded. It looked just like the shield dome that covered the spire. And just like the spire, it rose up high several hundred feet into the air and within minutes it completely encased the quarry under its shadow.

"They're blocking off air support!" Miranda realised "There's no way for our cruisers and frigates to assist us now!"

"At least they can't bring in ships of their own." Jack suggested

As if to answer her challenge, the air around them was suddenly filled with a loud whooshing sound, as if something was rising up into the sky. The sound came from behind the portal device and its source soon became visible to all. What looked to be a giant violet coloured plasma rifle turned on its side now floated over them. Swivelling on what Shepard presumed to be the cockpit was some kind of needler weapon. Following its appearance, both Blood Pack mercs and Covenant soldiers jumped out of their hiding spots situated around the quarry. The Normandy team was now focused in the dead center of their sights.

"How you like my new toy Shepard?" shouted someone through what seemed to be a loudspeaker system

Wade instantly knew that voice.

"Kreave." He grimaced in a mixture of anger and annoyance.

"The UNSC supposedly designated this craft the Vampire." the krogan explained "It's one of the Covenant's most devastating air combat vehicles so I suppose the vicious sounding name is warranted."

Shepard shook his head as he pointed his gun at the blood pack leader's aircraft

"You're gonna fight me with that?" he chastised "I thought you wanted to beat me in a fair duel? Did you forget your sense of Krogan honour all of a sudden?"

Kreave just seemed to laugh uproarious at the notion.

"Honour? My people dropped fucking moons on the turians! Our concept of honour is far different from yours, Shepard." Kreave explained "This is no mere duel anymore, this is war Commander. And in war you do whatever is necessary to win. You know that better than anyone, and you're criticising me for it now?"

Shepard looked around at their predicament. They were surrounded, outmanned, outgunned and they had no escape. He tried to contact the Normandy, but only got static. The shield must've been emitting some kind of communications scrambling signal. He looked to the others and could see they were just as scared as he was about this turn of events, although they were doing their best to hide it.

Kreave's main weapon on his ship began to charge up.

"You got no one but yourself to blame for this one Shepard." He told him slyly "I mean come on... as if you didn't already know this was a trap."

The vampire fired upon Shepard's team, the rest of the ambushers joined in, forcing them all to run for cover.

* * *

><p>Falling from the sky like a blazing star the escape pod of the Normandy crashed down to Reach with a tremendous and kicked up a huge cloud of dust as it skidded to a stop on the planet below. It wasn't a great landing, but Xytas survived it regardless. Kicking the hatch open he stepped out onto the rocky dist laden soil below. He looked to his hands once more and his aura of power that now encompassed him. Truly the Inquisitor had given him a great gift. He had wished to slaughter all aboard the Normandy with it, but the Inquisitor assured him they were of little concern. The False Shepherd was the true threat and he needed to die.<p>

As per the Inquisitor's instructions, Xytas had set the coordinates of the pod to land as close as possible to his final destination. Best he could do given where the Normandy was situated in space. Nevertheless it worked. He could see off in the far distance the blue shield dome that the Inquisitor said he would find when he arrived. It was only a few miles away from him now. Soon, he'd have the False Shepherd dead at his feet. The Gods would be avenged from the human's sacrilege and with the Inquisitor's gift in his veins there was no way he could fail in that mission.

* * *

><p>"Noble Lead, seek immediate medical attention."<p>

Dot had been saying that for a good long while now. Her voice reeked of desperation and pleading, but it sounded as monotone and emotionless as ever. It was strange to be frank, almost as if she was frightened for his continued existence. It was unfortunate he couldn't heed the program's insistent advice. Lord knows he wanted that medical attention, but he could get it, not yet. Not until this was finished.

"Noble Leader, please respond."

Just a few miles out from the Autumn they had picked up a tail. Covenant Banshees, and they weren't letting up. They peppered and harassed the pelican as it flew along. Smoke started billowing form the engines and Carter struggled to keep the thing aloft. Especially hard to do when you were bleeding profusely They probably should've stacked up on some medical supplies. Garrus offered Medi-Gel, but it did little to ease his actual problem. The fact a spike had slashed through his body, ripping apart veins and muscles. That was difficult to repair, even for the medical miracle of medi-gel. Thus, Carter continued to bleed and Dot continued to make demands that he see a doctor or medic.

Emile and Grunt kept their sights peered out the back of the aircraft. They fired upon the pursuing banshees with everything they had. Grunt opted for his shotgun, firing full bursts straight into the cockpits of the covenant attackers. Emile used his grenade launcher to devastating effect as one of the banshees collided into another from the sudden impact of a grenade. They both soon fell from the sky, breaking apart before they even touched the ground. And yet for every one they killed, still more took their place.

They weren't gonna make it to the Autumn in this heavily damaged hunk of junk. As they kept on their flight path, Carter removed his helmet and let it drop to the floor.

"Please respond, Sierra Two Five Nine." Dot finally requested. Her voice was fretful, her concern more apparent than ever. "You are alarming me."

It was probably the biggest emotional response he had ever heard from the AI. Considering how little emotion Dot possessed, that was something to behold. Carter was truly touched, which caused him to feel even guiltier when he continued to refuse Dot's pleas for a response.

Six had now travelled up to the cockpit to check on his wounded commander. When he noticed the lieutenant behind him, Carter made it very clear how fucked up this situation had gotten.

"This pelican is shot to hell. It's flying literally on a wing and prayer now." Carter told him through pained gasping breaths "Not sure how long she'll stay together. Skies are jammed up anyway. Gonna have to get you off her lieutenant."

Six didn't like the idea. Of course he didn't, Carter didn't like it either but they were out of options, out of time. He knew the lieutenant would try to talk him out of it, he wouldn't let him.

"Sir, you need-"

"I don't wanna hear it Six." Carter quickly interrupted "Get the package to the Autumn, that's an order."

Six paused for a moment. Slowly realising Carter's mind had long since been made up about this.

"Done." He reluctantly agreed

"Not yet it's not." Carter informed him through withering gasps as he looked back into the pelican "Emile, go with him, it's a ground game now."

Emile pumped his left shoulder with his fist at the call.

"It's been an honour sir." He stated sincerely.

"Likewise." Carter responded, before turning to Garrus, the Turian was holding onto to a strap on the ceiling to keep himself upright in the jerky vehicle. "That goes for you and your team Vakarian, they'll need all the back-up they can get."

Garrus looked at Carter melancholy and distressed.

"You don't have to do this Carter," he told him "I can take the wheel, keep them off Six and the others."

Carter shook his head before the Turian even finished.

"Look at me Vakarian, do I look like I can be much use down there?" he asked vehemently "Your team needs you more. I know you haven't been big on a lot of my decisions since we met but for once listen to me."

Garrus reluctantly stepped back from the cockpit and joined Legion and Grunt at the back. Six followed shortly after.

"I'll do what I can to draw their fire." Carter reiterated as he looked back to the front.

Suddenly, he motioned his head slightly over his shoulder and back to Six as he walked away.

"Six!" he shouted, catching the lieutenants' attention "That AI chose you for a reason... she made the right choice."

Six gave one last salute before he placed himself beside Emile, the AI storage unit in his hands for the drop. He didn't want to get it smashed when they hit terra firma.

"On my mark," Carter said weakly as he held up his hand. Slowly his fingers counted down to zero. More banshees appeared on their rear as he did. With his hand balled into a fist he pumped the air "Mark!"

Emile and Six jumped solo, Grunt grabbed both Garrus and Legion and fell back. Six hit the ground with a thump. They landed on a sloped surface, their armour scraping the rocks as they slide down. As bits and pieces of the Cliffside were thrown into the air, Six held onto the AIU canister tightly. Grunt took most of the impact for his team, creating a mini crater in the side of the slope before his slide created a trench. Before long they all slammed into the ground, rolling out along the dirt before coming to a stop.

"That was fun." Grunt said as he lay on the ground.

Both Garrus and Legion got up on their own accord and helped the lumbering lizard to his feet. Emile got up using his shotgun as a prop. Six carefully placed the AI canister on his back before he sat upright at last. Legion strode over to him quickly and outstretched his hand. The Spartan grabbed onto it and let the synthetic pull him up.

They found themselves in a small enclosed space high above in the cliffs of the area. As they made their way out they looked upon the terrible devastation of in front of them. A circling black cloud hung over the horizon. Lighting sparked among the clouds, striking the darkened wasteland below the storm front. They all knew too well that it wasn't lighting though, so much as it was the gradual glassing of the planet itself. With every plasma blast the Covenant fired another half a mile of Reach was decimated. There would be nothing left when it was all over.

Looking away from the storm they watched as Carter's pelican flew overhead, banshees closing on his six. As they fired on the fleeing human transport Emile contacted Noble Lead.

"Still with us, Commander?" he asked

"Stay low," he replied, not really answering the question "let me draw the heat. Just deliver that package."

The pelican soon disappeared, the banshees chasing after it. Nothing they could do for Carter and right now he probably didn't even want their help. Garrus' gaze turned back to the road ahead where he spotted something in the far off distance.

"Look!" he spoke up to the others, pointing ahead of them past the cliff face they were on.

Just off to the right of the storm cloud, sunlight could still be seen. It shined brightly int heir faces and illuminated a massive, brownish craft in the distance. Just as Tali promised, their ride was waiting for them.

"There's our destination guys," Emile said, his voice a bit softer and pleasanter than usual "Pillar of Autumn."

They all let the moment sink in. Their escape was right in front of them, shining like a beacon in the dark. Beneath them they could see a mass of Covenant soldiers marshalling on the road towards the shipyards and their escape. They were undoubtedly more ahead of them.

Emile looked upon their foes below briefly before turning to Six, his gaze also on the road ahead. They all knew this wasn't gonna be easy, but they were used to that now.

Six looked over his shoulder to the canister he was carrying. Halsey said this was what Jorge had died for up there. This was what Kat had almost got herself killed protecting. This was what Carter was putting his life on the line for.

"Make it count." That was what Jorge had said. Six turned to Emile, who was already looking at him. Beside him was the Normandy crew, their own faces staring at the Autumn off in the distance. God willing, together, they'd make it count.

Emile looked back to the Autumn briefly and although he couldn't see it, Six felt he looked more at peace, more tranquil. It was as if he was genuinely smiling at something behind that visor. Six could only guess as to what it was exactly. He motioned his head back to Six once more, and in a playful, almost child-like tone of voice, he issued a little challenge.

"Race you to her."

* * *

><p>AN: I don't know what it is exactly, but I love that line from Emile. Probably even more than his last defiant words to the elite that kills him in the game. I don't think I need to explain what it symbolises for me, but I hope I captured it pedrfectly here.<p>

Not much to say about this chapter, only that once again it turned out to be longer than I thought. That's what happens when you have four separate plot threads intersecting. Luckily that's been reduced by one now and soon enough it will be two. Don't expect me to stay with Noble Team's final run all that much, the set pieces and such are important, but I'm not dictating every little thing that happens. We need to cut things for the sake of time and all. Don't worry, you'll all get a dose of each plot and it's ending in good time.

Oh yes, and Master Chief is now on the Normandy but he has not yet met Commander Shepard. In due time people, in due time. Before this story is done they will meet each other in person to set up things for the next story in the series. Just don't expect much in the way of dialogue and development, that needs time and we don't really have that with the finale closing. Don't worry though, the moment will have gravitas and meaning. It is the meeting of two gaming legends after all.

And you're all probably wondering my opinion on the Extended Cut huh? Well, I'll say just this and we'll leave it at that. If this had been the original ending NO ONE WOULD'VE COMPLAINED. Oh sure they may still have been kinda bummed and stuff, but no one would've asked for changes. I still feel it doesn't really answer some of my concerns, but it smoothes over a lot of plot holes the developers originally thought we wouldn't have a problem with. Thank you for that. But I still feel now that it's become very clear that the game was not finished, or at least the ending wasn't. Therefore I can only assume EA's adherence to deadlines forced BioWare's hand. Speculation for all? Bull excuse they made up, I knew BioWare wasn't that stupid. They ran out of time to render everything, plain and simple.

Again, my ending to this story remains unchanged and again it is not to spite BioWare. They have their story they want to tell, I have mine. Just that simple and my ending needs to be different because of what I'm doing. Regardless, that's it for this chapter, tune in next time to see what else is in store Six and Legion, Shepard and Tali, Kreave and Xytas, and Kowalski as our story begins to close. 2 chapters left until the epilogue.

And Happy Canada Day to my fellow Great White Northers.


	23. Stranger Passing By

Chapter 23: Stranger Passing By...

A Geth Plasma Shotgun was a devastating weapon. With added modifications it was even better. She had found out that in her absence Jacob and Mordin had been tinkering with it a bit, on and off when they could over the past few days. Kasumi said they had been trying to boost the damage output with Covenant weapons technology, as well as give it homing capabilities like the plasma pistol. They were missing a few key ingredients though, knowledge of Geth weapons systems and knowledge of Covenant weapons systems. Thanks to Halsey, Tali now had both.

She managed to pick up where they left off in seconds, using the coils of several plasma rifles to boost the shotgun's damage output. She then began properly connecting the intricate homing mechanism of a plasma pistol into the functional capabilities of the shotgun itself. It was a merge of technologies and not exactly a clean one to be sure. It took a little coaxing to get everything to fit inside the gun properly. She only had enough time for one test fire.

The full plasma blast struck the test dummy at the back of the armoury like a rocket, cutting straight through the metal board and burning the targeting paper. Promising, but Tali noticed the gun's cool down time had increased between full burst shots due to the increased damage output. She'd need to tinker with it a bit to get it back to acceptable parameters. She'd have to do that on the shuttle.

The M-5 Phalanx with its laser sight didn't need much improvement, but Tali stuck a few mods on it as well. Penetration and damage output to be precise, a high calibre barrel with a kinetic coil capacity would hopefully be enough of a match against enemy shields, or more accurately kinetic barriers. As some added insurance she took one of Zaeed's spare disruptor round ammunition modifier packs in his room. He'd probably be pissed she was touching his stuff, but as long as she assured the old merc she didn't even breath on Jessie she figured she'd be fine.

She had instructed the crew to load up a few more surprises aboard the shuttle. Shepard's team had cleared out the heavy weapons more or less, grenade launchers, missiles, even the Cains. Good to have against what they'd probably be facing right now, but not for what was coming. She needed to bring anything and everything they would need, especially if her hunch was right.

She fired everything she had into Xytas, everything, nothing phased the bosh'tet. He shrugged the shots off like nothing. He could've easily killed her, but chose not to. She wasn't a threat to him, she wasn't his target. The elite wanted Shepard and he was heading towards him now, she just knew it. The only way she could imagine that zealot becoming even more powerful was the obvious, his implants. It could only mean one thing, something she had only seen once before, years ago with Saren.

There was no time to lose, with no way to warn Shepard through comms she'd have to go down there herself with anything that could take apart kinetic barriers in a flash, as well as the boosted shields from the elite's own armour. She was so busy getting ready in fact, strapping her weapons onto her back, loading the shuttle and checking her thermal clip readouts that she forgot about the guest they had picked up.

Sergeant Johnson, his fellow Marines and the clad in military green armour Spartan II were in the shuttle bay currently, watching the acting captain of the Normandy ready for launch. Needless to say they were somewhat shocked by the revelation that the ship, with a mostly human crew from what they could see, was captained by an obvious alien. The chicken feet and three fingered hand pretty much gave it away. At least her strange name kinda made sense now.

"This day just got a whole lot weirder." Sergeant Johnson proclaimed as he watched Tali scurry about "And that's saying something considering it was pretty damn normal just a few hours ago when the invasion from the fanatic aliens happened."

"She's not Covenant."

Johnson turned to see Kasumi once again, who was nearby the assembled crowd of UNSC soldiers. She hadn't been silent though. Whenever she felt Johnson or the other Marines were delivering a possible derisive or questioning comment she had been quick to shoot it down. Usually Tali could defend herself just fine, but she obviously had bigger concerns at the moment.

"Hey I'm just remarking about the weirdness of all this." Johnson corrected himself "It's not like anyone is explaining anything to me. I gotta fill in the blanks somehow."

Tali elicited a sigh as she placed another container of thermal clips inside the shuttle. She did owe them all some kind of explanation, but she had practically no time to go over it in detail. It would be better to just speed through it. So she did. She whirled around to the assembled UNSC soldiers and her words flowed out from her like a flood.

"I am a quarian, my species lives on ships, the sterile environment has ravaged our immune systems, we need to wear these suits because of it, no I do not have tentacles or insect pinchers for a mouth, I was made captain of this ship because the person who is running it is risking his life planet side and I now have to go save him before a religious zealot cuts him in two with an energy sword."

She didn't take a single breath over the course of her run-on sentence, leaving the group of UNSC soldiers somewhat perplexed.

"Well I suppose that will have to do." Johnson shrugged

Tali went back to work, preparing the shuttle for launch. With any luck she hoped her spiel would placate their concerns for now. She did not expect one of them to speak up however, specifically the Spartan.

"If your commanding officer is in danger maybe we should go with you and help out." He suggested

"No, I think it would be better if you stayed aboard the Normandy." She quickly answered "I appreciate the offer, but I can't ask you to get involved."

Truthfully Tali supposed she should accept the help. This man was a Spartan, one of Halsey's to be precise. Surely an extra super-soldier would even the odds, but she knew the risks of what she was doing. She could explain to the Spartan that the Elite that escaped was under the influence of an eons old machine. That it was going to get stronger with each passing second. That it would be horrendously powerful in scope. He may even believe her, but that wasn't the point.

He hadn't faced Saren when he turned into that thing. None of the Spartans had faced Harbinger's collection of insectoid warriors suddenly glowing white with energy and shooting biotic fire from their fingertips. This wasn't your average husk. This wasn't something they were ready for. Maybe in time, but not now.

That and this wasn't a ship battle, this was a ground mission. Tali wasn't about to let anyone follow her into whatever awaited them down there. She knew how incredibly dangerous and stupid this was. She was flying straight into a trap in progress, probably meant to capture as many Normandy crewmembers as possible. But she understood the risks fully. She could not in good conscious ask the same of these strangers who barely knew her. And there was one other reason, a more practical one.

"Whatever mess Shepard has stepped in down there we're going to need to get out fast." She explained "I need people on the Normandy who are ready to run out and help extract us when it's time to leave."

"We're on pick-up duty?" Private Jenkins responded incredulously "Come on, we just survived a covie siege!"

"Then be grateful I'm keeping you here and not just tossing you into yet another fire." Tali informed him, seemingly angered by their insistence "Trust me, I'm not doing this because I think you can't handle it. This is a Normandy problem. It's my responsibility, not yours."

The Spartan stood silent for a moment before finally relenting.

"If that's your stance ma'am we'll stand ready for when you need us." He obliged "I suppose showing the Covenant every card in your deck would be a bad idea. Best to save some surprises for them."

"Yeah, like a big ass rocket down their throats." Johnson said laughing "Look at that thing!"

Johnson was pointing up to the Hammerhead, attached firmly to the top of the shuttle bay's ceiling.

"That some kind of armed hovercraft?" Jenkins asked, observing the fan-like rotors on the fins as well as the missile launcher up top.

"Damn you guys got some high-tech stuff in here that's for sure." Johnson complimented "When do we get to play with it?"

Well the Hammerhead certainly got their minds off of coming with her, that was good.

"When I call." Tali assured them, turning to the Spartan one last time "Thank you for understanding. I'm guessing it's not exactly easy having an alien order you around. Not something I like doing to be honest."

Spartan remained stoic as ever, standing firm and upright.

"You're the captain and this is your ship." He replied stoically "I just hope you know what you're doing, especially with your CO's life at stake."

"Believe me, I'm hoping the same." Tali told him as she loaded the last container of thermal clips into the shuttle. With that sorted a question that had been nagging at her finally came out "I never really got your name by the way."

"Spartan-117, Master Chief." He answered "May I add ma'am that if you won't let us accompany you, I would be more than happy to donate something to the cause.

As chief pulled out his sidearm, Tali mulled the name over in her head. Master Chief, 117, she had heard that before, with Halsey. Her thoughts ran the gambit of possibilities.

'Could this be him? Did that mean that she was inside? If she was in there why hadn't she spoken up or...?'

No, best not to dwell on that, Shepard needed her now. She'd sort that problem out later. It didn't matter right now. Tali took the UNSC pistol and placed it in the accompanying holster on the hip opposite her phalanx. "Double pleasure, double the gun", she believed she had heard that incredibly corny as hell phrase from Garrus once. Or maybe it was Jacob, she forgot. She supposed now would be as good a time to test it as any. She took the rest of the Chief's ammunition for the weapon as well and thanked him. She'd certainly put it to good use.

She said her goodbyes to the Spartan and headed to the shuttle. When she entered she found Kasumi was already there. She had snuck in while she and the chief had been talking and was already buckled in. The quarian shook her head.

"Kas, what are you-?"

"Tali you're not dumb, don't act like you are." The thief quickly cut her off.

"You don't have to come with me." She told her flatly "Shepard put me in charge by default. Xytas' escape is my responsibility."

Kasumi stared up at her quarian friend begrudgingly.

"If you honestly think I'm gonna just let my best friend and fellow hood enthusiast run off into a battle zone while I sit all nice and cozy with my books on the couch you are sorely mistaken." She said adamantly "No, I'm going with you Tali. If I wanted to I could've just cloaked and tried to insult your intelligence by sneaking aboard knowing you'd obviously catch me in seconds with your new vision mode. But I didn't, that's how much I respect you and your technical prowess. So you damn well better offer me the same esteem in kind."

Tali's face looked sullen. She should've expected this from Kasumi. That crushing hug she gave down in the caverns was a dead giveaway.

"Kas..."

"Don't argue with me." The thief declared steadfast "You want me off this shuttle you'll have to knock me out."

She meant it, Tali could tell. She stepped over to the seat beside Kasumi and sat herself down. She buckled herself in and slowly turned her face to see a still tight lipped Kasumi staring back. This was what she wanted. She couldn't deny this like she had with Master Chief and the others. This was different, this was more. Tali let a smile spread across her face.

"Glad to have you, Kas." Tali told her

The thief's hardened expression returned a similar warm smile.

"Glad to be here." She replied in kind.

The shuttle bay cleared as the shuttle took off and the hatch opened wide, the shuttle's pilot flew them out as both Tali and Kasumi nestled into their seats for the ride.

"Just to let you know I totally could've taken you down if I wanted to." Tali informed her.

Kasumi just let out a smirk.

"Oh please!" she chided "Do you know how many self-defence classes I've taken over the years? Where you think I got these moves? I'd have knocked you flat."

"Father had me start learning several migrant fleet marine combat techniques since I was five." She informed her "I think I could've managed just fine."

"You keep thinking that Zorah clan." Kasumi laughed

Tali chuckled a little at the comment.

"Now you sound like a volus." She chortled

"No I don't." Kasumi argued playfully "I'm not gasping after every sentence."

* * *

><p>"That was too damn close Captain." Gravelston informed Keyes over the barely functioning comm-array "A few more minutes and we'd have been a floating junk pile. This baby can take a licking, but it ain't invincible."<p>

"Well thank god for the Normandy then." Keyes answered as he stood on his bridge, resolute as ever. "Just goes to show you that no problem can't be solved with a big enough bomb, huh sir?"

Admiral Gravelston relaxed enough to let loose a little grin. The comment was the only thing worth smiling at. They may have saved the fleet, but they were powerless to take advantage of the Covenant pulling back. They'd reconsolidate and hit them again, this time harder. Even without their super-weapon the only thing that was keeping the covenant at bay last Gravelston checked were the Mass Drivers planet side, and even they were under attack.

Not that there was anything his ship could really do about that now. The Nebraska's fires were out, but the damage remained. Whole sections of the ship had been sealed off, anyone inside when the doors closed were dead floating in the vacuum outside. No doubt about that. The engines were working at limited capacity so as not to strain them and they were still just trying to get power back to the guns aboard the ship. Repairing cables and couplings was no small feat either, not when a third of the crew were dead or injured. The only other offensive capability they had were seventeen wings of longsword fighter bombers, seventeen out of the original thirty.

They wouldn't be much use in a fight and Keyes could see it. Even just looking at the screen the Autumn's captain could plainly see the Nebraska's bridge was in shambles. Wholes stations were burnt away, wires hung from the ceilings and walls like dead men and even some of the consoles were still sparking.

"Sir I'd advise you to pull out while you can." Keyes suggested "No one will think less of you for jumping out of system now."

"Already had this discussion with my men captain," the admiral calmly replied "as much as we'd love to get while the getting is good we still have some business to take care of."

"What kind of business?"

It appeared Gravelston was about to answer Keyes when one the tech operators on the Autumn rushed up to him.

"Sirs, we just got some kind of weird ping on our long range scans." He warned "Another cluster of ships, smaller vessels surrounding a large one at around 160 metres."

"160? That's too small for a battlecruiser and yet they're in standard defensive formation for one." Keyes noticed "Have the scans indentified the make and designation of the vessel?"

"That's just it, the ship doesn't seem to match anything on record." The technician said "And even weirder, it popped into system with the other ships but we picked up no slipspace rupture from it specifically."

That certainly caught Keyes attention. It was very difficult to hide a slipspace rupture without hiding the ship itself from scanners. If they had been cloaked they never would've picked up this battle group. So since when did Covenant ships no longer use slipspace drives?

"Where's it headed?" Keyes asked

"Towards the planet sir," the technician informed "it's staying clear of the ground based defences for the most part. It's also entering the atmosphere from deep in covenant controlled space."

So there was no way to intercept it even if they had the means to. Their little defence force was still weary from the battle and they couldn't risk chasing after one planet bound ship when they still had to hold the line here.

"Send a message down to the Mass Drive defenders." He told the technician "Tell them they a have possible incoming and should prepare accordingly."

* * *

><p>The road below was marked on both sides by two abandoned trucks, one over turned the other pulled over. Ahead of them was a bridge and a small structure passed that. Crawling all over the rock formations surrounding these landmarks were covenant, a few jackals but mostly grunts and elites. One oft nhe altter was standing just a few feet behind the overturned truck on the right hand side of the road.<p>

The elite looked so unaware, so unassuming and self assured, like he was on top of the world and didn't have a care. Why should he? He could clearly see they had won. The humans were losing, the planet purified. So why not let his guard down a bit, let the little grunts watch the perimeter. Only thing they were good for after all.

Unfortunately for him he was not on the top of the world, there was someone higher above him and currently speeding towards him. He barely even felt the kukri knife pierce into his neck or the feet slam into his back and push him into the dirt. It was a quick death, more than he deserved.

Emile stood upright, quickly putting his knife away as he pointed a shotgun forward. The little gas sucking grunts backed away slowly, their plasma pistols charging up. That was when Emile was joined by a fellow shotgun enthusiast that shared the little methane sucking creature's nickname. Grunt leapt from the cliff and landed a few feet to the left of Emile. The earth and rock shattered at his touchdown. He hefted his shotgun off his back and into his arms, pointing at his gas breathing opponents. The small covie-grunts suddenly tucked tail and ran screaming away from the two. Their elite handlers tried to order them back, but by then it was too late.

The Spartan and krogan opened up on the fleeing covie-cannon fodder while the elites sought shelter. To the right side of the battlefield, other elites and their grunt minions marshalled quickly. Heading towards the defence of their comrades, but they would get very far. From behind them gunfire broke out. The whizzing bullets cut down a two grunts with relative ease before they even knew what was happening. The elite handling them knew however, he looked back to find another Spartan flanked by a machine and a turian. The elite quickly returned fire with his concussion rifle, forcing the group to scatter and giving the covenant officer time to get to cover among the rocks.

Recovering from the near miss, Six stood himself back up and raced over to a rocky little hill overlooking the area beneath the bridge. By now the elite was running for the safety of the darkened underside, kicking up dirt as he rushed towards it. He turned briefly to fire a few more concussion shots in Six's direction. The Spartan's shields spiked and he ducked for cover. He would've been back up the next second if a frenzied hail of plasma bolts and needler rounds didn't strike the rock he was hiding behind.

Up on the bridge the Jackals were offering cover for their comrades below. While they ran for the bridge's underpass, they rained down fire upon Six's team. Garrus and Legion has already joined the Spartan by his side, keeping their heads low as fire rained down on them. They weren't able to get a clear shot, but someone up on the Jackals' level could.

Emile was already pushing forward towards the bridge, the mangled buckshot filled corpses of the covenant grunts merely stepping stones for him. As he advanced forward Grunt took up the rear. He kept his vision peeled on one end of the truck to the left. He had seen one of the elites duck behind it. Grunt initially thought it cowardly, until he was stuck from above with the butt end of a plasma rifle.

The elite had clambered over the top of the truck and then jumped down to close the distance with the giant gun toting space dinosaur below. To the alien's credit, Grunt admitted to himself inwardly that the blow had hurt like hell. He could feel it throbbing even through his plates. When he recovered from the blow he aimed his shotgun point blank at the elite and fired. But the Covie jumped sideways and away from the shot. The covie then struck out with a sideswiping punch. Grunt quickly activated his fortification function for his armour in an attempt to absorb the blow. It worked, sorta. It didn't hurt nearly as much as the last hit.

On the contrary it seemed to hurt the elite more. As Grunt backed away from the elite he could see the alien's fist was clenching tighter. He had hit a krogan forehead with his gun before, not with his own hand. Obviously, even for an elite, hitting the thick skull of krogan was incredibly painful. It didn't look broken though, so again credit where it was due. The elite finally decided to use his gun as it was intended at this point, recognizing fisticuffs would only get him so far. He fired a stream of plasma which the krogan armour and shields easily absorbed.

Grunt was now a full foot away from the elite, and with his krogan shotgun reloaded he prepared another round. He fired once more and again the shot missed. The elite tucked and rolled forward, missing the shot by inches. When he popped up again he thrust out his leg to kick Grunt square in the stomach.

Big mistake.

Grunt grabbed the elite by the leg with one arm, thrusted him upwards and then slammed him down into the earth once more. He slid the elite across the ground and tossed him into the overturned truck behind him. The covenant officer was clearly wounded from the tussle, he didn't get up right away for one, rolling into a kneeling position. He had left a large indentation in the truck, an imprint of the impact. Quickly, Grunt rushed over and slammed his foot onto the elite's back. He aimed his shotgun at the alien's head once more and fired.

"Knew I'd hit him eventually." He mused

Emile had gotten onto the bridge proper. He fired one buckshot blast into the first jackal, taking him down clean. His body was rocketed into his friend beside him, who turned just in time to have the butt of a shotgun delivered to his face. The third jackal raised his shield to Emile, only to have it assaulted with round after round of buckshot at close range. Unable to fully sustain his stance from the blows, the Jackal faltered. The opening was all Emile needed to get a clear shot and fire directly into the bird-assassin's torso.

The bridge was clear, the suppression lifted and in an instant all three of the pinned down members of Six's team leapt up. They all quickly picked their targets under the bridge itself, zeroed in and fired. The first kill was a grunt, a single shot to the head. The second was another grunt, taking a shot straight through the neck two seconds after. One enraged grunt rushed out with a grenade in hand intending to throw into the mini-sniper's nest. A third shot rang out, hitting dead center in the forehead. The grunt fell to the ground and the grenade fell amongst his comrades under the bridge. The explosion easily kill all three of the tightly packed in gas suckers.

"That one counts as four." Garrus quickly declared

The elite was still standing among the defenders under the bridge, his concussion rifle blazing like fire as he kept himself shrouded in darkness and constantly shifting positions. He wasn't about to make himself an easy target for the assortment of marksman staring him down. He was backed up by another elite armed with a needler rifle, both of them attempting to make up for their lost suppression squad up above. If they went down the remaining grunts would flee and become easy pickings.

Thankfully they had a little more help from on high. Emile tossed a few grenades down, not intending to kill the elites, but to disorient them. The explosions stopped the firing from the elites momentarily, forcing them behind cover. Enough time for Garrus. He rose up once more and surveyed the underpass. He found the elites hiding behind the beams of the bridges. He waited for one of them to get brazen enough to pop back out and then fired. The shot cut through to the covie's head, plopping him dead on the ground. The only elite that remained was the one with the concussion rifle. He stood behind his cover still, knowing three guns were trained on his position now. The only way out was to make a run for it.

He rolled to the side, firing off a few concussion shots before moving back. Bullets slung against his shields, fired from Six's DMR. He began to turned his heels and run, but the elite would not get far. A single well aimed shot struck him in the shoulder, delivered to him via Legion's Widow. The alien fell to the ground in pain, bleeding out from his shoulder. But it wasn't enough to stop him. He turned over on his back and fired another volley of concussive rounds.

The three snipers threw themselves up and over, out of their little nest and began a run towards the downed elite. Six fired several more shots into the wounded covie as he rushed forward. Eventually the alien's gun fell silent.

Already the grunts that remained alive were falling back. They screamed in fear as they traversed the hillside at the back of the underpass, heading up towards the road above them. As the trio chased them they could hear rapid gunfire from on high. They followed the grunts' path up the hill and watched as some of their mutilated bodies tumbled down into their path. Garrus jumped to the side as heavily perforated grunt rolled out in front of him. When they reached the top they found the obvious cause, Emile and Grunt, assault rifles in hand.

"I call that a successful engagement." Emile observed as the group reunited

"Yeah one kilometre down and about eight more to go," Six reminded him "plus I'm betting we got a lot of bad guys between us and there. We don't have time to deal with all of them."

Emile looked over his shoulder towards the little structure on the side of the road.

"Maybe we won't have to." He said

Everyone looked to where he was staring. Beside the building were two Mongoose ATVs, just waiting for them.

"We're gonna drive those little things through a veritable warzone?" Garrus asked perching his brow

"Scared Vakarian?" Emile asked

"No just making sure that's what we were doing." The turian replied smarmily as he walked past the Spartan "You're driving, I need a free hand to shoot with."

Strangely enough Emile's response to the rib was a good natured laugh in return. It was almost as if he had warmed to the turian. Or maybe he was thinking of an innuendo based on Garrus' words, no one could be sure.

* * *

><p>It was around now that Shepard sorta wished he had some kind of personal aircraft. The Vampire's presence had just made this whole undertaking even more risky. Its dual plasma cannons peppered the ground and nipped at their feet as they ran for cover among the construction materials and old equipment from the quarry. It hovered above them all like its name sake, keeping the squad disorganized.<p>

The only saving grace was that it seemed the aircraft's needler turret up top wasn't designed to engage enemy ground units. So at least that wasn't being turned against them. The Vampire wasn't the only threat they were now up against though. The blood pack, or what was left of it, had them surrounded and closed off within the quarry. The dome that now hovered above them insured no air support could reach them. The mercs themselves, aided by the covenant garrison were already forcing the Normandy team into a very small space within the quarry, slowly tightening the noose.

And all the while, Kreave ranted from his little flying saucer gunship, laughing or berating them all the way. It was enough to give Shepard a headache. It was almost as bad as the fact they were being shot at.

"I have to say Shepard you impressed me more often than not." Kreave called out as another volley of plasma raked at a large tractor where Mordin and Miranda were hiding. "Your krant is everything the vids proclaimed it was. You even killed my battlemasters, my versions of you! I guess nothing can compare to the original. Knowing that, you truly are worthy of dying by krogan hands."

Shepard grimaced as he rushed out of cover, trying to make it over to Miranda and Mordin. Plasma followed his stride, not just from the vampire but from pretty much every covenant or merc in the wuarry. A biotic shove pushed him forward, throwing in to the ground beside Mordin and Miranda.

"HA! You've been fighting non-stop for how long and you're still fast on your feet!" Kreave praised "Good to see that, makes this less one-sided."

"Says the arse in the gunship." Miranda grumbled before turning to Shepard "Commander, your number one fan is seriously trying my patience."

"Agreed." Mordin concurred "Constant praising of talents while attempting to kill us most annoying."

Shepard righted himself and placed his back against the tractor.

"I don't know where the loudspeakers on that thing are, if I did they wouldn't be functioning." He assured them "We need to tune him out either way. Our priorities are gaining back the momentum in this fight and shutting that portal down."

"We'll need more people if we're gonna make that happen. We are severely outnumbered." Miranda informed him "We need reinforcements, that means taking down or punching a hole in that dome above us."

Shepard looked above to the energy dome above their heads. Something that massive required a power source. It could be generated by the portal device itself, but something told Shepard that wasn't the case. He peered out, past the gun fire striking against the tractor towards the side of the portal device. He saw the field of strange pillar like objects he had previously spotted from a distance. The electrical arcing from one to another confirmed his suspicions that these were generators. They had to be what was powering the dome force field. Taking them out was now top priority if they were gonna beat off this ambush.

"I got an idea," Shepard told Miranda and Mordin "we need to cut the power. It will shut off the dome and give us a chance to call in support."

"And Kreave?" Miranda asked

"He's my problem. I'll worry about him for now." Shepard assured her.

He raised a hand to his radio and contacted the rest of the squad over over it. He hoped he could still transmit inside the dome, even if he couldn't get a signal from anyone else outside it.

"Squad, what's your sit rep?" he asked

"In the shit pan Commander." Jack's voice replied "Me and Lizard Lips here are pinned behind some pipes. Fucking blood pack got us zeroed."

"I'm with Zaeed and holding a barrier in place for us Shepard." Samara called in, her voice straining to speak "I am attempting to get us to a better position."

At least they were all still the game so far, although obviously struggling to remain so.

"Are you close to the generator field?" Shepard asked her

"Considerably." Samara responded, her voice still ragged.

"Okay then, get to there." He ordered "Miranda and Mordin will cover you. Jack, you got our other rocket launcher with you?"

"You know it." She replied

Good, they had that in their favour. Now he knew how this was gonna go down.

"Okay, I'm gonna see about getting those mercs off you" He told them "When you hear my signal aim for the Vampire and hit it hard."

"What's the signal?" Jack asked

"You'll know it when you see it." He assured her "Thane, you just be ready to assist Samara and Zaeed on their run for the generators okay?"

"I will Shepard." the drell promised "Just give me a clear unobstructed shot."

Now came the hard part of this plan, and it wasn't something he particularly liked either. Then again he came up with it.

"Get ready to move to better cover." He told Mordin and Miranda "Those shipping containers over there are a better position to assist Samara and Zaeed at."

"How do we get there without Kreave blasting us?" Miranda asked earnestly, not understanding the plan. She did however when Shepard stood up and propped the grenade launcher into his hands.

"I told you, he's my problem." He said

Shepard ran out before Lawson could argue against his stupid plan. Kreave wanted him so badly, fine. Let him focus his attention on him. Let him continue to ignore the people around him. That would be his undoing. He'd let the krogan's idolization of him doom him.

As predicted plasma licked at Shepard's heels as he ran. His fellow blood pack soldiers joined in, spiking Shepard's sheilds with plasma bolts. One concussive shot however did the most damage. It got too close to Shepard and the commander was flung from the force into a stack of crates. He slammed his back hard into it, his shields now downed, but at least he was in cover.

His eyes travelled to a covenant platform above on the quarry ledge. Krogan were on the ledge proper, skirmishers up top on the hovering snipers' nest itself. Both groups were shooting at a series of pipes. That was his target. He levelled the grenade launcher at the ledge and fired several shots from it. The explosives hit their targets sending krogan tumbling down to the quarry floor and the debris of the smashed hover platform with them. As the covenant and mercs slammed against the rocks Kreave spoke once more.

"Even you can't get them all Shepard." he declared "We're far too many for you to kill. It's inevitable, destiny if you will. I'm going to become the greatest krogan that ever lived. Nothing can change that now."

And this was the part of the plan Shepard actually liked.

"Oh come off it Kreave!" he shouted up at the Vampire "Even if you do kill me there's a far better Krogan back home. Trust me, he'll rip every one of your organs out personally and then display them for all to see. He's a hell of a lot tougher than you. Face it. There is no part of this where you end up on top. None!"

The blood pack leader was of course unmoved.

"If you think you can suddenly scare me off Shepard you're mistaken." Kreave assured his words growing heavy and prideful once more as he continued "I was born for great things. Tremendous things! You know why I left Tuchanka in the first place? Because I was too big for it, too big for some stupid clan mired in its petty traditions and backwards thinking. I turned my arm of the Blood Pack into the fiercest most tactically inclined mercenaries alive. I've led them for 400 some odd years in some of the greatest wars imaginable while my old clan sits and rots on some worthless pile of rock. Infighting with each other and complaining about our lot in life. But me? I'm actually carrying on the legacy of the rebellions. I'm fighting! Actually fighting! How many of my species can say the same? I'm true krogan, and when I kill you I'll be even more so."

Plasma bolts rocked Shepard's cover. He hadn't gotten under his skin yet, but these things sometimes took a bit of doing. Saren had showed him that.

"True krogan? You can't face me on equal terms!" Shepard shouted out "You need to cheat to win. Just like the Turians and Salarians with their genophage!"

"That was a disease, this is a real weapon!" Kreave shouted aloud, obviously offended at the accusation "I'm not using lab borne illnesses to defeat you. This is just a bigger gun than yours. Like you wouldn't do the same if our positions were reversed. This is what war is! Don't pretend you don't understand that."

"You don't understand anything Kreave," Shepard responded with a vitriolic tone "let alone me. If you really were a fan you wouldn't be doing any of this for your own selfish quest for power. You're just another wannabe warlord krogan with a self-entitlement issue and a Napoleon complex, nothing more! I've killed plenty of your kind and before this day is out I'll do it again."

Shepard ducked low as a stream of plasma cascaded upon him. The vampire crept forward now, edging ever closer to the Commander. Realising he had out worn his stay at these crates he took off running. Plasma bit at his shields as he made a dash for a set of forklifts by some rocks. He leapt through the driver's open side and pressed himself against the rocks. A single plasma round struck his armour in the shoulder as he dodged over. Luckily the blow was absorbed, but the residual heat still hurt like hell. He was getting slower, the strain of the constant fighting taking its toll.

"I've studied everything about you Shepard!" Kreave shouted in anger "I know you! Your moves, your tactics! Hell I even know your favourite food and brand of alcohol! I know everything! I know you're thinking of shutting down the generators right about now. I know you think distracting me with this nonsense is gonna give your people an advantage. Well it won't! Because my men know you're reserved for me! They're still gonna fire on your people and pick up the slack! They're still not gonna make it! They won't shut down the dome! I win! Because I know! I know everything about you Shepard! Everything!"

At least Shepard's plan was partially working. Along with the ranting you could clearly hear the seething heaving breathes of anger through the Vampire's loudspeakers. He was wise to what Shepard was doing, but even though Kreave had planned for it didn't mean it had gone up in smoke. He still had the Krogan's little reptilian mind focused on him.

"You know what I can do, but you never asked yourself why Kreave. Why do I do them in the first place?" Shepard began "The fact is, I'm not doing any of this for myself, unlike you. I'm not fighting for the sake of fighting, I have a higher purpose. I'm not some mad dog who only cares about himself. I'm fighting for people, their lives not mine! If you had actually learned anything from me it should've been that. Not how many mercs and monsters I can bulldoze over, but how many people I can say I saved. That's where real self-worth comes from, saving life rather than taking it! You followed my exploits but not my example. You're just a dumbass thug that doesn't know JACK-squat, Kreave."

Another volley from the vampire slammed into the forklift. Shepard rushed to the other end of the rock as the small vehicle started to burn. He ducked in between the rocks as the forklift blew up, sending debris and shrapnel flying.

"I know I've got your cornered and pinned." Kreave informed him "That's enough for me."

The Vampire swung around and targeted Shepard's position among the rocks. Shepard stood up and stared at the flying craft unafraid of its looming shadow.

"This time stay dead Shepard!" Kreave demanded

But before Kreave could fire a shot, the Vampire was rocked with a series of explosions on his rear. Rockets collided into the covenant aircraft, rocking the alien gunship. Jack stood out in the open a few feet away near the pipes. Her rocket launcher was slung over her back and still smoking.

"Not as strong as the UNSC's, but still packs a punch." Jack said slapping the slender little tube of the weapon "Clever little signal commander."

Shepard had used the bombardment to put some distance between him and Kreave. They hadn't killed the Vampire, but at the very least they had hurt him. The back of the vampire was slightly smoking from the shots. An angry growl came over the loudspeakers as a blue shimmer slowly crept over the whole craft.

"Mass effect-based shields, vampires aren't supposed to have them. I insisted this one get some upgrades" Kreave explained "I should've had them up from the start, but I wanted to try and give you a sporting chance. Changed my mind, now you're gonna have to get through them, Shepard."

Kreave turned his Vampire around to face Jack, who was already running for cover when the plasma was turned on him. Shepard fired a series of grenades from his launcher to assist her escape. The attack sparked against the shields and Kreave quickly took off, away from the fight as they started to go down. He couldn't face two people with heavy weapons like that on both ends. Too risky, for if he fired on one it would give the other a chance to open up.

Kreave would have to rethink his strategy. Shepard just hoped he had given his team enough leeway to get to the generators in time.

* * *

><p>Holding up a biotic bubble was not as easy as you thought. An extended barrier's density had to be maintained for a lengthy period of time to keep enemy attacks out. Especially if those attacks consisted of plasma, which was only partially solid based. At least without the threat of a gunship they had an easier time getting over the terrain.<p>

It helped that they had back-up of course. While Samara held up the biotic bubble, Zaeed called out enemy targets for the others to take down. All the significant threats were covering the quarry walls, so there was no shortage of targets to hit. The problem was finding the worst offenders in the sea of gunfire.

There were krogan crowding a scaffolding section along the western wall. Raining down plasma upon the barrier bubble, each hit made Samara's teeth clench tighter to maintain the density. Zaeed called out the coordinates for Thane.

"Scaffolding! West wall! Shoot!"

A flurry of shredder rounds shot out from over near a stack of pipes. Two slammed directly into the head of one Krogan causing him to fall clean off the platform. Another couple of rounds cut into one of the Krogan's arms, stopping his firing. A final series of shots however sliced into the screwed in connection between the scaffolding and the wall itself. One end gave way and suddenly the platform began to tumble down the side of the quarry wall, it's occupants in tow.

The brief reprieve was interrupted with fire from on top of the portal device itself. Jackals plus one elite were now engaging them. If only Samara could relinquish the shield for a moment and attack them, but this out in the open the other blood pack soldiers taking shots at them would find them easy prey. The strain of the constant attacks soon proved too much for the bubble to withstand, but Samara was ready for that. She tossed down a bubble shield device onto the ground and let her biotic powers wane. Both she and Zaeed were now protected by UNSC technology, but it wouldn't last forever. They were just a few yards away from the generators, they could make a run for it if they tried.

A plasma grenade went off a few meters in front of their bubble shield, the shockwave made Samara jump a bit. It brought the gravity of the events back to her senses. She looked exhausted, even more so than during the Collector base mission. Holding that level of density in a biotic barrier was just too straining to keep up for long.

As Zaeed tried to steady Samara, concussive shots rung against the shield, threatening to tear it down with each hit struck. The fire was due in part to a cavalcade of Vorcha hidden among some covenant supply cases close to the generators.

"We need them dead already people!" Zaeed shouted into his radio "All of them! Now!"

The call was heeded as a biotic pull forced one Jackal off the portal device's roof. An incineration blast struck one Jackal in the side, burning him alive. As the flaming corpse fell to earth an overload charge hit the Elite, killing his shields. He remained resolute, still firing on the asari and grizzled mercenary below him. Until of course a bullet struck him clean in the head. One dead elite slumped to the ground.

Zaeed knew where each shot came from. He looked over to Mordin and Miranda's position, still out of cover and their guns pointed their way. It would've been a happy sight... if not for what he saw a few feet away from them. His eyes picked up a pack of grunts armed with fuel rod cannons moving through the quarry.

"Lawson! Solus! Left Flank!"

The pair looked, but whether it was enough to save them Zaeed wasn't sure. The fuel rod cannons discharged and green bolts of energy hurtled towards them. They ran from their cover as the attacks fell down, whether they got out in time Zaeed wasn't sure. He was interrupted by what was happening to his front.

The vorcha were still attacking, their concussion rifles still blazing red. Soon however that all changed, as two powerful warp attack struck two of the three vorcha, halting their suppression fire for a momentary instant. In the next instant a shockwave rocketed through their ranks and Jack followed up on it, her shotgun flaring.

That was their cue, Samara and Zaeed bolted from their cover and ran to the generators. Zaeed fired upon the cliffs loaded with hostiles as they ran. As they approached the generators an contingent of krogan and stood to greet them, their guns levelled at the asari and mercenary. But Samara was more than prepared, using her reserve strength she thrust out a powerful biotic wave that cascaded across their path and slung the krogan far and wide across the field. They collapsed to the ground in pain or smashed into other generators where the electrical charge did the rest. Their crispy charred forms fell to the earth as the dented transformers they smashed into continued to spark and flicker.

Well they had made it, now they just had to shut the place down somehow.

* * *

><p>The longer this drive took the more Kowalski worried. They were on a time limit, the Autumn was not gonna wait for them, especially if they didn't know they were coming and had no way of contacting them for the time being. They didn't know if they would even be there still. The only good thing they could say so far was that they had beaten off the banshees. They lost six hogs in their convoy and all the men aboard, but they had beaten them off. Not much of a victory as it just seemed to be once again prolonging the inevitable.<p>

Fears of aerial combatants soon dissipated however, as a new threat reared its ugly head. They had entered Aszod a little over thirty minutes ago and had reached what should've been a sign of civilization. Instead it was sign of the destruction the Covenant had wreaked upon the area. A small town called Pleasantgate Pass, or rather what was left of it, separated them from the canyon trails just beyond that would lead them to the ship breaking yards. The smoky burnt out buildings and half scorched welcome sign at the entrance to the little town were all that showed that people used to live here.

The streets were clogged with burning hulks of cars and debris. The roads rapidly turned into a funnel, forcing everyone into a straight almost gridlocked single file line. It all screamed one thing, ambush. As such pretty much everyone was dead silent. As for Kowalski he kept his eyes glued to the windows of the building husks above. He was looking for any sign of movement, something that would warn him of the Covenant lurking within.

"Don't you dare say it." He suddenly said

"Say what?" Pearson asked confused

"That they left," Kowalski clarified "don't say they left okay?"

Pearson just shrugged and continued driving. He wasn't gonna argue with Kowalski on the matter, not when he was just as tense as he was. His hand was gripped to the wheel and his foot ready to step on the gas the second plasma fire erupted. No one liked this place, no one wanted to stay. They just needed to get out of this town and towards the canyon. They'd be better off in the canyon.

Eventually Kowalski spotted the first sign of trouble. Up ahead he saw something swivelling in the window. He didn't wait to speak up after the fact.

"Left side! Second floor!" he shouted out

Almost as if on cue the plasma turret opened up on the warthogs. Suddenly everyone was pushing their accelerator and revving their engines forward. Four minutes in the town and they had already out stayed their welcome. Ellingham targeted the plasma turret with the machine gun and opened up. The already scorched concrete broke apart under the hail of bullets as the grunt gunner died under a hail of bullets. But he was the least of their worries now.

As soon as the turret had opened up the Covenant came barrelling out of the wood work. Their plasma guns filled the road as the warthogs gunned it through the crowded streets There was little one could do but fire back, hope you hit someone and got them before they got you. To say it got disorienting fast was understatement. Every corner, every rooftop, every window could hide another enemy and while you were busy focusing on him another could appear where previously there had been none.

Kowalski did his best to remain calm. He levelled his assault rifle along his side and just hoped Pearson kept his foot on the accelerator. They sped past a small diner and popping up from the windows as they passed were grunts carrying needlers. As the pink projectiles struck their vehicle Kowalski fired back, raking the diner with a full clip of bullets. The rounds shredded the leather seats and counter. It cut apart one of the grunts not fast enough to duck or get out of the way. Another spray connected with a grunt's methane pack as he ran. The pack erupted and sent him hurtling into the back wall.

Ellingham in the meantime focused on the rooftops and windows above. They were loaded with badguys, mostly skirmishers and elites. As the convoy headed down the main street, one skirmisher rushed across the rooftops, plasma pistols in hand jumping from building to building, chasing the convoy like a bird on a mission. Ellingham target the speeding covenant assassin, but the shields on his wrists seemed to deflect the shots thrown his way. It soon occurred to the private aiming for a body shot was the wrong way to go. So he lowered the gun and raked the alien's knees. The alien tumbled forward, falling off the edge of the roof as he did. Clean kill, if there was one.

Up ahead in the column Ramirez was keeping his head down as they drove through the streets. Plasma bounced off the hood of the car as they kept moving, the armour the only thing keeping the engine from melting. Agley was screaming like a mad man, not in fear, but in complete abstract frustration at it all.

"Fucking everywhere! Always fucking everywhere!" he shouted incoherently

Sgt. Taylor was considerably more calm than most, his shotgun dealing out damage along their route. As an Elite fired from on a balcony down on them he turned his gaze upwards and fired three consecutive rounds point blank. The alien toppled over in front of their hog, slamming against the hood before rolling off and getting crushed by the tires.

"Shit!" Ramirez shouted, as the speeding vehicle bumped over the dead alien officer.

Agley kept firing his gun regardless of the madness around him, almost blind to everything else except the windows and roofs. His bullets found an elite armed with a focus rifle. He got off a single sustained ion shot. It bounced off the chain gun's shield, but the close call made Agley jump in abject fright. He regained his composure quick enough to train his sights on the alien and unload as many rounds as he could into the covie's body. He fell back onto his roof, riddled with bullets.

Up ahead a group of Covenant behind an overturned car kept the fire up on their Hog and others passing by. That couldn't stand. Taylor tapped Ramirez on the shoulder.

"Ramirez!" he said "Launcher! Now!"

Ramirez ripped the grenade launcher off his back, not caring about the holding strap all that much. Taylor took it and aimed down range at the car. He fired one shot and watched the explosive lob over to the car. The vehicle exploded, it's still half full gas tank erupting. The two grunts were killed, the single Elite remained alive. As the hog pulled up beside him Taylor fired two buckshot rounds clean into the Elite's chest, taking him out for good.

Back in Kowalski's hog, Ellingham was raking everything along both sides of the column. He fired up along the road towards a small two story ship just as an elite burst through the door. The alien was struck with dozen or so rounds before he fell back into the building, bleeding out from every hole in his body. Abut as he looked up he saw a truly dreadful sight. Appearing right before the convoy was a massive wall of scrapped cars and few dozen portable energy fields. Not to mention a couple of Covenant platforms hovering above the streets. They had turned it on at the last second, blocking their path.

"Turn! Turn!" Jensen's voice cried out over the radio "Go right! Now!"

Plasma bolts erupted from the roadblock as the convoy turned a hard right onto the main road in town. Their only way out was to head down this path which according to the imposing building at the end would lead them straight to city hall in the central square.

As they rounded the corner and made their way forward once more, an elite with a concussion rifle stepped out and fired at the warthogs. One of the shots hit their tire and the vehicle swerved out of line. Kowalski griped to his seat as Pearson tried to regain control and not smash into the vehicles in front of him. Ellingham turned his attention to the alleyway, nipping at the elite's heels as he bid a hasty retreat.

Kowalski sat himself back straight as the convoy kept rolling. Another plasma turret poked out of its window from on high. Kowalski raked the window with fire as they passed, cutting the gunner down as they passed. He looked forward, poking his head up over the windshield and out. On a roof up ahead he saw two grunts with fuel rod cannons readying to fire.

"Ellingham!" He shouted up at his fellow private

Ellingham looked to the rooftop and saw the fuel rod packing grunts. He aimed his gun at them and opened up. His initial bullets however leaned too far to the left, striking an electrical transformer along the side of a building. The spark rained down on the convoy, the real damage came from the flash. One grunt, blinded by it, slung himself back and his shot hit the building on the opposite side of the street. Hogs scrambled to avoid the falling debris and Ellingham quickly refocused on the heavy weapon packing gas suckers. He raked the rooftop with enough bullets that there wasn't much left of the alien cannon fodder when he was done.

As they closed in on city hall the whole building opened up with plasma fire of every colour. This was what the Covenant had been pushing them towards with that roadblock, another damn trap within a trap. But in the open square and with a bit more room to move around the hogs could jockey for position as they made their way onto a side street. Colonel Jensen, seated beside his driver order his gunner to open up everything on city hall.

"Level it!" were his exact words

The gauss cannon gunner did just that, igniting the building and biting huge chunks out of it with every successive shot. Concrete crumbled to the ground and Covenant were rocketed into the back of the building. But wasn't the only surprise waiting for the humans as they made their way out of town on the final stretch of road. As they exited the square a hunter scrambled out of the darkened alley, his gun levelled towards the column of warthogs. As he fired upon the convoy, Jensen issued another order.

"Run him down!"

His driver looked to the commander shocked for a moment, but did as he said. The gunner kept up the fire on the walking colony of worms as they careened towards it. As predicted the alien turtled himself with his massive shield. The gauss exploded against it without much effect, but when the warthog neared he raised his shield in attempt to slam it down upon the vehicle. The momentum of the hog was good enough and the hunter's proximity to a building close enough, that when the warthog hit him the vehicle pinned the hunter to the wall. The Gauss runner unloaded everything he had as did Jensen with his pistol. Orange blooded splashed against the windshield as the driver frantically put the vehicle into reverse, trying to get away from the monster before it recovered. Thankfully by the time he pulled away the beast fell dead, face first.

The convoy quickly rolled out of the town and back onto the main road, the canyon pass before them beckoning. Kowalski, and anyone else that could, slumped back in their chairs to take brather, they knew it wouldn't last long.

"Don't you dare make a quip about fighting city hall either." He told Pearson.

"That moment passed pretty quickly," the corporal assured "you can't make a quip like that after your commanding officer has rammed a fucking hunter. It seems so trite by that point to be honest."

That was a reasonable enough response Kowalski supposed. Another leg of their journey was down either way. Now, they just had to make it through the canyon.

* * *

><p>For looking like giant lumbering lizard, krogan could run surprisingly fast. Emile and Six struggled for their ATV to keep up Grunt as he took off down the road. When Legion had paired up with Six and Garrus Emile, both taking their respective backseats, Grunt didn't seem to mind he'd have to walk. In fact the preferred it, saying:<p>

"I'm faster on my own anyway."

Right now he was proving himself correct. As the krogan bounded across the road, keeping up with the twists and turns taken, the mongooses strained to keep up with him. Meanwhile Garrus kept his assault rifle handy, as did Legion. While no enemies had appeared to challenge them they knew that state wouldn't last forever.

"So who wants to bet we got at least an encampment of them ahead of us?" Garrus asked

"Probably just a bunch of wraiths, nothing we can't just pass on by." Emile figured

"That force at the bridge looked like an advanced scouting squad." Added Six "I'm expecting some significant roadblocks ont he trail ahead at least."

It turned none of them would be right. When they turned the corner they found Grunt stopped dead in the road, staring at the sight ahead of them. It was a large field, spanning from here to the cliff edge. In their way dropping from the sky with a tremendous thunderclap, was a towering four legged walking tank, standing high above the ground and peering it's wicked down at those below. A scarab and looking past it they could see another. It shook the ground when it landed, rippling the very rocks beneath it. Next to plummet from the sky were covenant orbital insertion pods, carrying with them whole squads of covenant soldiers. This was one fight they didn't want to get involved in.

"Well shit." Emile said looking at the scene in awe.

Cresting over the ridge soon after their arrival was a pelican, Carter's. It barrelled towards one of the scarabs, firing a chain gun at the massive vehicle. It didn't do any sort of damage, but it was enough to keep's mind off the ATVs below its feet.

"Do not engage! Continue the mission!" Carter ordered "I'll keep them off you! Just go!"

No wasted any time arguing. The ATVs and the krogan sprinted off down the road as a covenant drop pod landed off to the side. The mongooses remained on the road as the plasma bolts sailed towards them. Legion fired his geth assault rifle at the enemy, taking down two grunts as they passed. Grunt took a more direct approach, ramming through an elite as he stepped out of the pod. He didn't stick to the road he ran straight for the slope down to the next hill. No sense in taking the longer winding route when your mission was to get through it right?

The scarab turned from the road firing upon the pelican as he dove once more at the massive vehicle and took off again. The distraction allowed the ATVs to turn a hard right along the road and keep going unmolested. As they moved down the road Grunt catapulted himself over the edge of the slope, landed square in the middle of the road and kept going straight off the other slope. Garrus never thought he'd see the bloodthirsty tank-born so quick to run away from a fight, but he wasn't gonna argue that the krogan super-soldier had wised up.

Up ahead another drop pod fell to earth, carrying more Covenant. Garrus pointed his assault rifle ahead of them and fired two bursts of bullets, taking down two grunts as they stepped out. Emile and Six didn't stay to finish them off, they were already turning the corner by the time the bodies had fallen to the ground. When they rounded it they found the other scarab staring them in the face. Grunt was already passing beneath it and soon it was their turn. They could see the heavy weapon of the four legged monster beginning to charge as they approached.

"We advise increased acceleration!" Legion quickly announced, Six followed the advice as did Emile.

They sped between the legs of the massive covenant super-weapon as a beam of light struck the road. The massive crater it made left no doubt how easily it would've killed them had they been in its path. They continued along the, passing under the monstrosity's belly. When they came out of it and turned they saw Grunt once more on the road ahead. He had grabbed a jackal in the middle of his run it seemed and was punting him off the side of the cliff. He roared once and continued to run up the road, covenant firing on him as he did so.

Legion used the opportunity to target one of the Elites. A few well placed shots cut deep into the shields and flesh of the Covenant officer as they shot out. The ATVs soon sped past the covenant and continued along the road. Up ahead they entered into a tunnel and found Grunt, moving slower now, but still at an agreeable pace.

"Enjoying your workout?" Garrus asked him

"Nice to stretch my legs more I guess." He said "Little annoying that we're running from a fight but, well..."

"No shame in ditching a battle when the enemy is in a four legged walking tank you can't even beging to fight." Emile assured

The conversation was interrupted as they exited the tunnel, plasma bolts cut across the road. They looked and saw a phantom speeding past them to left. Once more they gunned it as the plasma fire trailed after them. It was coming from a grunt gunner on the side of the aircraft and it was getting closer. Legion took aim once again, pointing a good ten or so meters ahead of the phantom as they sped along. They fired six or so shots, four of them reached the intended target. It was enough. The grunt collapsed back into the ship just as they reached a rocky archway. The phantom broke off, but coming into view was another obstacle. A bridge, one with a large gasp across it's center.

"Bridge is out!" Emile shouted "Gonna have to jump it!"

The ATVs sped forward, this time overtaking Grunt. The krogan pushed harder to catch up. The two vehicles reached their maximum speed as soon as they reached the bridgehead. Both rocketed off the edge of the destroyed bridge and flew for about five seconds. They then began to fall back to the ground.

Emile's ride tipped too far to the right, broke it's axel on touchdown and tipped over hard. Both the Spartan and turian were thrown clear of the crash, sliding along the pavement as the ATV continued to roll across the road. They kept their arms tucked in as they hit the ground, rolling to a stop shortly after. Six and Legion were a bit luckier, swerving to a stop as they crashed down. Besides a terrible head jerk there was no real damage.

Amazingly the same could be said of Garrus and Emile, who got up slowly but otherwise unharmed by their ordeal.

"Nice driving." Garrus chided

"Woulda made it without your excess weight." Emile jabbed back

At that moment Grunt made his own jump, catapulting himself off the edge of the bridge towards the rest of the team. Seeing a krogan fly was a rare occurrence, even if it was only for about five or so seconds. Unfortunately for Grunt he didn't get nearly as far as the ATVs. The giant reptile crashed into the side of the bridge's edge and clawed at the pavement to stay on. Everyone rushed over to grab the krogan's arms. Together with the added strength of two Spartans, a Geth and a Turian they managed to hoist the bulky warrior lizard to safety.

Grunt was heaving after the ordeal, resting on his knees for the moment.

"What a rush." He stated at last

As Grunt recovered the phantom that had fired upon the team before flew over them. It was headed towards what looked like a motor pool of some kind among the rocks. They could see now it was hefting a wraith tank under it. Off to the side they could see a Covenant hover platform, which only confirmed that this place was no longer in human hands.

"This day is becoming a damn triathlon." Emile groaned "Guns, racing and now tank killing."

"Least we aren't getting bored." Mused Six.

As they approached the motor pool they could hear grumbling and roaring of a familiar sort. This motor pool turned covenant outpost was not run by elites.

"Yeah, never boring." Emile agreed.

* * *

><p>Miranda opened her eyes finally as the ringing in her ears subsided. The blast had knocked her off her feet, but her armour protected her. It was good thing she switched out of that jumpsuit wear a good while back since Viery. In this fight under-dressing was gonna get someone killed. Mordin was close by from what she could see slowly coming to his own senses. When she looked up she could see the plasma was still flying around her, trying to cut down their small little band. They really had stepped in it this time.<p>

But just because she was down that didn't mean she was out. As she stared up at the sky, trying to regain her sense of feeling she saw the familiar form of a certain bald biotic appear over her, firing her shotgun like mad in front. She turned down to the downed ex-Cerberus operative and held out her hand.

"Get up cheerleader!" she ordered "You know how much I hate saving your ass."

Miranda took Jack's hand and allowed herself to be picked up. She took a moment to steady herself before rushing over to Mordin and getting him to his own feet. The Salarian was dizzy, but more or less okay. As plasma struck out towards them the team rushed to a nearby bulldozer for cover.

"Thanks for the save." Miranda said graciously to Jack as they arrived

"Well if you died your damn ghost probably would've kept nagging me from the grave and shit." Jack explained "Couldn't have that crap bugging me."

"Whatever you say." Miranda replied "So how we doing?"

Jack leaned out of cover and fired off a few warp rounds from her pistol. She ducked back into cover as heated plasma struck the side of the vehicle.

"Thane's picking them off one by one, but the fuckers are getting wise." Jack explained "Won't be long before they just start confronting us directly. Sammy and Zaeed got to the generators. So there's that. Last saw Shepard by some kind of crane near the device. Fanboy is still chasing his ass."

Of course he was, well nothing to do but buy him and the others some time she supposed.

"We're gonna need to clear some of the bastards off the walls fast, give us some breathing room." Miranda told Jack.

"Only one thing I know can do that." Jack reminded her

She looked to the Cain strapped to Miranda's back, it was a risky move and they knew. They only had three shots between all three of the Cains. If they used them they would have to count for something.

"Okay, one shot." Miranda agreed "But whatever we hit needs to kill more than just two or three of the bastards."

Jack nodded and contacted Thane over the radio.

"Hey, Drell, we need you to spot us a wall with a lot of fuckers to nuke clean off its side." She told him

"I will manage." Thane assured her.

Thane spied the area they wanted to clear. They would need to hit a good spot, one that could cause the most damage to the Blood Pack and Covenant defenders. There was a group of elites on one ledge, armed with needler rifles from the look of it. A little above and to the left were krogan firing assault rifles down on Miranda's group's position currently. Below them grunts with fuel rod cannons, lobbing their deadly cargo down at the ground. Thane looked above all of them to a large outcropping in the quarry wall. Two shade turrets were stationed there, spitting out plasma bolts like there was no tomorrow. Thane noticed that the rocks above stretched out just a little farther, supports were behind the shade turrets themselves, seeming to hold it in place. When Covenant took over the quarry they apparently had caught the human works in the middle of the job.

"I have a target." Thane contacted the others "There are some shade turrets near the very top of the wall."

Miranda eyed the very turrets Thane had pointed out. She got the idea more or less. Hefting the cain in her arms she looked to Jack and Mordin.

"Cover me," she told them "this thing will need some time to charge and I need good shot."

"Just don't waste half your ammo on it alright." Jack reminded her

Miranda pressed her finger on the trigger as soon as she rushed from cover. The Cain hummed to life, a sickly orange light building up its maw. Mordin and Jack in the meantime fired on the wall full of enemies. A warp attack slammed into one of the Krogan mercs, igniting his armour. One the grunts hunched over as neural shock ravaged his systems. They kept focus on the bulldozer the two were hiding behind and ignored the one human and her red hot glowing weapon.

Miranda had to admit, she always kinda wanted to fire this gun. She just hoped her shot wasn't wasted. She took aim at the rocks above, hoping she wasn't off, and fired. The devastatingly powerful condensed mass round shot out of the tube. A miniature fat man with none of the radiation or electromagnetic pulse that came with the real thing now cruised straight towards the Covenant shade turrets. They only spotted it when it was too late. The blast rocked the side of the quarry wall, obliterating the entire ledge of existence along with the shades on top of it. The unstable rocks above began to collapse and soon a full-fledged rockslide began. The krogan, the elites, the grunts with fuel rod cannons and three other positions were crushed by the collapsing debris. Several more units nearby and on the ground found themselves caught up in the collapse as well.

Miranda backed away from the falling rocks as fast as she could. Even if she was a good several feet away she didn't want to risk it. Rockslides were incredibly unpredictable after all. When the dust finally settled a huge portion of the left side of the quarry had been cleared of enemies. They had a bit of breathing room.

It didn't last for long though. As Miranda recovered her bearings from her run plasma pistol bolts started firing on her. Jackals had moved up from the back of the quarry in an attempt to reinforce the area. Their shields held high they rushed over the collapsed and broken bits of the quarry wall, edging closer to Miranda and the others with each step.

Miranda returned fire and fell back to the cover of the bulldozer with the others. She had done what she could to relieve the pressure, now it was up to Shepard and the others to deal with this dome. They had bought themselves some time, but they still had to even out this fight and soon.

* * *

><p>Samara and Zaeed moved among the generators cautiously. With the fighting still so close and the plasma fire still ringing in their ears they were constantly reminded that this place wasn't any safer than the front of the portal device. In fact with so many electrical transformers all lined up so neatly together it was even more dangerous. The burnt remains of the krogan they had left back where they first entered were a testament to that. Getting too close to one of these things and getting in the way of its current was fatal.<p>

"So should we just start these things and the get the hell outta here?" Zaeed asked the asari

"That will take too long." The Justicar replied "We must find a way to overload all of these generators at once. A chain reaction would suffice."

Sounded like a better idea to Zaeed, plus they'd use less bullets. Question was how were they gonna overload all these generators or destroy in some spectacular fashion. That wasn't something either of them were trained in.

"Starting to wish the quarian was here." Zaeed mused "She would've figured this out already and we'd be back aboard the ship getting drinks."

"We will make do without her." Samara assured, quickly thinking back to when they first encountered this shield above them. "If this dome is anything like the spire than the residual energy required for it must be focused and distributed through a singular source, a pylon or conduit perhaps."

The asari if this hunch was right it meant, hopefully, that it looked different enough from everything else in this field of generators to give them an idea of what to shoot. It also gave her an idea of where to look, right in the center of all these pulsating electrical devices. It didn't take long to get to where they needed to get there and when they did Samara's prediction proved right.

In the center of the generators was indeed a large slender shaped violet pillar, pulsating with blue lights. Energy seemed to flow in from its top, a crown of spikes surrounding it sucking the energy in as it flowed around it. The base of the pillar was a rounded sphere-like block, with several flashing neon rings surrounding it.

Yes, this was the pylon they were looking for.

"Alright, so we just shoot this thing and that's it right?" Zaeed asked

"That will simply turn it off." Samara told him "We have no guarantee that it will cause a catastrophic failure and destroy the rest of the generators. The Covenant will no doubt have a back-up system in place to refocus the power to the dome."

Made sense, why would the Inquisitor and his alien buddies leave anything to chance? So Zaeed tabled the shooting idea again. He supposed the other option was to manually overload the system, give it more power than it could handle and then make it blow. Again, something the Quarian would be better at than him. Still, Samara wouldn't have brought them here if she didn't have a plan. Zaeed noticed how she was looking to the top and bottom of the pylon, contemplating a strategy.

"A sudden direct and catastrophic failure of the device would more than likely reverse the flow of energy back into the generators." She surmised "It would cause a chain reaction through each of them, culminating in the entire field's destruction."

Zaeed perched an eyebrow at the plan as it honestly seemed to come out of nowhere.

"Didn't know you were a tech expert Sammy." Zaeed complemented

"I am not." Samara informed him "To be truthful I am, as humans say, winging this."

"So... you don't even know if it will work?" Zaeed asked nervously

The asari stared back at him with a slight frown and inquiring look.

"Do you have a better suggestion?" she asked

Zaeed gave it about two seconds thought before he threw up his at the question.

"Whatever, blow the thing up, gotcha." He finally agreed "So, should I strap grenades to the superstructure or..."

"We will need sufficient time to escape the field before it goes critical." Samara told him "Which is why we will need something with more range."

Samara looked to the Cain on her back, the action instantly making Zaeed a bit concerned.

"We only got three shots Sammy," Zaeed reminded her "shouldn't we save it for the portal device?"

"We won't breech the portal device if you do not get this shield down." Samara replied adamantly "It is our only course of..."

Samara suddenly stopped, her eyes darting around the area. Zaeed was about to ask her what was wrong, but then he heard it too. Light wheezing, gasping among the groan of the generators... and the plodding of little stubby feet. Zaeed went for his assault rifle once more and Samara suddenly threw up a biotic barrier to their left. A fuel rod blast exploded against it, forcing both Normandy crew members backwards slightly. Even with the barrier up the shock of the attack made them jump a bit.

When the green haze cleared two grunts, the same group that had attacked Miranda and the others most likely were revealed. Their heavy green gas masks and large cannon hefted on their shoulders still made the little methane breathers as threatening as they were when they first encountered them just hours ago in Halsey's cavern. The fact they were ballsy enough to track and flank the two of them inside these generators also told Zaeed that the scary look wasn't just for show. These little guys actually had spines.

Well if they wanted a fight they got one. Zaeed opened up on the little space midgets. Both of them quickly ducked behind the generators for safety. They fired another round at the two just before they did so. Samara and Zaeed were forced to copy their covenant aggressors and seek cover too. The blast continued on, smashing into generator and causing sparks to burst outward from it as the machine exploded with electrical energy. A singular generator doing so wouldn't light up the whole field of course. The pylon was the only thing that could overload them all. Still, Zaeed remarked on the stupidity of the grunts regardless.

"Little bastards got guts, but they're still stupid as hell." He remarked "They keep firing like this they're gonna do half our job for us."

Samara concurred with the merc's assessment. It was why the Covenant hadn't tried to fire on them while they were in here. They didn't want to risk damaging their vital equipment. They were probably sending in more delicate assault teams to track them down if they hadn't already, these two found them first though. Which, when she thought about it a bit more, played to their advantage.

"If we can take one of their fuel rod cannons we can use that instead of the Cain to destroy the pylon." She surmised

"Well saves us a shot and gets these assholes off our backs." Zaeed agreed "Gonna need a clear go at them though."

"I will only need a moment." Samara confidently replied as she walked out of cover towards the position of the grunts. One of the little gas suckers stepped out, taking aim at her the fuel rod cannon. Samara once again readied a barrier in front of her, letting the shot collide with her biotics. She kept on walking forward as another shot struck her barrier. The hits took a toll on her concentration and amp, but she powered through it. She just needed to get close enough to them.

As another fuel rod shot came at her she ducked in between one of the generators for cover the attack sailing right past her. Another fuel rod blast was launched towards the generator itself. She figured they'd be that stupid. Once again, Samara rolled out of cover just as the attack struck. Sparks and electricity were sent flying all over the area. Miniature bolts of lightning shot out from the damaged generator as Samara advanced forward. Sensing she was near enough she let loose a singularity just a few feet out of the grunt's cover. She put enough power into it that the little gas sucking creatures were pulled into the field. The clawed at the ground to try and keep from being pulled in but it was futile. Nothing could resist the power of a Justicar.

Samara stepped away now, letting Zaeed take over. With his sniper rifle in hand he put two clean shots through the grunts with ease. He felt that was enough and let the bodies drop when the singularity dissipated. Samara stepped over to the now presumed dead grunts, only to find one was still alive and try to reach for his plasma pistol. He fired two measly shots at her shields before Samara used reave to rip into the poor creature's body.

For one that had been characterized as mere cannon fodder for so long, this one had proven different. It was a shame he had chosen this path. She felt sorry for him, but Samara had a job to do and a code to live up to.

"May you find peace in the embrace of your Forerunners." She said before letting her submachine gun finish the little alien off.

Zaeed rushed up to her side not long after and took one of the fuel rod cannons from the corpse along with her.

"Yeah these will do the trick." He reasoned "Let's just hope your idea works and we ain't pissing in the wind here."

Samara was hoping for that same result along with the old merc. She was not able to voice the same hope in vocal terms however. Plasma bolts rang out from behind, forcing them into cover. Elites armed with repeaters had finally tracked them to the center of the generator field, no doubt because of the commotion the grunts had caused.

"Ignore them!" Samara told Zaeed sternly "The pylon is the objective!"

"Yeah, let's blow these sons of bitches to kingdom fucking come!" Zaeed agreed

The two made their way through the mix of plasma fire and generators to get in sight of their target. Sparks flew from the generators as the bolts struck them, making the going even more hectic than it should've been. They managed to find a clear line of sight directly looking at the pylon, standing at over 40 yards away currently.

"Empty the canisters," Samara told Zaeed as she targeted the pylons "then run."

"How exactly are we gonna outrun a whole crop of explosions anyway?" he asked her

Samara didn't answer. She just began firing, striking the pylon with hit after hit from the cannon. Zaeed joined as well and watched as the machine slowly began to spark and glow wildly, energy pouring form its spiky crown like mad. He could hear a long winded high pitch tone erupting from the pylon itself soon after. That was their cue to drop the fuel rod cannons and run. So they did.

* * *

><p>Kreave surveyed the entire quarry looking for Shepard among the equipment, materials and old work buildings. It was infuriating how the human had completely eluded him and was continuing to avoid him. This was not a fight; it was a glorified game of hide and seek.<p>

"You're seriously disappointing me Shepard." Kreave called out over the loudspeakers "Where's the first human Spectre I've heard about? Where's the man who charged up the side of the council's ivory tower on the Citadel and slew Saren? Where's the human who defeated the Batarians on Elysium? Why are you suddenly running and hiding like a damn quarian?"

"First off don't insult the quarians, some of my best friends are quarians and they don't run and hide from anyone." Shepard called out, his voice's location dissipated by the quarry itself.

Kreave swivelled his head trying to figure out where the noise originated from but got nothing.

"Second," Shepard continued "you're assuming you're even worth fighting. I told you, you're just a power mad two-bit mercenary. I got bigger rabid dogs to put down than you."

Kreave slammed his fist on the control panel.

"I am no ordinary varren of war Shepard!" he cried out, his disgust at the mere suggestion that he was apparent "I clawed my way to the top of this branch of the pack! I spent days alone in the wastes of Tuchanka fighting wild beasts that clawed at me relentlessly for weeks on end! I earned my reputation through blood and sweat! I am your equal! I am worthy! Worthier than any krogan you ever faced at least, cause you still haven't killed me!"

Shepard huddled against the door way of a small makeshift shack in the middle of the equipment field next to a garage. He had his grenade launcher in hand, ready to fire on Kreave when he got the chance. Although he kinda wished he had brought along something with more kick. Well, he'd be getting back up soon regardless. That is, if Samara and Zaeed accomplished their objective soon.

"You've lasted longer cause you run away, throw your minions at me and my team or you float above the battlefield out of reach." Shepard informed him "It ain't because of skill. You think just cause you fought to get where you are today makes you my equal? It doesn't, I have something better than your pack, your flying saucer, even your redundant nervous system."

Kreave just seemed to laugh at the very notion.

"Oh please, what could you possibly have that's better than that?" he asked "Biotics? A super secret gun?"

"Nope."

Shepard response was punctuated by a giant explosion erupting from behind Kreave all the way over by the portal device. Several smaller explosions followed the larger one as blue fire erupted into the sky, lighting up the quarry in an aura of cerulean radiance. The Krogan's eyes widened as he realised where the ball of fire was emerging from, the generator field.

Shepard stepped out into the doorway and pointed his grenade launcher at the Vampire.

"I have a crew." He stated, pulling the trigger as he finished.

Four grenades collided head on with the vampire, severely damaging its kinetic based shields. The aircraft mass effect upgrades could take a hit, but Shepard knew he'd get through with enough punches. The vampire pulled back as it took the blows, its shields evaporating with each strike.

The burning husks of generators and charred remains of covenant soldiers littered the area. Where once stood a field of power giving transformers now lay twisted metal and bodies. But not everything had been consumed by the destruction of the pylon and subsequent chain reaction. Close to the edge of the debris field was a pasty yellow bubble sticking up from the ground, inside two people.

* * *

><p>Samara held her hands up, creating a barrier of her own within the bubble shield. It had proven effective double protection to say the least. Zaeed was still amazed they had survived the explosion, staring at the devastation around them.<p>

"Damn, this reminds me of the time I almost got caught in a meltdown when a raid on this reactor went south." He mused

"I imagine you were the only survivor." Samara quickly quipped

"No, I'm sure Rollins survived that one." Zaeed corrected her "He died later during a red sand cartel camp assault. Got an overdose of the stuff when he was thrown into one of their purifying vats, not pretty."

* * *

><p>The dome above Keave soon flickered out of existence. His eyes were glued to the sky while his teeth lay bare towards them.<p>

"Well played Shepard, well played." He admitted "But it still doesn't save you. I got numbers on my side."

Shepard was currently behind the cover of a large wooden platform's ramp surrounded by a number of concrete slabs. He grinned a little at Kreave's self assurance that he still had the upper hand. How he wished he could see the look on the merc's face in the next couple of minutes.

"You krogans and your horde mentality," he mocked lightly "well if you wanna play number games fine. We'll play number games."

Shepard pressed his finger to his ear.

"Holland! Can you read me?"

There was a slight crackle in the transmission before it became clear once more. Residual energy from the dome's signal blocking pulse.

"Shepard? That you?" came a response "Damn Commander, when that dome went up and we couldn't contact you we thought the worst. How you holding up?"

"Could be better," he admitted "trap is more detailed than we thought. Come in hot and with everything you can spare."

"They're all already on their way commander," Holland assured "plus a few extra surprises. Keep your eyes on the skies son, they're about to get crowded!"

Moments later Longsword fighter bombers flew over the quarry, firing missiles down into the covenant lines. The area behind the portal device was the primary target from the looks of it. Some of the missiles fired upon the portal device itself, but they seemed to just make glancing blows against the structure. Anti-air turrets below surrounding the quarry quickly opened up on the skies, but it proved to be futile against the human bombers.

Cresting over the horizon soon after the bombers was a massive, if heavily damaged UNSC Carrier whose commanding officer soon contacted Shepard directly.

"Sorry we're late commander and that we ain't looking our best." Gravelston told him "You should see the other guy though."

"Just glad you showed up Gravelston." Shepard assured him "Can you still fight?"

"I've committed everyone I have left to the fight." The admiral stated grimly but still retaining an aura of dedication to the task. "We'll give them everything we got and more you just blow that dimensional skeleton key they got down there to hell already."

Now that the odds were even Shepard believed he could handle that. Kreave meanwhile grimaced in anger but he tried his best to remain in control of his barely contained rage. There was a plan for this, for the failure of the dome. He got on the comm-link to an assault carrier in orbit.

"Send in the seraph flights, we need additional fighter support against the humans." He declared

"They are already on their way mercenary." A sangheili responded "You would do well not to squander their advantage like you have the dome. The device still needs time to power up and then breach the-"

Kreave growled at the reiterated briefing, he knew all this already.

"Shepard will be dead before it even comes to that, but I'll keep him busy regardless." Kreave swore to the carrier's commander, his patience wearing thin "Just get your people here now! Come down yourself if you have to! You want this done don't you?"

Moments after terminating the call seraph fighters swooped down from on high, screaming out of the clouds. They fired upon the longsword fighter bombers as they headed in for another pass. One of the airplanes took a direct hit to its left wing. It folded over, snapped off and the longsword began to careen to the ground spinning to its doom.

The threat of the seraphs forced the longswords to change their targets almost instantly. They soon began attacking the seraphs en-masse, blasting them from the sky in return for every human pilot they lost. Shepard looked up at the carnage, his eyes glaring at the enemy reinforcements. They'd need a little more help it seemed.

"What's your status Holland sir?" He asked over the radio

"I got people en route to your position now Shepard," he responded "every scorpion tank I could rustle up. Plus I got several trooper squads in bound on falcons. Low level fire support."

Shepard peered over cover to look at the portal device. He could already see the Covenant beginning to reposition themselves to better defend the installation. They knew they had lost the momentum somewhat. Shepard would have to make sure it kept that way.

He heard the distinct blades of the Falcons rushed over the horizon. They kept low to the ground, making them targets for the anti-air guns. As the transports took fire one of the longswords swooped down out of the dogfight and dropped a load of bombs on the edge of the quarry, obliterating several guns in an instant. It opened a path way and Falcons poured in.

In response Kreave's Vampire moved towards the enemy, firing off shots from its heavy needler turret as it passed them, puncturing the small craft with massive pink explosive shards. With little time to waste the Falcons had their troopers rope into the hot-zone below, even as the krogan's ship began to methodically blast the falcons out of the sky one by one. The pilots and their gunners fought back, their bullets bouncing off the shields that the modified vampire had obtained. The unfair advantage was enough for Kreave to move through the mass of Falcon attackers, blowing their birds out of the sky one by one.

"Bad idea sending these people in like this Shepard," he laughed to himself "this ship was designed to down other aircraft first and foremost."

The cockpit of one falcon exploded in a pink mist, its wreckage nearly crushed it's former occupants that had roped below. They scattered away from what had once been their ride as it plummeted to the ground. Another falcon's rotor blades were blown clean off sending all aboard spiralling to the the ground where the smashed against the quarry wall. Grenades and bullets collided with the vampire's shields but none of it was enough.

Then the space between the vampire's prongs started to glow blue. The main heavy weapon of the aircraft was powering up. Suddenly it fired connecting with one of the Falcons. The pilot looked shocked as he seemed to lose all power to the engines and controls, the vehicle couldn't even move as if it was frozen in place. Before he could even figure out what was wrong the falcon exploded into a brilliant flash of light taking another nearby falcon with it from the area effect.

Kreave looked to his own status screens and smiled, armour was back up to full strength.

"The humans didn't name this the Vampire for nothing it seems." He chuckled

Shepard had seen enough of this. He fired on the Vampire's underbelly with his grenade launcher, returning Kreave's attention to him alone. As plasma fire raked his cover incessantly forcing Shepard to make a run for it. He needed to find something that could take out that Vampire's shields. His grenade launcher wasn't gonna cut it that was for sure.

As he ran he could hear the fighting amongst the new arrivals, the trooper reinforcements. They were already engaged with the Covenant at the portal device. From the screams of pain and terrible sound of plasma fire it didn't seem like they were breaking their lines of defence.

He finally slid into the corner of a large excavator's treads and made a wide range radio message.

"Holland, Gravelston, do you read?" he asked frantically "We need additional support down here, do we have anyone else you can send?"

Someone responded, but it wasn't either Holland or Gravelston.

"Don't worry Commander, we're dropping in now."

Shepard wanted to ask who was talking to him, but he heard a distinctive thunderous sound from on high, closing fast.

The cramped little pod never felt claustrophobic to him anymore. It did at first, years ago, now it felt like a second set of skin. It was almost comforting at times. You forgot you were falling thousands of miles per second for a good while. Of course once you cleared the cloud cover and hit the atmosphere depending on the view reality sunk back in fast. The burning surface of Reach and Covenant craft in the distance torching the earth as a massive cloud of ash filled the sky made this one of those drops.

* * *

><p>As the pod began to shake from the g-forces and high altitude winds, he thought about why he was here again. Given the circumstances it wasn't a terrible question to ask one's self. It was a little weird to be jumping head long back to the surface of a doomed planet. It was just downright crazy that he was doing this on the request of some guy whose face he had never seen to save someone he had never met. The team had at least told him as much, but if this Commander Shepard was a friend of Archangel then he was a friend of his. Besides, they had already been loaded up for a mission to the surface anyway. Why waste all that preparation? Maybe because the planet was getting glassed as they spoke.<p>

But Gunnery Sergeant Edward Buck was ODST, that wasn't enough to scare him off. You didn't get accepted into the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers for playing it safe and he wasn't about to deny the request of a friend. Especially when that friend had saved his ass several times already, so with all that in mind of course Buck was going. The team didn't argue that much after he reiterated how much Archangel had done for them and asked for nothing in return. To Buck, they owed him a favour, a big one.

Looking to the altitude monitor Buck realised the ride was almost over. He began to hum a bit under his breath as the ground closed in, one of the old songs he heard in boot camp long ago. It helped to calm his nerves a bit.

"Helljumper, helljumper, where you been?" he silently mumbled, his eyes darting across his plane of vision "Feet first into hell and back again."

The drop pod rocked slightly as a longsword flew past the window, chased by a seraph fighter,

"When I die please bury me deep." He sung as the edge of the quarry came into view. "Place my MA5 down by my feet."

The pod crashed down at long last, its hatch busting clear open upon touchdown. Buck rushed out, his SMG in hand and at the ready. He saw other members of his ODST team dropping in as well, smashing down onto the ground just feet away from him. He kept his focus on the Covenant however. A group of jackals were advancing forward with an elite officer in tow, but they stopped when the drop pods began coming down. They turned to face Buck, their shields held high as their elite commander began to fire on him.

Buck ducked low, taking careful aim through the sights at the guns ports in the Jackals' shields. He fired six clean shots into the jackals, each hit flesh and bone. The first hit the arm, forcing the Jackal to lower his shield in pain, the next entered the head. Quick and efficient, he killed three of them that way, which left the Elite wide open for an attack. Buck rolled into cover to avoid his plasma fire. It slammed against the rock instead. Even better, the constant shooting on his position left the alien open for an attack from someone else.

A single sniper shot echoed across the quarry as, killing the elite with a quick hit to the head. As the alien collapsed to the ground Buck looked over to his "saviour." The blue coloured transfer to the unit, Lance Corporal Kojo Agu, or 'Romeo' as his call sign stated.

"Nailed that one!" he cried out gleefully as he slid down across the rocks to Buck

"Eyes on the Covies, Romeo." Buck reiterated

"You're welcome sir." He replied in his usual hot-headed tone "You see Dutch?"

He'd get the answer when the heavy clatter of an assault rifle sounded from a few feet away. A large yellow armoured trooper was firing on a pack of grunts as he fell back to their position. Suddenly plasma fire rained down him from above on the large purple structure that took up the majority of the center of the quarry. An elite on a plasma turret was firing on him, but Dutch was ready. He lobbed a grenade at the alien's position. The frag rolled to the elite's feet and exploded moments later sending him tumbling to the earth.

Taylor H. Miles was another transfer to the unit, came in with Romeo. He was lower ranked, but a hell of a lot easier to deal with, less cocky too. Soon enough he was beside Buck and Romeo as well.

"Remind me to thank our super-sniper friend for giving us something the brass haven't yet," he told Buck "a mission that's actually friggin unique for once. Speaking of which, any idea what the hell that is sir?"

Dutch pointed with his thumb to the large purple superstructure in front of them. The one the Covenant were scrambling to defend and the troopers inside the quarry were trading blows with them over. Buck had been given a briefing on it. If "vital target that must be destroyed at all costs" counted as a briefing, but he supposed if the Covies were fighting so hard to defend it the brass had to have good reason to want it dead.

"Maybe we should ask this Commander Shepard about that." He told Dutch "His name keeps getting thrown around by everyone."

When they first contacted Holland to request aiding in the assault, he informed them that once they got down on the ground they'd be under Commander Shepard's leadership for the duration. Scuttlebutt even said it was this Shepard who had gotten command to authorize the mission. Given what was happening that was pretty impressive. The rumour was all but confirmed when Buck heard him requesting more assistance from Holland just before they dropped. First Archangel mentions him, then Holland, and finally that bit of info. It all set off alarm bells in Buck's head that something else was going on here, he just wasn't sure what.

The other ODSTs were already moving into the ranks of the troopers proper, joining in on the fight against the Covenant. The xenos had set up a pretty defendable position in front of the structure and despite their constant hammering nothing seemed to crack it. Covenant continued to pour from out of the large starfish shaped structure, reinforcing their lines. If the commander's call hadn't made it clear this did, Shepard needed the help badly.

Among the troopers Buck spotted what looked to be a woman in medium black armour and a visor. She didn't look UNSC, the fact her hair was hanging out at shoulder length proved that. As she rushed across the field of combat an ion blast shot out from on top of the structure. A skirmisher had targeted her, hit her square on the shoulder. She threw herself behind a concrete block as more streams were fired her way.

Buck had a hunch about her, the fact she clearly wasn't UNSC nagged at him a bit. Regardless she was in trouble.

"Romeo," Buck looked to the marksman "help the lady out."

"With pleasure Sarge." Romeo leapt over cover and rushed to the human lines of defence.

He pressed himself against a covenant weapons rack and took aim at the skirmisher above. A single shot cut the alien down with ease, his body collapsing to the earth. Romeo quickly ran over passed the trooper defence lines to the woman just a few yards away. She seemed okay, if a bit annoyed that she had gotten shot.

"No need for praise," Romeo told her cockily "I don't need to be reminded how good I am after all."

"Charming," the woman grumbled, seemingly annoyed "move to the left slightly."

Romeo didn't respond and he didn't get to. The woman pushed him aside and shot out her hand. The drop trooper looked behind him now to see a grunt seemingly on fire and collapsing to the ground.

"The hell was that?" he asked

"Not important, who are you?" the woman demanded to know

"ODST lady, Lance Corporal Kojo Agu, and you ain't UNSC." He quickly shot off "You some merc or hired gun or militia?"

The woman rolled her eyes at him as she loaded her strange looking gun and prepared to fire out of cover again.

"I'm with Shepard if you must know." She told him "Now stop talking and help us take this quarry."

Ice cold this one was, Romeo thought. Still she knew where they could find Shepard and some answers. So he figured he might as well ask. As she fired into the fray of enemies he readied his rifle reloading it with a fresh magazine.

"Where is Shepard?" he asked

"Fighting a flying saucer on our flanks last I saw him." She explained "He's keeping it off us for the time being so I can't get to him."

Romeo quickly contacted Buck over the radio.

"You get all that?"

Buck didn't just get it he was seeing it. The flying saucer in question appeared to be a vampire and it was indeed firing on something on the ground a few clicks to their right. It was being pursued by falcons, but they weren't faring so well against it. He turned to Dutch.

"You got that laser cannon of yours?" he asked him

"Spartan Laser to be precise." Dutch corrected "Don't ask how I made them give it to me by the way. Wasn't easy."

"Don't care," Buck told him "follow me."

The two troopers took off towards the vampire, both to get some answers and to save the leader of this whole assault before he got himself killed.

* * *

><p>More plasma cut through the shed as the Vampire hovered menacing over him. Another falcon exploded in a pink blast as the needles sticking into it burst. All the while Kreave's laugh echoed through the quarry.<p>

"You keep hiding Shepard and I won't need to kill you." He said "I'll eventually get lucky and one of these falcons will crush you when it plops out of the sky. Victory by default, good enough for me I say."

This shed was more or less shredded now, he couldn't stay here. Just like the excavator a few minutes before the vampire had ripped clean through its metal hide. What made him think this thing would be different? He needed to make a run for it. He looked for a better position to hunker down behind. An overturned big haul truck looked like a good idea.

He stepped up and rushed over t it with a biotic charge. A streak of blue crested across the land as he fell behind the vehicle. He stuck the launcher out and fired a series of grenades at the vampire, they of course did next to nothing against the shields. The vampire turned to get a better angle at Shepard.

"Gotcha now commander," Kreave stated "this duel is over."

Kreave's promise went unfulfilled, however, as a huge red stream of energy struck the backside of his aircraft. His head thrown into the dashboard and the krogan growled in anger as he turned the vehicle around to face his attackers. He found two humans below him, one with a large green weapon tha was still smoking aimed up at him.

"Oh not this again." Kreave glowered

The krogan checked his shield status, it was reaching critical thanks to that shot. Begrudgingly he quickly had the vampire break off from the fight for now. He would recharge his shields and track the commander down after.

As the vampire took off Shepard stepped out of cover to see his cavalry, two men dressed in full combat gear. Shepard recognized them from what the other Normandy crew members had described, ODSTs. But what were they doing here?

"You Commander Shepard?" One of them asked

"Last time I checked." He answered.

"Gunnery Sergeant Edward Buck at your service sir," the drop trooper said extending his hand, which Shepard of course took although hesitantly "I'm a friend of Archangel's. He said you'd need my help, guess he was right to call."

Archangel? Garrus had called these guys in to help him? Wade couldn't help but smile a bit at that. Even separated from him the turian still had his back.

"I'll have to thank him later," Shepard told Buck smiling "now I'm sure you all got some questions for me."

"Yeah," the bigger trooper said aloud "like what the hell is the thing we're trying to kill over there anyway?"

Shepard promised himself he wouldn't lie about that if directly asked. Given these people had come here on request from Garrus it would be rude not to give the full story, more or less.

"It's a portal device, it opens up and connects a wormhole between space and time." He explained "The Covenant are building it to get into another dimension so they can kill a whole lot more people over there. Including, humans."

Buck looked befuddled, while Dutch scratched his head in a shared state of confusion. Obviously, this was not the answer they had expected.

"That thing... makes wormholes?" Buck finally asked, trying to process the whole situation.

"Yeah and we need to blow it up and fast." Shepard reiterated "But first we gotta take out that Vampire. The longer it remains flying the harder it's gonna be to take portal device."

"The mercenary's flying machine is the least of your concerns False Shepherd!"

That voice... he remembered that voice, but it was impossible. Shepard and the two ODSTs slowly turned towards a scaffolding ramp a few feet away. On top of it stood an elite in zealot armour, glowing bright blue, his eyes shining like neon lights and two large swords protruding from his wrists.

"What in the hell?" Buck stated in shock, his gun's crosshairs raised to the xeno's head.

"Xytas," Shepard glowered at the zealot "how did you escape my ship?"

The elite merely laughed.

"The Inquisitor called... I answered." He responded ominously "He gave me the power to regain my freedom. Now I shall make you regret your attempt at imprisonment."

The elite jumped off the scaffolding and towards the trio. They all scattered in different directions, Buck firing like mad on the alien as he fell. Shepard fired his grenade launcher at the alien, pressing the trigger until it was bone dry of explosives. Each shot was a direct hit on Xytas and yet the zealot's shields held firm.

"Fool, your blasphemy ends today!"

Xytas raised his hands and sent out a powerful shockwave from his arms that sent everyone nearby flying. Shepard crashed into a pile of crates with Buck not too far from him in the dirt. As he regained his composure Shepard realised the ugly truth, the Inquisitor had activated Xytas' implants. It gave him artificial biotic powers and stronger shields. That meant only one thing and Shepard didn't like it.

All he could do to alleviate it all was to think of a quip in his head. This is the worst case of Deja Vu I have ever encountered, he told himself.

* * *

><p>This canyon road was so far only slightly worse than the town. It was tighter, there was no room to move and if one hog went up everyone behind them was probably gonna get stuck and blow up too. There was only just enough room though for Covenant ghost sot keep pace with the convoy.<p>

Ellingham kept his gun spinning constantly, firing back on the covenant land assault vehicles as they rushed forward. They were taking pot shots against the hogs at the end of the line, which was about where they were currently. Ellingham shredded an approaching ghost with his chain gun, the bullets mulching its hull to pieces tearing it up piece by piece. The exposed engine soon couldn't take anymore and the whole vehicle blew up in a brilliant blue plume of fire.

One Ghost snuck up to their side, firing plasma bolts at Kowalski's passenger door. The private leaned out and fired on the alien as he closed, but nothing doing. He kept pressing, kept following his prey even as his shields spiked. He soon came right alongside the warthog, pointing his plasma rifle at the occupants. It was then Pearson jerked the wheel to the right and slammed the hog into the ghost's side. The alien was pushed clear off the side of the road smashing into the hard rocky wall. When the ghost tried to get alongside them again Pearson did it once more. He tipped the ghost over onto its back and the tumbling form of the ve3hicle vanished into dust kicked up by the vehicle.

"Can't be too far from the yards now," Pearson quipped "hope they're warming a seat for us on the Autumn."

Kowalski was still sceptical about the ship being there, but for the moment he wanted to believe Pearson. Anything was better than thinking you were about to die horribly any second. He looked dead ahead, past the convoy to its front and saw a most unpleasant sight. Blocking the convoy's path, sandwiched between two inclines on either side of the canyon, was a wraith.

It fired a blue plume towards the convoy column, nowhere to run now. They could only speed up and hope the plume overshot. The attack veered to the left, smacking against the wall of the canyon. Rocks and debris collapsed from on high, just small bits mostly, but ti still shook up the drivers.

"That thing is gonna kill us!" Ellingham shouted "Is anyone gonna take it out already?"

The question was thankfully answered when a hog broke off from the column, Jensen's hog of course. In sped towards the inclines on the sides of the canyon wall and drove up them. The wraith's plasma turret gunner trailed after him, but it was too late. Jensen's hog leapt over the incline and onto the other side of the road behind the tank. Moments later the distinct sound of a gauss cannon sounded and the wraith's backside buckled. Three shots and the tank exploded, its turret flying high into the sky.

The burnt out husk of the wraith slowly pushed aside by two hogs lightly pressing their noses against the dead machine and driving forward. The Wraith slowly slid off the road creating a gap wide enough to drive through. Once again Jensen had taken the initiative and probably saved everyone's lives. The column of warthogs continued onward unabated.

A few passing minutes later they exited the canyon and came out on a mountain road. They could see the shipyards just a few miles off in the distance now. More importantly, they could see their salvation.

To Kowalski's amazement, there it was. It was ugly, brown, blocky, oversized and overproduced. It was beautiful. The Autumn lay in the dry dock like a waiting train. The smoke rising in the sky far off in the distance was offset by the image of their ark, their saviour. They were so close now, so very close.

For once in this long painful day Kowalski believed they were gonna live, that they'd all live.

* * *

><p>Shepard knew Buck's SMG rounds would do next to nothing against the deranged Zealot, save maybe annoy him slightly. Then again what could Shepard do himself? His heavy gun was out of ammo, his biotic abilities almost useless as well. All they could really do was fire and pull back. Maybe with the help of the other troopers and the rest of the crew they could take him down. Not exactly a favoured prospect, but Shepard didn't have any real ideas left.<p>

As they got closer to the portal device they could see the troopers desperately running for any kind of real cover. The Covenant were pushing out from their defensive perimeter around the structure, trying to advance on the human lines. That and they still had some heavy artillery on the walls of the quarry. Concussion rifle shots and fuel rod cannon blasts flew through the air. Soldiers had nowhere to run as the rocks and construction equipment became their tombstones. Two troopers were consumed by a green blast of plasma from one of the fuel rod guns.

All the while Xytas kept advancing. Buck and Dutch moved behind a stack of metal crates for cover, firing everything they had on the elite as he trudged after Shepard. The zealot merely waved his hand and sent a throw attack that threw them to the ground.

"Since when did elites become psychic?" Buck shouted in anger as he tried to get on his feet

Two shots struck Xytas' shields. They didn't penetrate but they seemed to force him back from the sheer force. Buck and Dutch, now back in a kneeling position, looked over to where they believed the shots came from and saw what looked to be some kind man with green skin, his strange looking sniper rifle aimed high.

"Not psychic, biotics." He told them as he advanced

As the man got closer, his green skin and black eyes becoming clearer, it was pretty obvious that this sniper was not human. Dutch, somewhat confused and reacting almost on reflex, raised his assault rifle towards the not-so-little green man. The gun was pushed away however by a clearly human hand attached to a bald tattooed woman in light armour.

"Easy killer, he's saving your ass." She said raising her imposing shotgun into view.

She fired on Xytas as well, but she quickly ducked down into cover along with Buck and Dutch when a strange flaming ball of energy was flung at them. Buck defiantly wanted to avoid that, even if he had no idea what it was.

"Where did he learn this stuff?" Dutch asked out of the blue

"He didn't," the woman told him "he got an upgrade."

The warp attack had given Xytas enough time to escape and follow Shepard towards a metal pipe, clearly Covenant in origin from its purple coating. The human commander rushed inside and Xytas followed slowly after carefully scanning the area around him.

"You should've killed me when you had the chance human." he stated as he walked "Now you shall die a most painful death at my hands."

A blue glowing light plopped in front of Xytas, a plasma grenade dropped down from above in a piece of the pipe that was wide open. The Elite jumped up and slashed through the ceiling of the pipe just as the grenade exploded. On top of the pipe he now faced Shepard with a shotgun levelled directly at him.

"Well I guess I'll just have to correct that mistake then huh?" he inquired

Xytas shoved his arms out throwing Shepard clean off the top of the pie. The commander managed to get a shot off, but the Elite's plasma swords easily deflected the shot. Shepard landed with a thud rolling out of the way and to the side, avoiding the falling blade coming towards him. Shepard stood up once more his gun pointed at the elite again. He fired several more shots, each deflected by the sword of the monstrous zealot as he approached.

"The Inquisitor was right." Xytas proclaimed as his swords smacked away round after round, his kinetic barrier adding to his protection "Your overwhelming desire to halt the will of the Forerunners led you here. It knew you would try to prevent the activation of the device if it threatened to expand our crusade."

"I've already beaten his little trap." Shepard informed him, keeping up the fire "Now he's just given me the opening to blow his precious little wormhole machine to scrap."

The prospect of the machine's destruction didn't seem to deter the Zealot however. Xytas just laughed uproariously at the very notion.

"You don't think the Inquisitor and the Covenant can't just build another?" he asked grinning "It will take us time yes, but we are more than capable of making another. In any case you have misread the Inquisitor's plans. The wormhole generator isn't just the bait, it itself is the trap!"

Shepard lowered his weapon slightly, confused at the revelation. Xytas pointed towards the structure in the center of the quarry, his grin unwavering as he explained himself.

"The device works both ways human," he said grinning, his admiration for the plan apparent "you can enter your dimension, but you can also leave it. When it opens a flotilla of Covenant battlecruisers will pour from it. Their captains all issued the same order, to burn this quarry to glass along with everyone in it!"

Shepard looked over to the portal device himself, his mouth agape at the true nature of the plan. He should've known better than to think that the dome alone was the true threat they faced. But now the truth was revealed, maybe they had a shot.

"So you're gonna get all your men killed and force yourselves to rebuild your stupid cosmic can opener." Shepard glared back at Xytas "Big whoop, I'll just call for a retreat."

"Then the order for the glassing will be called off and the invasion of your universe will begin in earnest."Xytas informed him "Can you truly allow that to happen?"

Damn it, the bastard was right. If he left the job unfinished the Covenant would pour more ships back into his universe. They'd have done all this for nothing. Everything they did to find this place and get here would've been for nothing.

"Besides," Xytas continued sneering "we don't intend to let you leave."

There was large mournful hum that sounded from the sky just then. Shepard looked up to see the form of an alien ship, a Covenant Assault carrier descending from the clouds. Not as big as the supercarrier but still imposing. It flew over the quarry, still several hundred feet up, and seemed to park itself just a little away from the edge of the quarry itself. Moments later the skies filled with Covenant dropships, heading for the other end of the quarry where Shepard's team had come in. Their intention was clear, to literally crush the attackers between two sets of Covenant, a pincer movement.

Shepard quickly jerked backwards as he saw Xytas slash one of his swords at him. The zealot narrowly missed and Shepard forced a powerful shockwave back at the alien. Xytas was thrown back, but he clawed at the dirt to keep himself standing.

As the zealot stood back up, plasma swords ready to strike, he was hit with a barrage of bullets. Warp attacks struck his kinetic barriers, trying to tear them apart. Shepard looked to Xytas' right to see Miranda and Mordin with a group of troopers trying to assist him.

"Shepard, run!" Miranda shouted "We'll hold him off! We need to get to that structure now!"

Shepard nodded and made a run for it, rushing towards the frontlines as his squadmates tried to keep the ravenous monster at bay. His anger growing with each shot Xytas sent a powerful biotic throw at the amassed firing squad. Miranda, Mordin and the troopers were sent flying and Xytas took off once again after Shepard.

The commander was making a run for Jack and Thane's position. They were still huddled in alongside Buck and Dutch. The instant they saw Shepard running towards them, Xytas on his heels they grew a bit uneasy. Shepard ran past their cover, not asking them to protect him. He had no time to even issue any orders, he needed to get to the frontlines, help break the Covenant defences somehow.

Of course Jack and Thane weren't about to abandon the commander when he obviously needed the help. As Xytas closed they opened fire on the alien with everything they had. Warp attacks and ammunition struck his kinetic barriers but the zealot powered on through. He ran directly for their cover, swords pulled back and ready to slash. The four quickly jumped out of his way, abandoning the concrete divider as he launched himself over it, slashing at the empty air.

Thane didn't let him get far once he touched down though. The Drell sent a warp attack straight into the Zealot and then followed it up with a left hook across the zealot's face and right hook to the stomach. The zealot swished his blade towards Thane, narrowly missing the Drell by inches. The assassin couldn't avoid the next hit though, a kick to the chest that sent him flying backwards.

Xytas continued to chase after Shepard. Troopers on the lines fired on him as he closed, again their weapons did nothing. The zealot cut them down with callous merciless ease and continued forward. Clutching their cauterized wounds the troopers fell to the ground dead. Xytas spotted Shepard in the open, already firing back on the fanatical covenant officer. A powerful biotic throw pushed Shepard down to the ground. Xytas rushed over and slammed his foot into the commander's chest. He raised his word, preparing to stab Shepard through the head.

"And so your miserable life ends, False Shepherd." He proclaimed

Shepard stared up at the alien looming over him, unblinking, he wasn't about to give up, not to this monster. He could get him off him if he just had enough time to...

Suddenly plasma peppered the ground around them, some of it striking Xytas himself, spiking his kinetic barriers. He growled in anger trying to pinpoint the source, as was Shepard. Amazingly, it hadn't come from a friend to the commander.

Kreave's vampire blazed down from the sky, still firing plasma on their position.

"HE'S MINE! I EARNED THIS! HE'S MINE!"

The krogan's mad ranting gave Shepard enough of a distraction to build up a significant biotic charge in his left arm. He pushed it up towards Xytas, slamming him in the chin. The elite was thrown clear off the commander and Shepard quickly got to his feet. Now he just had to deal with an angry space dinosaur in a flying saucer.

Just one of those days, he thought to himself.

Shepard raised his shotgun to the Vampire, fully expecting it to turn on him soon. But the sound of Kreave's plasma guns, still chasing after the reaper upgraded zealot, were offset by another sound... a shuttlecraft's engines.

* * *

><p>It hadn't been easy getting the shuttle here. Between keeping low enough to stay out of sight and fast enough to avoid potential small arms fire wasn't easy. Thankfully the Normandy's shuttle pilot was almost as good as Joker. They got the quarry in record time, apparently right on the heels of Xytas. Tali spotted him on their way in getting thrown off of Wade's unmistakable form. Thank the ancestors she wasn't too late. But while Shepard had beaten off Inquisitor's attack dog he was now out in the open with a covenant gunship hovering over his head. Moments after she arrived overhead the gunship resumed firing on Shepard as did every Covie nearby. Luckily he made it to a rock for cover, so she had some time to think

She quickly had her visor scan the gunship to find it had some kind of mass effect-based shield surrounding it. Definitely a recent upgrade. Taking it out would be difficult as long as that shield was active. They needed to even the score a bit. She explained the situation to Kasumi and she quickly provided an answer.

"Pop the hatch and get us over him." She told Tali.

"You going to hit him with the arc projector?" she asked

Tali released the door lock and the shuttle's hatch opened up.

"I have a little something more permanent in mind." Kasumi responded cheekily.

Without warning the hooded thief threw herself out of the shuttle. She dropped down to the covenant aircraft below, her arms tucked in like a falcon's in a dive. When she neared the craft she spread her arms out, slowed her descent and then tucked and rolled against the arm of the vessel. She landed on what appeared the pilot's cockpit within the right side prong. She couldn't really see the pilot, but she had a feeling he could. Good, she wanted him to watch this.

She stuck her omni-blade out and jammed it into the bulkhead of the ship. She then let loose a powerful systems overload attack that cascaded across the gunship. Little arcs of electricity jumped all over the vehicle.

Inside the cockpit, Kreave looked around wildly at everything. The ship was going haywire. He looked to his monitors and saw that his shields were now in the red. Two seconds later they were gone. The screen went black and didn't return. He banged on the console in anger, demanding the machine turn the shields back on. No response of course.

Kasumi gave the pilot a little salute as she back flipped off the gunship and down to the ground. She landed with her arms outstretched and her submachine gun at the ready.

"Best skydiving trip ever." She said with a little smile before her cloak activated.

Meanwhile Tali remained in the shuttle. She wasn't made for long falls like Kasumi was apparently. The shuttle would have to get closer to the ground before she dared to jump out. She could still help before landing though. Kasumi had the arc projector on her back, but Tali had the other heavy weapon she decided to pack with them. The collector particle beam at the ready Tali aimed down at the large gunship. She fired off a long powerful stream that cut deep into the gunship's backside. The particle beam edged up towards the large turret centered in the middle of the ship.

The large needles sticking out of it burst apart as the intense heat of the beam struck them. The heavy needler turret suddenly broke apart, exploding as the weapon's ammo capacitor was breached. Tali thought she heard angry cursing coming from the ship as it veered off, trailing smoke.

As the shuttle began its descent it came under fire from other covenant lining the walls of quarry. As fuel rod shots crossed their nose and concussion shots struck their hall Tali took aim with the particle beam once more. She fired off a single sustained stream that sliced across the Covenant lines. The elites were set ablaze as their grunt companions below them were cut down by the beam as well. Their bodies turning to ash, the shuttle was free to continue its descent.

Tali hopped off once the shuttle got close to the ground and she tapped on its side, signalling it to take off once more and quickly. The shuttle didn't need a second warning. The craft took off quickly, not intending to stay in the hot zone for much longer.

He was right to do so, Covenant defending the portal device structure fired upon the quarian intruder. She turned to them and once more fired the particle beam at her attackers. She struck one poor elite square in the head, melting his helmet and face in one clean shot. His friend beside him was luckier, the blast cut through to his heart. It was an almost instant death.

Tali backed away from the Covenant lines, making her way to Shepard's cover behind the rock. He looked up at her in almost complete shock and followed by what Tali detected as horror in his eyes. Why she wasn't sure. She thought he'd be angry she disobeyed orders, but horrified?

"What are you doing here?" he finally asked mouth agape.

"Xytas escaped and I needed to get you heavier weapons to deal with him." Tali explained "I knew he'd get in too close to use the Cains and you had very limited ammo so-"

"You should be on the ship! Not here!" Shepard shouted at her, once again appearing more terrified than angry.

Tali still didn't understand the meaning. Was he afraid she abandoned the mission? Was that it?

"The Autumn is safe, it's headed to Aszod. Garrus and the others will-"

"Call back the shuttle! I want you out of here!"

Again, Tali didn't understand why he was so quick to want her gone. Wasn't he at the very least happy to see her come to his rescue for once?

"It was hard just getting in the quarry alone! There was anti-air fire and banshees and-"

"It's a trap Tali!" he screamed at her, jumping up and grabbing her shoulders "If that portal opens they're gonna run on through and glass the quarry and everyone in it! Get out of here!"

Tali stared back at Wade, finally understanding his fear. She had thrown herself into the fire with him, as usual. He wanted her gone, in case he failed. So she'd at least make it.

That wasn't an option. She grasped Shepard's hands with her own.

"No, I'm staying." She declared steadfastly "I came to help you I'm not turning back now."

"I'm giving you an order Tali!" Shepard responded sternly

"You made me temporary captain so I choose to belay that." Tali replied, her resolution undeniable, her eyes firmly placed on his.

"That's not how it works and you know it!"

Again she refused to budge.

"I'm staying!"

"Call the shuttle back!"

"I won't!"

"Now!"

"No!"

Shepard suddenly shook Tali in frustration and finally lost his self-control, what little remained.

"I can't lose you again!" he blurted out suddenly

Tali kept staring at him, but her eyes had softened. Shepard head was slumping, his shoulders low, his eyes drooping and tired.

"I'm not strong enough. I can't... I can't let it happen again." He told her gently "I won't let it happen again."

Tali's head cocked slightly the side and she closed the distance between them. The young quarian woman placed her hand against her captain's cheek and slowly caressed it.

"You are strong enough," she told him "we're strong enough."

Shepard kept his hands where they were and just allowed the moment to soak over them. He knew it wouldn't last long. They never did. He wanted to believe her, he needed to believe her.

Just like that the moment was gone, plasma bolts flew across their vision and the two were forced back behind their rock. They pressed themselves against the stone, weapons in hand as the covenant defenders continued to hammer it.

"Covenant are landing behind us," he told her "we need to get inside now!"

"I'll activate Chiktikka," said Tali working at her omni-tool "you charge forward, get in their lines. I'll follow."

"Just make sure these troopers follow us through the hole we make." Shepard added, pointing to the soldiers lined up across the area. "On my go. Go!"

Chiktikka formed on the battlefield and rolled out alongside Tali. Shepard joined with her, both of them firing their shotguns into the amassed covenant defenders. As they did plasma cut into the Covenant from their side as did a rippling shockwave that sent many of the covies flying into the air, smacking against the very structure they were trying to hold.

Shepard looked to the side and saw who was lending them an extra hand. Low and behold it was Samara and Zaeed. The latter was armed with a plasma repeater now while Samara was by his side, sending out shockwaves as fast as she could send them out. The Covenant lines were disrupted, giving Shepard and Tali the opening they needed.

Shepard launched himself forward with a biotic charge, ramming head-on into a elite. He slammed into the wall and Shepard finished him off with a shotgun blast to his face. Tali launched herself over the barricade, sliding across its top as her little drone zapped the face of a grunt with a direct energy blast. Tali's foot slammed into the face of a skirmisher, sending him to the ground. She finished the bird alien off with a shot to its skull and joined back up with Shepard and the others.

"Sorry we didn't show up sooner." Zaeed apologized "Covenant retaliation for blowing their power supply. Hammered us pretty hard, wasn't easy getting back over here."

"Just glad to see you here," Shepard told him "now let's get the others to join us."

Shepard got over the radio, tapping into every comm on the field.

"Everyone this is Commander Shepard, we've broken through to the structure, move up now!"

With a break in the lines troopers rushed forward into the breach, they were joined by the rest of the Normandy team, including Kasumi who had remained hidden until now. She wasn't much for frontline combat after all. Close quarters inside a wormhole generator, she could handle though. Buck's team joined them as well.

"Gotta say Shepard," Buck said as he passed "you've turned this shit storm around. Not sure how but you did."

But as Buck said those words Shepard could hear the screaming of troopers taking up the rear. Xytas was cutting them down by the dozens. He sliced across their stomachs and necks, lopping off necks and roasting guts as he cut through them. As he stabbed downward into a fallen trooper he stared over at Shepard, his fellow elites and the grunt followers joining him by his side as they moved up.

Despite what Buck had said, they hadn't turned this around just yet.

* * *

><p>Legion kept their sights on the brutes running about the grounds. They rushed along, using their larger forearms to boost their momentum. Typical primate behaviour, but it did not make them any less easier to shoot. The problem was picking out the worst offenders.<p>

The initial attack had gone well. They had killed the grunts relatively quickly and taken the covenant hover platform from its former Jackal occupants. The brutes, initially scattered by the charge thus losing three of their number, had however quickly reorganized around the wraith tank. It was now pounding the buildings where Garrus and the others had taken up positions inside for protection. Only Six and the Geth platform were outside, keeping their eyes on the enemy directly. If they were gonna make any progress the wraith tank had to die. Not an easy task, it rarely was.

Legion had a lock on the plasma gunner however, his death would simplify things. One clean shot through the eye socket and the brute slumped forward in his position on the gun. Now they just needed to get close enough to the tank itself.

The wraith suddenly turned towards the hover platform and fired. That was their cue to abandon the nest. Six and Legion jumped from the platform and ran like hell. The blue plume of plasma crashed down on the platform destroying it with ease. As the broken shattered platform fell to the ground the two rushed forward into the fray, Six was already getting his grenade ready.

A brute lumbered out from cover, firing spikes at the two. The barbs slammed into Legion's chassis, but it didn't slow the machine a bit. Six took aim with his DMR and fired a burst into the brute's head. He fell to the ground, dead in a heap. Another brute rushed across the field, his brute shot blaring. Legion turned to the primate's direction and fired his own plasma burst. The geth assault rifle rounds easily cut the brute down, his skull exploding outward as the shot slammed into his head.

The wraith was now open to attack. It fired another blast, closer towards the two. They quickly dove away as the plume came crashing down just feet away from them. Legion had activated it's extra layer of Geth shielding moments before, it absorbed most of the blast, protecting Six more or less. The geth then activated its combat drone and let it ram at the wraith head-on. The Covenant tank raced forward towards the two and the drone. Legion went left, Six went right and the drone collided with the tank's nose. The explosion rocked the front of the tank, giving a certain Spartan just a big enough distraction to grab onto the back of the tank. Six then jammed his grenade right into its plasma core at the back. He then jumped off and sprinted away before the armoured vehicle exploded into a brilliant blaze of flames.

Legion caught up with the Spartan moments after the tanks termination.

"Obstacle removed." It announced

Six walked over to Legion and pulled one of the brute spikes out of the machine's body, tossing it to the ground.

"You alright?" he asked

"This platform does not experience pain." Legion assured "Your concern is appreciated, but not necessary."

Six still pulled the second spike out of the platform.

"Doesn't mean I'm gonna leave these in here." He told the geth firmly.

They heard a loud smashing sound moments later and looked over to see Grunt, his grav hammer covered in the blood and brains of a dead brute. Garrus and Emile were close by, walking up the path to meet them.

"Looks like you three got through them nicely." Six congratulated them.

"Well you were distracting their biggest gun." Garrus replied "It was pretty much a given after that. No big deal. But you can still be impressed if you really want to."

"Where to now?" Emile asked them

A valid question, considering the tunnel at the back of the motorpool appeared to be blocked off, thanks in no small part no doubt to the covenant. Legion looked over to the rock formations behind the motor pool.

"We detected a pass several yards in this direction." It stated "It is perhaps our best way through."

Emile nodded and the group began to move in the direction indicated.

* * *

><p>Carter had been keeping an eye on the team's progress all the way here. He was with them every step of the way. So to speak, he was flying above them. The corny and cliché thing to do was to say he was like an angel or something, but he didn't see himself as that. For one angels didn't bleed as far as he knew and from the look of his dashboard he'd been bleeding a lot. No Carter thought of himself as something more mundane, fulfilling his job, for once. Looking over his men, keeping them safe, not the other way around like Kat, Jorge and Thom had done for him.<p>

He thought back to Kat, hoping she was still alive, hoping Tali and Kasumi had found a way to save her. Once again she threw herself at the enemy. Once again all he could was sit back and watch as that sniper tore into her again and again. It made him feel sick remembering it, sicker than the hole in his chest was making him feel currently. He should've been the one to run out there, not her.

Now he was finally in the place he belonged, where he should've been all those times before, with his men, at the front, doing whatever he could to keep them safe. Considering how much blood he had lost he wasn't sure how long he'd be able to keep doing that.

Already he could see the team below, engaged in a small fire fight with a few more covenant stragglers outside the motor pool. Nothing they couldn't handle, they had proven that already. But as the pelican crested the cliffs Carter saw something else. Something they couldn't handle. Striding over the rocks on four massive legs was the terrifying form of another one of the Covenant scarabs. It strode across the land, its giant swivelling head looking for victims. It couldn't see any, but Carter knew where it soon run into some. It's course would soon cross paths with the team on the ground.

He had to do something and fast, but what could he do? This thing wasn't powerful enough to kill a scarab and he doubted he could last long enough in a fight with one. Not with this bird's wings smoking like they were currently at least. It wouldn't be like last time with the ATVs. He'd be shot out of the sky and the distraction wouldn't be enough for the team to get away fast enough. It would hound them. Probably follow them back to the Autumn. The risk was too great.

Which left only one option, a lesser man would probably try and weasel a way out of that, try and find another way while his people were headed for trouble. But Carter wasn't that kind of man. As he began to pull at the stick and get the Pelican into position, Dot picked up on that very fact.

"Noble Lead, you are enacting an inadvisable flight plan," she said "I suggest another strategy."

"No time for that Dot." He replied "I got people on the ground and a walking covie tank headed for them."

"You have suffered massive blood loss." Dot reiterated "Your judgement is more than likely impaired. I strongly advise another course of action."

Carter shook his head, he didn't expect her to understand, but the concern still felt odd to him.

"Please, seek medical attention." Dot requested "I do not wish for you to suffer more harm."

"Dot," he said, trying to keep his grip on the stick steady "I'm sorry. But I can't acknowledge that."

There was a silence from the AI, her runtimes trying to analyse his words and return a proper response. It took a bit longer than usual.

"Is there anything I can do?" she asked

"If you can," Carter responded kindly "get yourself some place, find a way off this planet if you can. Don't let the Covenant take you alive if you can help it."

"I shall endeavour to make sure of that Noble Lead." Dot complied, still trying to process the entire discussion "It... has been a pleasure to know you."

"Likewise." Carter replied

He didn't hear Dot after that, probably transferring her control away from his radio. Hopefully she found a safer place to wait out this storm, or at best some kind of ride. He supposed that wouldn't matter in a couple of minutes, or seconds, depending on how fast things developed.

As the scarab began to crawl over the rock formations, its path soon crossed with Noble Team as they made their way through the pass leading away from the motor pool. Carter contacted them.

"Noble, Normandy," he began "you have a situation."

Emile's response made it clear that he could see the scarab now, so Carter pushed forward on the stick and locked in his flight path.

"Shit, we can get passed it sir." Emile claimed. An attempt to make sir he didn't try anything obviously.

"No, you can't." Carter replied grimly "Not without help."

"Commander, you don't have the firepower." Emile informed him, clearly not understanding his intent.

As Carter's pelican flew over them however any question as to what Carter was planning soon became clear to him.

"I got the mass." Carter told him.

The aircraft caught the attention of the scarab. Its head following the pelican it flew passed and began to loop around back. Garrus was of course the first person to call over his radio.

"Carter wait, think this through a bit!" the turian shouted

"Already have." He informed him "No other option."

"But Carter-"

"Complete the mission Garrus, first and foremost."

Carter stern order seemed to end the Turian's protest, a silence fell on the comms, It was soon followed by one last word from Garrus.

"Sorry we never got along all that well Carter," he said "you... you're a good soldier. I just wanted you to know that."

"Thanks," Carter replied "now get yourselves out of here."

"Solid copy Noble Lead," Emile answered "hit'em hard."

As he closed on scarab the expected feelings of fear, anxiety, sadness, none of it entered his mind. He felt more at peace with himself than anything else, content with everything. He wondered if this was how Thom and Jorge had felt. He wondered if he'd really see them again.

He placed the pelican's crosshairs over the head of the scarab and began to fire the aircraft's machine gun cannon at it. Its massive plasma gun slowly charged to fire. As the pelican picked up speed, a string of familiar words crossed Carter's mind.

"You're on your own now Noble, Normandy," he said with an eerie sense of calm "Carter out."

The pelican boosted forward one last time and then all Carter saw was a brilliant flash light and then nothing.

* * *

><p>Explosions rocked the scarab as it let out a dying mechanical scream. Losing its grip on the rock formation the walking tank fell from its roost and down into the ground below, disappearing along with the Pelican's remains.<p>

For what seemed like hours, but was really only a few seconds, the Grunt, Garrus, Legion, Six and Emile, all stood there and watched. They said nothing. What was there to say? The silence only broke when Emile reminded them of the mission.

"Crevice to the east." He said evenly "Let's go."

There was nothing left for them to do here. They still had a mission. For a brief moment though Six dug into his pack and pulled out Jorge's dog tags. Once again he thought back to his friends last words to him.

'_Make it Count'_

Now, Six had another reason to finish this mission, an unwanted reason, but reason nonetheless.

* * *

><p>AN: You'll notice if you head back to Carter's dream sequence involving Thom's death, which was basically a literal adaptation of the Deliver Hope Trailer, that I had Thom's last words echo Carter's. I felt that was a nice bookend to his story. Always watching his men put their lives in jeopardy when he felt he should've been there instead. Now he could be there and unlike Jorge and Thom (As well as Kat's NEAR Death in this interpretation) he could take their place. Of course because of this now Kat's gonna be stuck with the majority of the survival guilt which we saw before. So congrats guys, you convinced me to save Kat only for me to kill her best friendboss/love interest, whatever it is you think those two were. I deliberately kept it ambiguous. To me, I think it's nice we have a female character in a game alongside a male one who isn't just the love interest. But that's just me.

By the time you read this I'll probably already be underway with this next chapter if it isn't already out now. I'm weird like that. But with one chapter left and an epilogue to follow it won't be long until the story is finish and I can take a slight break for what's left of the summer. Read and review till then.


	24. Obedient to their Laws they Lie

Chapter 24: ...Obedient to their Laws they Lie

They only had a few minutes warning before it showed up. It stood high above them all like a skyscraper. Its long pointed legs crashed down upon the dirt, sending shockwaves rippling through the land. Craters formed around the pounding legs with each step it took. It's tendril like appendages smashed down at the ground randomly, crushing anything in its way path. Its giant eye surveyed the landscape, unblinking, all-seeing. Even though parts of the legs looked damaged, they appeared as impervious as ever. Two tank platoons had fired on the monster as it neared the guns. Both were crushed beneath it mercilessly.

But the worst part, the absolute worst part, was the sound, that horrible klaxon ringing sound. It echoed in the air, deafening everything and everyone nearby, drowning out all other sounds before it. It was terrifying in its scope. It sent shivers down your spine and made every inch of your body quake with fear every time it rang. It disoriented your mind and sent you reeling as resounded through your very mind.

The only other sound worse was the sound of the machine's charging laser weapon. It focused down from the giant red eye of the machine and then fired out towards the ground itself. It ripped at the MAC gun platforms, destroying a single gun in one shot. The most powerful weapon in the UNSC arsenal, reduced to scrap in mere moments. The last thing many of the soldiers saw before the laser sounded was a terrible blinding red light.

It was like no ship those currently defending the planet-side heavy MAC guns had seen. It didn't look Covenant in origin at all. It looked far more sinister and foreboding. It was tearing through the MAC guns with little to no effort. What little the UNSC could send at the walking ship failed to even make a dent. Longswords flew in, firing every missile and dropping every bomb they had upon but nothing phased it. A single laser shot and those same flights of longswords were gone.

Reach's planetary defences were being crushed before this machine and there was nothing anyone could do about. Over in the distance, Reach's generator for its ground based MAC defences continued to hum, feeding power to what guns remained. How long before this power source became useless none could really say.

To the machine, however, its mind was on other matters, other problems. This was just a minor concern, one that it had to deal with. One wouldn't expect that it was only using a fraction of its processing power to rend the planet's defences into junk. It was monitoring a situation on the other side of the planet currently, one that required a constant vigil.

His pawn was still in direct control of his faculties, but if the situation changed he would need to intervene. Nothing could stand in the way of that.

* * *

><p>Another bug fell to earth in pieces, its limbs scattered about the small cavern. Six reloaded a fresh clip into the DMR and aimed down the scope once more. If he ever saw another of these blasted insects again it would be too soon.<p>

Not moments after entering the crevice had the Drones revealed themselves. Their annoying buzzing echoed throughout the cavern, their wings incessantly humming as they flew about. Thankfully the team's high powered weapons were more than a match for the exoskeletons, the problem wa sin lining up appropriate shots. Swatting them down wasn't as easy as they had hoped as they had more than enough places to hide in when the heat came down on them.

A needler rifle's shots spewed out at one of the drones, the pink mist enveloping him as enough shots hit their mark. Garrus had initially been wary about picking up the discarded weapon, it was after all pink. He decided to ignore that stigma when he saw the results it produced on several of the drones.

Grunt and Emile were at the fore front of the attacking, drawing out the drones so the rifle-inclined members of the team could finish them off. That wasn't to say they were getting their licks in though, Grunt grabbed one of the bugs by its legs and smashed it down onto the ground repeatedly until the body broke apart.

However that was nothing compared to what Emile was doing. Six had seen the warbound Spartan fling his knife into the belly of one drone flying overhead and then grab as it flew at him. He scrambled onto the alien's back, which was still managing to fly despite the heavy load he now carried although not very well or high. Emile ripped the wings of the back of the alien and when the bug landed back on the ground in a heap he thrust his fist deep into the creature's head. He then pointed his shotgun back up at the swarm and fired a point blank shot that took the upper half of the drone's body clean off.

Before long the drones retreated further into the caves, giving the team some breathing room and a little time to plan their next move. It also gave Emile time to find his knife again, which would be hard since all the drone bodies looked the same.

"The closer we get to the autumn the tougher the resistance is gonna get." Garrus warned "We're gonna be knee deep in Covenant and we may not have time to kill every single one we come across."

"Ugh, more running from fights." Grunt groaned "This mission is becoming less fun by the second."

"I'm just saying we need to prioritize." Garrus explained "What fights can we pass which ones we can't."

"We may get a little extra help from the defenders," Six suggested "if there are any still alive of course."

Eventually Emile found his knife and returned to the group.

"Let's get moving," he said rather monotone "Autumn ain't far now."

Garrus recognized the tone. It was familiar to him. He had used it himself before. He wanted to say something, to ask if Emile was okay. They weren't friends, but he could understand his place of mind. The circumstances were different of course. Emile was the soldier who lost his leader, not the other way around. The pain was similar enough that Garrus could almost relate. But in the end he said nothing. What did you tell someone after they saw their commander die like that?

Slowly the team moved up to where the drones had vanished to. Everyone kept their weapons pointed ahead and their eyes on the skies. They intended to finish what they had started in the first chamber. As expect five drones sped out of their hiding place just around the next corner. Garrus, his rifle pointed high, already picked out a target. He fired three shots from the needler, blowing the bug apart.

But the drones weren't the only problem. They brought with them a few friends for back-up. Skirmishers with arm shields ran out of the corner and began firing their plasma pistols on the squad. Six turned his sights on the little bird aliens, firing small bursts from his DMR. Despite looking so frail the skirmishers proved as agile as ever, blocking the shots with ease, moving their little shields in front of the speeding bullets to protect themselves. However they still weren't powerful enough to withstand a charging krogan.

Grunt broke away from the rest of the squad, his thunderous footsteps stomping towards the two little bird aliens. They tried to fire back, but his armour fortification easily deflected the plasma shots. Before long the skirmishers were within striking distance of Grunt's gravity hammer. The Krogan didn't need to use the block at the end to bash the bird's skull in. Swinging the handle forward Grunt connected the hard metal rod with the face of the skirmisher. One hit and he was down on the ground. Grunt then booted the second away with a clean kick and finished the downed skirmisher off by plunging the handle into the Covie's eye socket. Not the cleanest kill, but that of course never factored into any of Grunt's takedowns.

As the krogan finished up the two skirmishers Emile enacted plan to deal with the remaining drones. He took a frag grenade and tossed it into the air.

"Legion!" he shouted "Shoot!"

The Geth obliged taking aim at the small metal ball hurtling through the air. One shot from the widow pierced the side of the grenade and an explosion erupted in the air in the midst of the small swarm of drones. Bug parts rained from the sky, one of the legs smacking Grunt on the head. He barely felt it, but he looked up all the same to see the air full of falling chunks of the enemy.

There was little time to admire the carnage, they had to press on. No one really felt like sticking around much anyway. There hadn't been much time to process Carter's sacrifice. The drones had jumped them too quick. Moments after trying to process Carter's death they had to deal it out to something else. Pack it up, suck it in, move on, the typical things they taught you to do. It was easier to speak about than to practice though. At least that was how Six was reading the situation, that's at least how he felt. Was he just supposed to bottle his emotions like that or use them against the Covenant? Niether seemed like a healthy way of dealing with it.

Then again, hadn't he done the latter before? He'd taken it out on Legion, then Shepard, then the Covenant when Jorge died. Now he was just trying to keep his head in the game and not think about it. Carter wanted them to finish this mission. He wanted them to make it. That was what he was hoping he'd accomplish. Six wanted to honour that, but still the whole situation nagged at him.

He had lost two friends in a matter of weeks between each other. Suddenly he understood Kasumi's anger back in New Alexandria more. It was hard to bottle your emotions in the middle of a war zone and he was supposed to be the trained super-soldier.

Six's thoughts returned to the problem at hand when they found the exit to the caverns and what lay beyond them. They could see the ship breaking yards clearly now as well as the Autumn peeking up over the top of the docks. Blocking their view of the facility proper however was one very large, very scrapped, split in two and no longer space-worthy vessel. The ship's remains, a frigate from the looks of it, stretched from one end of the docks to the cliffs at the edge. Scattered around it was construction equipment, cement pipes, forklifts, trucks, small administration buildings and among them swarms of angry Covenant and a few frightened human defenders seeking shelter behind anything they could find.

"Think we can contact the Autumn from here?" Six asked Emile

Emile got on his comm-link and attempted to answer the question directly, when someone else did it for him. A voice came over their frequency, someone had noticed their arrival.

"This is Captain Keyes of the Pillar of Autumn," said the voice "we're tracking you Noble and have begun our launch sequence. Proceed to drydock, platform D, I'll be there myself to pick up the package."

"We'll be there sir." Emile assured

"You better be soldier," Keyes warned "cause my countdown has no abort."

That made things clear enough for the squad, be there or you'll miss your ride. They raced down out of the cavern and into the fray. A female trooper greeted them as they pressed themselves against a former piece of the frigate they were busy trying to disinfest.

"Elite specs ops hit us hard, got some of their Jackal cousin buddies help out too." She explained to them all as they approached "Worst is the golden boy fucker with the fuel rod gun, tore apart our squad's CO in the first salvo."

"So who's in charge over here?" Six asked

"Uh, me I guess." She admitted, not sounding at all pleased "Ain't that a bitch. I'm Corporal Ann Sanders, Army Troopers, glad to see you Spartans."

"What about our friends here?" Emile asked motioning his head to Grunt and Garrus "Happy to see them?"

Ann looked at the two obviously not-human squad members, plasma bolts hitting the bulkhead close to her head. She jumped slightly back before looking at the Normandy crew again.

"Can you pulp elite heads like melons?" she asked

"Can we? It's become our favourite pastime!" Grunt replied, smacking his fists together.

"Then I don't give shit right now." She answered "Get what's left of my people out of here and on that cruiser of yours and I'll become a pro-Xeno/Human mixed marriage advocate."

Fair enough deal to them it seemed. With that Garrus quickly surveyed what he could of the area. Poking his head out slightly and he eyed the covenant defensive line. Sure enough he saw the Elite in gold armour, his fuel rod cannon in hand. He was the biggest threat on the field. As were his spec-ops subordinates and their Jackal and Skirmisher support.

But they had other options beyond hitting them directly. Off to the side was a drop off down near an administration office. Already an idea was forming.

"We get two people down to the left we can hit them from the side while the rest of keep them looking forward at us." He explained

"And Golden Boy with the fuel rod gun?" Six asked

"Leave him to me." Garrus assured

"Better than sitting on our asses here I guess." Corporal Sanders told them as she reloaded her DMR. "Get moving, I can cover you guys."

Legion and Six rushed out of cover first, the rest of the team firing forward to keep the skirmishers along the slop focused on them. The two slipped over the side of the slope and down to the clearing below. Meanwhile Emile and Grunt rushed forward straight down the middle while Garrus made headway to the right of the main path. Corporal Sanders covered their head-on assault, firing at the Covenant line. But she quickly jumped back into cover as a fuel rod cannon shot barrelled towards her.

Grunt bulldozed a skirmisher clear out of his path, flipping him across his head. Emile meanwhile butted his shotgun's stock into the face of another as they closed on the Covenant defences. Concussion rounds went off around them as they neared their goal. The spec-ops elites firing them however were so focused on the Spartan and charging krogan they neglected the Geth with the sniper rifle behind them. One shot penetrated the shields of spec-ops elite ontop of a platform, cutting his jugular right open. As he fell to the ground below, Six pushed up firings on the Jackals on the defence lines. His arrival couldn't have been timed better as Emile and Grunt launched themselves over the cover and barrelled straight into the jackals. Once downed, they fired point-blank into them to keep them there.

A Spec-ops elite nearby pulled out a second plasma rifle and made a beeline towards the Six. Two more of his comrades engaged the two frontal attackers in the meantime. Getting up close and personal with a Krogan and Spartan however was a dangerous action to take. A gravity hammer slammed into one of elites sending him flying. Emile used his Kukiri knife to duel his elite to a standstill as he swung his plasma sword at the Spartan in retaliation.

Six had moved along the outer left side of the field, moving from cover to cover as the dual wielding elite chased after him. Legion had the Spartan's back however. Sending a drone in behind the elite, a blast of energy distracted the alien for a moment. He backed a good bit away from the drone before shooting it with both of his plasma rifles. The explosion from the drones self-destruct protocol didn't affect him in the slightest. However it allowed Six to get up behind him. One clean stab to the side of Elite's throat followed by a slash down his back, the covie barely felt a thing before he fell to the ground dead.

Emile eventually checked his elite into the ground rammed his knife into the Covie's stomach, but his victory was interrupted by several fuel rod shots creeping their way. Everyone fell back behind the raised platform to the left of the field as the golden clad Field Marshal stepped out and began to fire on them. He was near the trucks on the far right, throwing he had at them clear across the field. He felt himself untouchable as the power human super soldiers and their Normandy allies huddled down.

Then five quick little pink needles struck him along the side of helmet. They detonated shortly after, ending his barrage. Garrus stepped out of the large pipe outside the defensive line and made his way to the others waiting at the center of the field.

"We got them on the ropes people." He told them "We just got keep pushing into the facility."

Corporal Sanders and the other troopers soon joined them, barely stopping to take a breath as they passed.

"We got off from another squad defending the next section past the frigate," she explained quickly "come on! We gotta clear that area out next!"

The team followed her to, past the large gap in the once proud frigate. They found massive deconstruction and disassembly equipment towering over them as they entered the drydock proper. On the other side of their position were Covenant shade turrets firing on more scores of troopers and guarding the dock facility itself. It was a mess of buildings spanning the entire width of the yard. Getting passed the shades wouldn't be easy as there were a ton of Covenant block their view. Plus a number of ghosts were patrolling the area, speeding across their planes of vision and shooting at any trooper they spotted.

"We'll make a run on one of the turrets." Garrus strategized "We'll pour through the hole we make and into the buildings."

"Good, close-quarters should even things up for us." Sanders stated.

They rushed out into the yard, fanning out so as not to make themselves greater targets for the amassed covenant defenders and their guns. Emile of course went out a little further into the fray. He soon found himself in the sights of one of the ghosts patrolling the area. It sped towards him like mad, the grunt driver inside intending to run him down. Emile quickly dodged to the side as it sped past. The covie missed his target and instead ran straight into an over-hanging corner of one of the cranes. He looked up just in time to see it collided with his face. The little gas sucker was knocked clean from his ride and landed in the dirt in a heap.

Emile couldn't help but laugh at it just a bit. Stupid gas sucking covie, killed himself and gave the Spartan he was intending to roadkill a weapon. You had the love that bit of irony.

Emile took the ghost for himself and boosted it back towards the fight proper. He took aim at one of the turrets as he closed, pressing down hard on the trigger. Plasma bolts collided with the turret, killing the gunner and soon causing the gun itself to erupt in flames. Garrus had his hole and everyone made a dash to exploit, heading for a couple of stairs that led to an open doorway in the facility. As they made their way forward Grunt collided head first with the last remaining ghost, sending it flying into the very wall of the building behind it. As the rapid assault vehicle exploded everyone bounded up the steps and into the facility proper.

They had no time to deal with every Covie they ran across, the Autumn wouldn't stay on the ground forever and they needed to get aboard now.

* * *

><p>The inside of the wormhole generator wasn't any safer than the outside. The corridors were loaded with the few, but still fairly numerous and battle hardened, Covenant that were left. Worse enemy were coming up from behind so, corridors you cleared would be almost assuredly full again if you had to backtrack for some reason.<p>

But at least inside the UNSC and Shepard's team had the advantage of funnelling the enemy. The odds were more even now, the vast number of Covenant streaming in or already present counted for nothing. More importantly, now they could do some real damage to this hunk of junk.

It helped that Garrus had sent in the cavalry. They weren't Spartans, but these ODSTs were no slouches. Dutch had taken a plasma repeater off an elite Buck had killed with a grenade when they entered one of the room. He was now using it to light up the corridor, sending grunts and skirmishers to an early grave.

Jack was in her element in here as well, close and dirty. A shockwave rippled through the halls taking down a plasma gunner with ease and letting the group move up. She was at the tip of the spear in her section from the comms kept saying. Shepard wasn't sure if it was because she didn't want anyone in her way or because she was honestly trying to save lives. Either way didn't matter for now, so long as she kept up front and kept being effective.

But so far Kasumi had proven her worth the most out of everyone so far. Skirmishers found omni-blades in their backs faster than they could run and blinded elites couldn't fire back on their attackers. Of all the weapons Tali had brought them, the Normandy's resident thief was proving to be one of the best.

Shepard knew their success wouldn't last forever though. If the portal device powered up it wouldn't matter how many Covenant they had killed. This place would be glassed by the Covenant and everyone inside, no matter whose side or ship they served under, would be cooked alive. They were on a time limit. It was time to start breaking things.

Shepard pushed himself into an alcove as plasma bolts smacked against the metal. Tali's little drone was out and about causing interference, but the pack of grunts wasn't making things easy for them. Their elite commanders weren't hanging back for once. They were getting into the fray as well and as tough as Chiktikka vas Paus was, the little drone could only take so much before going offline. Buck, Dutch and their other team mate Romeo were doing their best to help, but the covies had dug into the corridor deep. Unfortunate for them, they needed to get through according to Tali.

"You sure this is the right way?" Shepard asked looking back at her

"I've been studying these blueprints Legion stole off the supercarrier since I got on the shuttle Wade." Tali reiterated "If we're gonna get to that power conduit and then the roof this is the way we'll need to go."

"Well, is there a way around then?" Buck asked from his cover, an overturned Covenant weapons locker "Cause my ass does not enjoy getting set alight by plasma!"

Once inside Tali told everyone specific spots she had determined they'd need to hit besides the giant pointed spire on top of the thing. They were key components to the device and breaking them would perhaps either slow or weaken the wormhole generating process. That would give them some time to blow this thing permanently. The others were already off, aiming for their targets. Shepard was aiming for the roof himself, where he hoped the others would soon join them. But if they were encountering problems like this he wouldn't blame if they were late.

"There is no other way around," Tali told Buck in frustration "I've double checked the schematic six times! We need to take them out or we aren't leaving this hallway!"

They could hear plasma fire from behind their position, not a good sign. It meant Xytas and his reinforcements were close-by.

"Covenant are gonna be crawling up behind us soon." Romeo reminded them "We gotta move! Now!"

Like he needed to reiterate the point, but if this was the only way forward they had little choice but to rush it.

"Tali, I'm gonna send out a shockwave." He began "Head out there, sabotage one of the little guy's guns and fire as you go, full charge you get me?"

"Always Wade." She nodded

He looked to the ODSTs next.

"Buck, cover her while she does her thing and get ready to move on my signal."

"I don't like letting sweet little gun totting girls down Commander," Buck assured him "we'll keep them off her as best we can."

"How chivalrous of you sergeant." Tali cheekily replied "Still a bit surprised you're taking this whole me being an alien thing so well."

"Hey, you're carrying the beam that melts elites' faces off," Dutch added in response "more than enough reason to keep you safe I say."

Shepard thought he heard Tali giggling a bit at that. Only slightly jealous, he quickly threw out a shockwave. It rippled across the ground and knocked a few grunts and an elite away. As they slammed into the ceilings and walls, the disoriented line was ripe for the picking. Tali rushed out, her get shotgun glowing bright blue as all three of its barrels were charged and ready. As she moved across the hall she activated a sabotage hack from her omni-tool. The target: A grunt just about to fire his plasma pistol. The weapon exploded in his face and wounded several of his friends around him. She then fired her Geth shotgun, aiming for one of the elites. The shot connected with the covie officer's torso, tearing his shields apart and burning into his flesh. As the elite fell over into a pile of liquefied goo, the ODSTs opened up on the Covenant lines.

With his shotgun at the ready and Tali secure behind another alcove, Shepard threw himself out into the open corridor. Buck's team followed close behind as the commander opened up on the Covenant with every round he could muster. He then pushed himself into a biotic charge and collided with one of the elites beyond the line. Now in their lines, Shepard fired into elite as he fell and turned to shoot two more grunts down with ease before they could react. As one Elite raised his rifle at Shepard's head, his shields suddenly left him.

"Now Shepard!" Tali shouted aloud

Obliging his chief engineer Shepard fired one more blast straight into the elite's face. As the alien's form tumbled down to the ground Shepard reloaded his Scimitar shotgun and waited for the ODSTs to rush up and finish off the fleeing grunts.

"Fucking A Shepard," Dutch said amazed "can you teach us to do that?"

"You gotta be born with it Dutch, sorry." Shepard told him "Now let's get moving again."

* * *

><p>Keeping up with Jack was harder than it looked for she was not one to remain passive in the face of the enemy. Miranda appreciated her zeal but a part of her wished she'd slow down just a tad. At least the ex-con was bulldozing the enemy over, that made her recklessness a bit easier to bear. Miranda also couldn't argue with results, watching a covenant barricade crumble apart under a biotic nova blast was a thing to behold. Skirmishers and grunts flew everywhere, the plasma turret came off its stand and an elite was thrown to the ground before a warp ammo shotgun round was plugged through his brain.<p>

Adrenaline high or just plain old battle tunnel vision in regards to Jack, Miranda wasn't sure. Point was she wasn't messing around. These tight spaces played into her close quarters style, giving her an incredibly advantage, but Lawson knew she couldn't keep this up forever. So they needed to stay close, for when she tired herself out at last.

They did catch up to Jack at last, sending two Jackals flying across the hallway with a single swing of her arm. She panted slightly as she placed herself behind the edge of an arch-way. More Jackals were in the area, their shields raised in a proper defensive formation. Miranda spotted the thing they were protecting, a door. The very door Tali had pointed out on the blueprints that would lead to their designated power conduit. Miranda got up to the opposing archway, troopers and Thane taking cover where they could.

"You got anything left in you?" she asked Jack.

The ex-con took several breaths before answering.

"Fine, rock steady and all that shit." She tried to declare "Point me at them and I'll fuck'em up. Just... give me like five or so minutes."

Miranda looked to Jack's feet, covered in a mess of blood and gore. She had stepped over a lot dead covenant bodies to get here. She even had a splotch of a purple on her torso, blood from one of the elites she shot point blank no doubt.

"I can't give you five minutes Jack." Miranda told her "Stay down for now, we can take it from here."

"I can still fight damn it." She stated, teeth growling.

"Didn't say you could, just need you to be at your best." Miranda assured "Trust me, I have this one."

Among the jackals Miranda spotted at least three grunts, hiding out among them, taking shots when they could. This wouldn't be an easy shot, but she had to try and take it. Miranda sent a ball of energy flying through the air over the heads of jackals. She curved it down to strike one of the grunts and the little gas sucker soon lifted slowly into the air. As his arms flailed about in terror Miranda prepared her pistol. Soon the grunt came speeding back down to earth, crashing down in a glorious rippling spectacle of biotic energy. The area of effect of the crash down scattered the Jackal defensive line of shields. The way to the conduit was now open.

"Thane! With me!" Miranda called out

The drell came out of cover and fired two quick sniper rounds at two of the struggling Jackals as they tried to get up. Miranda finished off a third with a quick shot to the eye socket as the bird-creature began to stand. The troopers followed up next, executing what remained of the Covenant as Miranda made her way to the door. She opened it up to see their target, a buzzing circular orb stuck in the wall. Electricity arced between it and several prongs stretched out along the sides of the room.

According to Tali the power conduits were a mix of Covenant and Reaper technology, like most of the structure was. She surmised that the conduits were of the same structural integrity and density as a drive core. Smaller of course and less volatile if they were destroyed, but you weren't gonna crack its mass effect shields with a few bullets. Which was where the Cain came in. It was the only thing that could crack the shield and casing of the conduit fast enough. It meant firing another shot, brining Miranda's total count of remaining "nukes" down to one. She'd have to reserve that last one for the spire up top. She just hoped she wouldn't end up requiring that second shot.

Plasma bolts flew past her head, hitting the metal walls around Miranda. She looked to see the Covenant reinforcements coming down the hall, they were out of time. Miranda charged the Cain as fast she could. Meanwhile Jack put herself back in action she put up a barrier around herself, trying to stave off the plasma shots and give everyone enough time to fall back.

"Shoot it Cheerleader! Fucking shoot!" she shouted out, her voice strained and in physical pain.

Miranda let the Cain discharge and the volatile round screamed towards the power conduit. In the split second it did Miranda slammed her hand on the door's opening mechanism and forced it to close. She placed herself along the wall as the Cain's shot impacted with the core. The blast was powerful enough blow the door out, creating a large bulbous dent that stuck out like a wart. Fire spewed from the little cracked, signalling their work was done.

"Let's move! To the roof!" she ordered the others

Jack tried to follow Miranda's orders, but the constant strain she had been under finally took its toll. The biotic collapsed, kneeling down as plasma flew around her. As an elite pressed forward to strike her down with his plasma rifle however a sniper shot rang out, taking out the alien's head with one fell swoop.

Jack looked up to see Thane by her side, picking her up and draping her arm over his shoulder.

"Come on, we need to get to the roof."

"No argument here lizard lips." Jack chuckled weakly as they fell back, the troopers covering their escape deeper into the belly of the deadly device they found themselves in.

* * *

><p>Singularities kept the Jackals out of their way as they pressed forward. Zaeed's assault rifle clattered with the sound of disruptor rounds constantly, firing back on the elites that had caught up with them. Mordin kept pace with Samara, popping off shots from his carnifex both in front of them and behind. A Skirmisher rushing up tried to put his arms up to block the shot, he wasn't fast enough. Seeing a pack of grunts ahead Mordin then fired an inferno blast from his omni-tool, igniting the gas suckers with ease.<p>

"Situation becoming problematic!" he shouted over the gun fire. "Advise removing enemy at our rear!"

"Easier said than done professor." Samara calmly asserted, as she let loose a biotic throw that tossed an elite blocking their path backwards down the hall.

Zaeed tossed an inferno grenade into the mass of Covenant that had so quickly gotten behind them. The blast took out a number of grunts in the front row and was powerful enough to take out one elite's shields and set him alight as well. The rest were only singed, walking over their comrades, burning remains. A trooper to Zaeed's right was struck with a full barrage of plasma bolts, he fell down screaming. Another was struck full in the face a second later.

"We're getting slaughtered!" Zaeed shouted as he ducked down from another barrage of bolts and fired back

The whole run was each of the sides making their way from cover to cover, alcove to alcove, archway to archway. Barely anyone stood still for long, if you did you'd get caught up in the advancing tide of Covenant soldiers. The elites for their part were advancing cautiously, trying not to stay out too long in the open as Zaeed's disruptor rounds were proving a dangerous hazard.

Regardless, Samara recognized that they needed breathing room and there was only one way to get it. She took the Cain off her back and began to charge it.

"Move Zaeed!" she ordered

The merc looked back at her, eyes wide at the realisation of what she was about to do. He jumped to the side and ran back as fast as he could away from the intended target. The troopers did the same. Not all of them knew what the weapon Samara held could do, but it looked powerful enough for them to be concerned.

Samara loosed the shot and the high density round rocketed towards the Covenant coming up on their rear. One elite jumped out of cover to fire at just the wrong time and was hit by the shot. The explosion erupted through the hall, destroying lights above and blowing panels off the walls. The shockwave was enough to knock some of the troopers down on their ass. They were lucky compared to the covenant, who were now being cooked alive by the explosion enveloping them. There was little left of them when the small cloud of dust settled and the light died down, just exposed wiring and circuitry along with devastated columns.

It only solved about half their problem of course, there were still Covenant to their front and Samara could risk wasting a shot on them as well. An elite ultra appeared around a corner, firing his combustion rifle at them, angered at the loss of so many of his fellow warriors. Samara raised her hand frozen the charging Elite in place with stasis.

"More reinforcements will soon be on our rear, we must press on!" Samara ordered the others

"Whatever you say Sam," Zaeed responded, placing his assault rifle to the still in stasis Elite's head. When the effect wore off the merc shot a burst rounds right between the covie's eyes. The alien fell to the floor, dead "whatever you say."

* * *

><p>Tali fired both her pistols in tandem. She wasn't use to the idea of 'guns akimbo' as she heard others call it, but it seemed effective enough when the conditions were right, not as easy to reload though. Her phalanx cut through two grunts' skulls with ease, her UNSC pistol taking down a skirmisher armed with a needler rifle as she advanced forward. When an elite armed with a repeater appeared from behind an alcove she pressed herself against an archway. The bolts bounced off the metal as she fumbled about for a fresh thermal clip for the phalanx. She locked the clip in and stood out once more. Her omni-tool launched an energy drain program at the elite, stealing his shields with ease. Tali aimed the phalanx at the covies' eyes next, put the laser sight on his head and fired.<p>

As the elite fell there was a terrible rocking shockwave that resonated through the structure. It's sound unmistakable.

"That was another Cain round going off." Tali noted "That makes three."

"Someone used an extra shot." Shepard growled "Let's hope that one took out the power conduit it was meant for."

"Ours isn't far," Tali assured him "we just need to hit it and then we can head up topside."

"Let's just hope the others have enough nukes left." said Shepard

They moved up with Buck and his squad, keeping eyes aimed straight ahead. They knew that if the Covenant had figure doubt what they were trying to do they'd put every last man they had left into stopping them. As they rounded the next corner that reality became confirmed, two covenant plasma turrets opened up on the team. Everyone ducked for cover where they could. Dutch going with Shepard and Tali while Romeo and Buck went to the left in their own little alcove.

"How did they get that all set up so damn fast?" Dutch asked incredulous at the situation

Romeo edged his head out, trying to get a fix on one of the guns, but several plasma bolts struck near his head.

"Damn it, I can't spot the gunner like this." He complained

"Maybe we should toss a grenade in." Buck suggested

There was a slight clanging sound from above as Buck spoke. Tali looked at the ceiling briefly before returning her eyes back to the ground.

"No worries sergeant." Tali assured him "We have, as you would say, friends in high places."

The elites didn't hear the vent cover fall down between them in the midst of their plasma turrets firing off. They didn't see a shimmering displacement in the light as something fell from above. The gunner on the right didn't see an omni-blade flick out and stab towards his abdomen before it was too late. The elite stopped firing as he fell to the ground, bleeding out his side. Kasumi's cloak dissipated after her strike and the second gunner aimed for her himself with his plasma rifle. Kasumi quickly tossed a flashbang out before he could fire a single bolt however. Blinded momentarily the others sprung into action. Tali fired both her pistols into the elite along with Dutch and Shepard as they pushed forward, the elite's body twisted and turned as each shot impacted him. Eventually he fell to the ground, riddled with bullets.

Kasumi met them in between the next set of archways, looking rather pleased with herself.

"And you said the vents were a bad idea." She smirked at Tali

"You want me to pay you those twenty credits now or later?" the quarian asked playfully

"Nah, keep'em." She said waving her hand "Me proving my skills once again to doubters is payment enough."

There was little time to continue bantering, however. As soon as they had composed themselves plasma bolts shot out at them from where they previously were. The Covenant reinforcements had now reached them and they intended to end their intrusion right then and there. Kasumi pulled the arc-projector off her back, charged up a shot and fired the electrical blast into the mass of Covenant bodies. It caught a Jackal and ricocheted through several other Covenant, filling their bodies with a thousand some odd volts each. Kasumi was forced back a few steps by the shot, she wasn't used to heavy weapons. She turned to Shepard and the others.

"Go! Blow the conduit! Now! I can't hold them off forever!"

Shepard ordered Buck's squad to cover Kasumi along with Tali. He rushed off towards the door leading to the power conduit. He looked back to see Tali charging up her geth shotgun once more. She let loose the charge and it struck one of the elite ultras rushing forward. The alien melted into a puddle of goo as Shepard punched the keypad to open the conduit's door. He had already charged up his Cain so the second he saw the power conduit he fired. He pressed himself against the door frame just in time for a torrent of fire to spew out past him. He could feel the flames' heat on his skin, even through his barriers which were now in the red from the looks of it. When the fire calmed down he turned to the others.

"It's done! Let's move out now!"

Buck's team was the first to back away, but as they did a figure emerged from the crowd of Elites. Xytas was there, and the biotic aura surrounding him was ever present.

"Oh good," Kasumi observed as she charged up the arc projector again "The Crusading Pyschopath is back. I was beginning to miss his fun little rants about how unholy and blasphemous we are."

She fired the arc projector at Xytas, filling him a heavy dose of electricity. But the man-made lighting only seemed to force him to a bended knee, little else. At least they had slowed him down. Everyone backed away from the Covenant towards Shepard's position, still firing on the advancing horde of aliens.

"How much time did we just buy?" Shepard asked Tali as he opened up on the Covenant with his own shotgun.

"Depending on how long it takes for the systems to reroute," she began to speculate "I'd say several extra minutes more at most. I won't know for sure until we're top side and I can get a good look at the spire in the center."

"Plenty of time," Shepard reasoned "lead the way to the hatch Tali. Everyone keep tight, we ain't out of the woods yet."

They took off down the hall, Dutch firing a plasma turret he had ripped from its stand back at the Covenant before taking off with the others. Xytas soon stood where the conduit defenders had once been. He sliced apart an archway pillar in anger as he pressed forward. He would not let the False Shepherd succeed. He would accomplish his task set forth by the Inquisitor. He would not let the blasphemy of the Forerunners continue any longer.

No human or heretic would leave this quarry alive!

* * *

><p>The desolate sands of the ship breaking yards were lined with the corpses of long forgotten vessels of war. Once proud frigates and cruisers now sat rusting in this graveyard. Kowalski hoped none of them would be their tombstone.<p>

They could see the Autumn just ahead, no more than a few kilometres or so. If they could just reach it they'd be home free. Kowalski didn't want to get too confident of their chances just yet, but it was hard not to feel a sense of jubilation, of hope in these last few miles.

And then that moment passed.

"Incoming! Six O'clock!"

Ellingham's warning came just in time for Kowalski to look back and see a dozen or so banshees barrelling out of the sky. They had hidden themselves in what little one could see of the sun left and they were now dive bombing the warthog convoy with reckless abandon. The hogs quickly split up from one another as the banshees shot their plasma across the sands. Green explosions splashed down in front of the marines as they made their run for the Autumn. Some hogs weren't fast enough sadly. One arcing shot struck down on the hood of one hog, it flipped over forward, the burning wreck cart-wheeling across the ground, still edging towards the Autumn with the last of its momentum.

Every gunny on the hogs was firing up at the swarm above their heads, just praying that their shots would hit and their car would remain luck enough for the rest of their mad dash for safety. A Banshee dived at Kowalski's warthog, intent on blowing it to smithereens. Ellingham screamed at the top of his lungs and as he slammed his fingers down hard on the trigger of his chain gun. He raked it across the sky, striking at the banshees coming for him and his fellow marines. He caught one heading straight for them. Each bullet tore into the aircraft like a serrated knife, cut deep into it with every shot it made. Soon the aircraft was on fire and tumbling out of the sky. It crashed down just inches away from their rear bumper. The warthog rocked and shook, but they kept going. Pearson's eyes dead locked on the road ahead. Kowalski thought he heard some kind of tune being hummed by the Corporal, but he couldn't make it out over the gunfire.

Another warthog was blasted apart by the aerial strike. it tumbled backwards, its wreckage headed for Kowalski's hog. Pearson swerved to just narrowly avoid the crashing vehicle. As it passed over their heads another Banshee flew into their range of vision, this one flying low and striking at another hog. Ellingham quickly swivelled the gun back to the front and began firing on the banshee.

"No!" he shouted "No more marines die today! No more! Fuck these fucking xeno pieces of shit!"

The incoherent anger and rage of Ellingham spread to Kowalski. He too opened up on the banshee, just to get a little extra revenge on his part. The tail of the ship soon ignited in flames. The banshee's pilot tried to veer off but the bullets followed him. Suddenly something erupted along his side and the banshee spun out into the ground, exploding moments after. The Hog passed it shortly after, trying it's best to avoid colliding with it on the ground.

Ellingham pumped his fist into the air at the victory, but it was a short lived one. For another Banshee sped out of the sky and made a beeline straight towards their hog. Ellingham turned the gun forwards and Kowalski pointed his own gun at the banshee.

"You want Reach so bad?" Kowalski shouted "Then stay here! Forever!"

They all opened up on the banshee as it closed, spraying their hog with plasma bolts as Pearson tried to keep the car steady in this most deadly game of chicken. It didn't take long for the chain gun to win out though, as the bullets tore apart the wing appendages and soon ripped the cockpit to shreds. The banshee veered right and crashed into the rocky ground.

Another downed banshee, one less obstacle in their way, and as Kowalski looked up he saw the Autumn once more. It had grown bigger, much bigger, they were closing on it. They were almost home free, almost safe.

Then there was a sudden explosion. The warthog launched up from the ground and fell forwards.

* * *

><p>The facility was crawling with Covenant, grunts, jackals, elites and skirmishers, they were all there, fighting tooth and nail to kill every last human they found. Every inch gained was hard fought. Every corridor cleared a battle in itself. Six had run out of assault rifle rounds in the fight, he was forced to pick up a pistol from a gun locker and a needler off a dead jackal. Grunt's armour was caked in blood from every Covenant species save for a few now. Legion's extra layer of geth shielding seemed to remain constantly up throughout the ordeal. The machine's sniper rifle had been completely forgone in favour of the geth assault rifle. Enemies didn't stay far enough away long enough for the weapon to be of any real use any way. The same could be said of Garrus, who had taken to using his needler rifle completely, plenty of ammo off the dead Covenant they were blazing through after all.<p>

Out of it all, Six was amazed that Emile still had ammo for his shotgun, he never seemed to drop it in favour of another weapon. He could only assume his fellow Spartan had taken some extra slugs beforehand at the outpost. Good for him, sadly none of them had that advantage.

As they came to large open smelting section of the facility they found it infested with Covenant from top to bottom. Ultras prowled the walkways, firing on the troopers in the hallway overlooking the room. Corporal Sanders didn't particularly like the odds.

"Not gonna be easy to just bulldoze these guys down." She admitted "They got the area sealed up tight from the looks of it."

"Well we can't stay here. Autumn won't wait for us forever." Garrus reasoned. He looked to the catwalk that spanned the length of the room. "We can use that to get behind them, take them by surprise and then move on."

"Alright," Sanders agreed "you head up we'll hold the fort here. Soften them up a bit, preferably by killing those fucking Ultras running around."

"They're on my list, don't worry." Garrus assured her

The team took off out of the over watch room and down onto the catwalk. As they ran along it a single grunt popped up from behind a piece of machinery. He attempted to fire first, but a much bigger, heavier Grunt got to him first. The korgan smashed down on the little gas sucker and pounded him into the grating while the others passed. They couldn't stop and lecture. They needed to get behind the Covenant. If Grunt wanted to busy himself beating up a corpse he could catch up later.

Soon behind the enemy the team lined up shots on the Ultras in the room, all of them taking cover behind machinery on the smelting floor across the way.

"We take them down and run." Garrus said "Sanders can handle the small fry easy and catch up."

"Plus she has your giant dinosaur friend sticking around for awhile it seems." Emile added

Garrus counted down softly from three, when he hit one everybody fired all they had into their Elites. Five needles struck the back of one ultra, blowing him to bits in a cloud of pink. Another's shields were penetrated by a window sniper shot, turning his brain to gelatine with ease. Four rounds struck a third elite around his head, the first three took out the shield, as he turned to face the attacker a fourth round cut into his head. Emile fired into the mix of jackals and grunts to keep their heads down and turn them away from Sanders people. As he did Grunt came running down from the catwalks from the other side of the room, firing his shotgun as well. A single jackal was sent flying across the room by a well aimed blast from the krogan's claymore.

"Let's clear out the next area while they wrap this up." Emile suggested

It would save them time to be sure, so they followed Emile's suggestion. They ran outside the large open doorway and across the outer grating balcony. They turned a corner and closed on the next area of the facility, a storage area from the looks of some of the big metal crates just outside the archway leading inside. As they neared however they could hear the distinctive sound of fuel rod guns powering up and discharging. They knew that sound.

"Damn, hunters." Emile scowled before they ever reached the arch. "Alright, no biggy. We just got to hit their backsides hard and fast. Take them down quick and clean, move on. Maybe keep them busy awhile till Grunt can get up here."

"I would feel a bit safer about this if we had a rocket." Six admitted

Emile put his shotgun away and pulled out the grenade launcher he had kept on him.

"No worries, we got this." He assured the lieutenant.

The four made their way to the arch and indeed found a storage area containing a few metal containers. They also found hunters there, but they weren't the hunters they had grown accustom too. The hulking creatures turned away from a large metal door at the back of the storage bay and revealed their true nature.

The spines on their backs protruded in misshapen, freakish angles. Where their heads usually were was a large protruding mass of machinery, what looked to be some kind of green glowing spike that jutted outward a bit like a pointed nose of sorts. A visor like blue eyes was placed in the center, a small little light bouncing from one end to the next. The armour looked even heavier and tougher, the already pillar like-legs seemed to have expanded. But that wasn't the terrifying part. One of them had two large shields for arms. The other sported dual fuel rod cannons.

These weren't regular hunters, they were huskified.

The one with the fuel rod cannons began to charge up both barrels. He fired upon four, forcing them out of their shocked stasis. No longer trapped in the head lights they ran to either side of the arch and hunkered down. The blasted rocked the area, as they struck down at the same time.

"They made hunter husks!" Six screamed "How did they make hunter Husks! They're worms!"

"My guess is these guys took a good long time to cook, infecting every individual part of the giant colony and then fusing them all together into one massive... thing." Garrus presumed "They don't look shielded though, so there's that."

Emile poked his head out and fired a grenade from the launcher at one. The one with the double giant metal arm shields covered himself before the explosives struck and simply kept walking forward.

"They're definitely better armoured," Emile groaned "not sure if the old strategies are gonna cut it."

"Then we must improvise a new solution." Legion surmised "The one with the dual fuel rod cannons must be generating a significant amount of energy in order to maintain both weapons. His power source is more than likely unstable."

"And the guy with the giant metal slabs for arms?" Six asked

Legion's eyes opened and closed exceedingly fast.

"We are still building a consensus, we shall devise an answer shortly." The geth assured

"In the meantime," Garrus stated as he stood back up "we test out whatever we got and hope something sticks."

The hulking hunter husk fired his dual blast once more, shaking the foundations of the archway.

"Number two doesn't have any protection on his arms," Six observed "let's see about focusing on him."

"We wouldn't have to worry about getting blown apart by a fuel cannon at least." Garrus reasoned "Let's split their focus then."

Garrus pointed his needler at the head of the dual fuel rod gun hunter, It was barely a pinprick to the turned alien, but it go his attention none the less. Exactly what Garrus had hoped for. He and six went right behind a series of metal containers just in time for a two powerful beams to come crashing into it. The containers shook violently as the blasts struck it. However with its attention off the archway, Emile and Legion were free to make their way left, intending to get around the ranged hunter using two perpendicular towers of shipping crates in the storage bay as cover.

Unfortunately the hunter that had been turned into a full on melee weapon was in their way. He stomped around to the other side of the towers, greeting the two as they turned the corner. Both the Spartan and machine opened fire on the beast, peppering it with rounds from their weapons. The husk just brushed them off and then threw itself forward into a dash. With arms raised upwards, it brought both of its devastating metal slabs for arms down upon the two. Emile rolled away moments before the slabs came down, as did Legion. When they did they released a powerful kinetic charge that forced Emile out of his firing stance.

"Fuck, they put grav-hammers in those?" he shouted in disbelief as he returned to a standing position.

On closer inspection, under the metal slabs the creature had for arms, there were indeed resonating large blocks. Similar enough to the hammers the brutes used, sans the handle and much of the ceremonial flair.

As Emile fired his shotgun on the creature it charged forward once more. This time the Spartan was ready though. He jumped forward and under the swinging titanic kinetic arm. As he passed under the swing and threw a plasma grenade at the back of the husk and landed next to a little drone that was now racing towards the hunter husk. The plasma grenade exploded moments after Emile hit the floor. The blast didn't seem to affect the husk hunter that much, but it blew off the large twisted spines on the creature's back at least. The drone soon closed and shocked the husk. Predictably it slammed its giant metal fist down on the drone, the sudden explosion sent the monster reeling.

By this time Legion had helped Emile to his feet and the two made their way to the other side of the metal container towers. There they found the hulking ranged hunter husk, still firing on where Garrus and Six currently were.

"Alright, Up Close and Smashy gave me an idea." Emile told Legion "Back side still seems to be the most vulnerable. We hit it hard enough and with a big ass explosion we may expose the power source for them guns of his."

"Possible, significant probability of power source resides deep inside enemy's structure." Legion warned

"Whatever, just send out another of your little roving explosive eyeballs and I'll handle the rest." Emile told the Geth, hefting his grenade launcher up.

He didn't want to think of the chances or how much explosive yield they'd need to crack that hide proper. All Emile cared about hitting it before it did more damage. When Legion activated a second drone it quickly moved towards its target. It zapped him along his left shoulder, forcing the hunter to react. It moved towards the distracting floating orb, charging up its guns to fire. The drone wouldn't survive the blast of course, so it was a good thing Emile wasn't relying on it.

Emile launched three grenades in quick succession at the hunter's big burly back. The spines came off first, just like before, sprinkling the ground around the husk hunter. The second shot caused a crack, but didn't catch the attention of the husk. Already it had discharged its weapons, destroying the drone with ease. The third grenade also failed to break the armour completely, but it did catch the attention of the hunter at last.

The creature turned to Emile, charging up both of its weapons once more. Two fuel rod shots flew at him, forcing the Spartan to roll left to avoid them. The blasts erupted behind him as he began to fire on the hunter with what was left in the grenade launcher. The shots struck the lumbering giant in the legs, Emile hoping it would trip him up. Unfortunately the pounding legs were unwavered by the attack and they approached closer, intending to make the next shot hit point blank.

Out of the top of his vision, however, Emile saw an arcing blue light, a plasma grenade. It fell upon the hunter's back, sticking itself there. The following explosion at last cracked the armoured shell on the hunter's backside. Pieces of the armour fell clean off and the hunter husk turned towards its new assailant. Emile peered around the mountain to see it had been Six that nailed the alien, out from behind the metal container.

When the husk turned to confront the second Spartan Emile saw what they were aiming for. Wedged between the shoulder blades of the titanic husk was a glowing green coil. Emile could also see the vestiges of what the alien once was, as little stringy fibres fell across the ground as the hunter husk ran forward, firing rapid shots from his fuel cannon at Six. The lieutenant strafed the hunter as he ran, the shots following him. The husk had completely forgotten about the fourth target behind the container.

Garrus was already aiming at the alien's glowing coil on his back. He wasn't sure if his needler rifle could pierce the casing, but he didn't have much choice except to try. He fired a total of six needles into the back of the lumbering beast from a distance. The pink little explosive spikes imbedded themselves in the power source. They detonated about three seconds after impact and the hunter jumped forward in anguish. But the monster wasn't dead, not yet. The power core on its back sputtered and sparked, energy pooling out from it by the millisecond. The hunter didn't see to comprehend why its fuel rod cannons weren't charging. It never found out the cause.

The green explosion ripped the mega-sized husk hunter apart, pieces of it falling all over the storage bay. Bits of what remained of the hunter's flesh fell on Emile's shoulder and he hastily brushed it off.

"Ugh, looks and smells like Asian food gone bad," he said "even more so when they get all tech-zombied."

There was an ear piercing shriek from behind near the container towers, a reminder that their job wasn't finished yet. Everyone looked to see the melee based hunter, his armour cracked, pieces of it falling off.

"Oh right," Emile noted "this asshole."

The enraged hunter charged even as the Spartan laid into him with a shotgun. A mighty back hand suddenly sent Emile hurtling into Garrus where the two collapsed into a heap. Rounds bounced off the back of the hunter husk's strange triangular head. It turned to see Legion and Six firing on him with biggest calibre weapons. It began a charge once more, headed for them but was suddenly blindsided mid stride from behind. A terrible pounding crashed across the creature's back. Something had rammed into his backside.

"Hey! Ugly!"

The hunter turned back to see the half-his-size, Grunt standing tall. The krogan seemed as defiant as ever, holding his shotgun high.

"Come on! I'm a bigger meal than them!"

The hunter obliged the challenge and smacked the krogan away with a single swing of its mighty metal slab. Lucky for Grunt it wasn't the gravity hammer side he had gotten hit with. The krogan slammed down onto the metal floor of the storage bay. He could still feel the hit as he stood back up. Thankfully he hadn't gotten his head hit this time so he was still conscious. He quickly got up as the husk hunter closed on him. He made a dash in between the two container towers and the hunter followed. Emile and Garrus got up from their nasty hit just in time to watch the whole spectacle unfold.

The huskified covenant found it difficult to squeeze through the little gap between the containers. It managed to finally force its way in and tried to continue to follow Grunt out of the gap. Instead it saw the walls begin to shake and terrible pounding sound resonating through the metal.

Grunt was on the other side of the towers, facing towards the railing that separated the storage bay from ground far below. He kept slamming himself into the containers, intending to force them over. After watching Grunt's attempt for a bit, a now recovered Emile fired the last grenade in his launcher at the top of the container tower. The already shaky foundation tipped over and the containers fell back onto the huskified hunter. As the dust settled from the collapse Grunt admired his handiwork.

"That more than makes up for half the guys we didn't end up killing today." He bellowed with a tremendous laugh

However, there was then a sudden booming and clanging from the collapsed containers that interrupted the short celebration. Suddenly the metal burst open and a heavily wounded, falling apart but still very much alive, hunter husk appeared. This time Grunt wasted no time, he rushed in, his own Gravity hammer raised up and swung towards the hunter. The covie swung his own hand, this time with the grav hammer side aimed at Grunt. But the krogan's hammer got to the monster first. The hunter's upper torso was hit clean off the body and flew towards the edge of the railing. He smashed through it and continued on his way towards the ground.

Grunt stood back from his kill and took a breath.

"Dropped him on his ass huh?" he asked the others

"Nice work Grunt, bit excessive but who can argue with results." Garrus complimented "Where's Sanders?"

"Right here!"

The corporal and her remaining fellow troopers trudged through the archway towards the group. She looked around at the devastated storage bay.

"Damn," she stated "looks like you guys had fun."

"We do not consider this enemy engagement as pleasurable." Legion flatly stated

The corporal just shrugged and headed passed the group towards the back of the bay.

"Drydock's through this door," she told them "come on. Like you said, Autumn won't wait forever."

* * *

><p>Shepard hefted the hatch open and crawled out once again into the quarry. Only this time he was overlooking it. From atop the wormhole generator he could see the entire quarry, the banshees and falcons still battling it out above them, the two giant carriers of both sides staring each other down from either end of the battlefield's overcast skies. But the most important thing he eyed was the giant spire at the center of the generator. Already he could see energy pooling around it, flowing up into the focal point of this entire facility.<p>

It needed to go down. He just hoped his team had enough fire power left in their Cains to manage the task. They had used a lot getting here and even if they took down the spire they'd still need at least to crack the core under the spire and cause this whole place to go critical. Maybe they would just build another one, but at least he'd delay the Covenant from pouring into his universe in greater numbers than any one fleet could handle.

Shepard stood back from the hatch and helped the others get up onto the roof. First came Tali, then Kasumi, and finally Buck and his squad. As soon they were up Kasumi kicked the hatch down and bent over it, using her omni-tool to begin welding it shut.

"Can't have our friendly murderous preacher friend following us up now can we?" she asked hypothetically

That wouldn't stop Xytas of course, if he thought killing them meant accomplishing the will of the Forerunners he'd find a way up. But at least they'd have a little time to put some distance between this hatch and the Covenant.

As Kasumi continued her work, Shepard took a look around the roof itself. It was dotted with little pylons, all giving off energy, some arcing between each other and towards the center. The pylons themselves were bulky little trapezoids with sharp claw-like antennas ontop where the energy was collected, pooled and then sent out.

"These must be redirecting excess energy flow back to the spire in the center." Tali observed "They don't seem to be getting as much as the diagrams say they should though. Probably because we took out the conduits so less power is getting produced in general."

"So what's our estimate till the wormhole opens?" Shepard asked

Tali looked at the spire and did some quick calculations based on the energy output her omni-tool was picking up. After a few seconds she came up with a figure.

"Looks like we have about twenty minutes before it reaches critical mass," Tali surmised "However because of the decreased power output it may take longer for it to breach the time/space barrier and reconnect itself to the other wormhole. So that's another five or ten minutes."

"Plenty of time to get the job done then," said Shepard confidently "so let's contact the team, regroup and then we can-"

Shepard was interrupted by a flurry of plasma bolts firing out at him from the left. He looked to see elites side by side with a few krogan running towards them, guns blaring.

"Great and I was just starting to enjoy the quiet." Romeo grumbled as he took aim and fired a round. The bullet cut through an elite's shields, taking off his head. It forced the other attackers into the cover, but they still fired on them nonetheless.

Shepard and company quickly rallied and got behind the pylons themselves. Kasumi finished up on the welding of the hatch just moments after the first few shots and quickly found her spot beside the others.

"Alright Shep," she spoke up "how we get out of this one?"

"We're on a time limit so we can't waste it on these guys. We fall back through the pylons towards the spire." He responded "Stay together, we split up and they'll pick us off one by one."

"We're right behind ya Commander." Buck complied.

With that, Kasumi tossed a flashbang into the mess of enemies targeting them. Blinded and rendered deaf by the light and blast the group rushed through the pylons away from their attackers. Meanwhile Shepard tried to contact the rest of the team through the comms, but all the radio gave back was static.

"Residual energy from the pylons must be blocking communications!" Tali informed him when he explained the problem "I can probably boost the signal if I jack into one of the pylons."

The quarian stopped in mid run at one of the pylons in question and forced open a panel.

"I don't think we have much time for you to hack stuff ma'am." Dutch informed her

Tali looked back at Dutch momentarily, weird sense of bemusement on her face. She quickly regained her composure somewhat though.

"I'm gonna leave a worm program in the system that will run my program in my absence." Tali assured "While we keep moving the program will open a line through the static and connect our radios to it."

A few clicks of her omni-tool against the mainframe of the pylon and Tali was done. She quickly jammed the panel back onto the pylon, just in case any of the Covenant got suspicious. Just in time too as one of the krogan that had attacked them earlier had started firing on them from behind. Dutch, still carrying the plasma turret in his arms fired back on the giant lizard in earnest. Slowly he backed up as the krogan was hit with a dozen or so powerful plasma bolts straight in the chest.

The group continued their run forwards, Tali checking her omni-tool for the progress her hack was making. She alternated between it and keeping her eyes on potential threats. Not easy to do when they could be all around you. So she activated her tactical scan in her visor once more. The VR vision mode quickly highlighted everything around her in seconds. Using her own suit's sensors, the sounds of breathing and footsteps, subtle heat changes, shot locations, they could all be used to trace potential enemies back to their sources and then allow her to zero in on them.

She turned left just as an elite popped out of cover, repeater ready. She fired her phalanx and UNSC pistol in quick succession, quickly taking down the alien's shields and then putting him down as well. She turned back to the front just in time to see a Krogan appear in front of them. She jumped to the right, just as a flurry of assault rifle rounds flew at her. She made her way around the pylon to get another angle on the krogan and stuck out her omni-tool in time to get a clear connection to the gun's systems. One sabotage program activation later and the gun blew up in the stupid reptile's face. Dutch ran across her vision and pumped the down krogan with a few more plasma bolt rounds.

"Keep moving ma'am! I got this!" he told her looking back momentarily

Tali only raised an eyebrow for a moment at this and quickly returned to the fight at hand. She continued weaving through the pylons, pistols pointed forward. An Ion beam suddenly cut across the roof and the quarian jumped back into cover as it sliced at the pylon she was now using for cover. Her visor had already pinpointed the bosh'tet who had fired on her. Now she just needed a better angle to shoot. She whirled her body around the pylon next to her, narrowly missing another ion beam. She moved towards the other side and then out of cover completely. She now had the phalanx's laser sight placed in the dead center of one Jackal's head. As the little bird alien turned to towards the little blue beam Tali fired the phalanx square into his head.

As the alien fell back, his strange little scope goggles he wore falling beside him, Tali turned to the right once more. Her visor had picked up the clamping of little feet. Four silver armoured grunts running up to flank the team, their charged pistols in hand. She opened up on the pack of gas suckers as she side stepped through the pylons. The lead was the first to fall, taking two rounds from each gun square in the brain. A second went down as he took a shot to the neck. The third was struck in the arm first, his plasma pistol going off and hitting the nearby pylon. Three more bullets struck him in the chest before he finally went down, tumbling onto his back. The last one ducked down from the incoming bullets only to have his pack pierced by one of them. The methane tank exploded sending him flying forward, smashing him against another pylon.

Tali tried to compose herself. Firing two heavy calibre weapons left her arms feeling a bit weak from the recoil. As she put the guns back in their holster she heard the sound of a shrieking elite behind her. She turned to see one of eight foot warriors getting shocked by two small blasts of electricity followed by one great big bolt that shot him clear across the pylon rows. Kasumi soon ran up to where the covie had been standing just moments before, the arc projector in her hand.

"How's the hack going?" she asked, almost casually, as if they weren't in a war zone.

Typical Kasumi. Tali checked her omni-tool anyway and saw to her delight that it was finished.

"Comm Signal is boosting now." She told the thief "Where's Shepard?"

Right on time Shepard came from where Kasumi had appeared from, firing back on their pursuers along with Dutch. The trooper still had the plasma turret in hand, that is until it ran out of juice. He then quickly tossed the weapon down and switched to his assault rifle.

"Where the hell are these bastards coming from anyway?" he asked

"Never mind that," Tali informed him, looking to Shepard "Wade, the signal's boosted! Contact the others!"

Shepard did just that, putting his hand up to his ear to activate the radio. The channel was clear, no static.

"Shepard to squad, what is your status?" he asked

"On the roof Shepard!" Miranda's voice called out "Covenant are swarming us here and there but we're pushing forward."

"We're on the roof as well," Samara replied just then "we're repelling Covenant defenders and pushing towards the spire."

"Do you have enough shots in your cains?" he asked

"I have one." Miranda answered

"Same." Samara replied

Well that each had at least one. That had to be enough to take down the spire at the center. Nothing could withstand getting hit with three Cain rounds and remain standing. They could increase their odds if they hit it at the same time even.

"Alright, move into position and contact me when you're ready to launch." He informed them "We fire each shot all at the same time."

"Copy commander." Miranda complied

"We shall be in position shortly Shepard," Samara informed him "good luck to you."

They'd get to where they needed to be, it was now on them to be there on time. They couldn't afford to miss the spire. Then again it was a pretty large object so it was hard to miss. Still Shepard wanted to be sure he hit the sweet spot, where ever that was.

Overhead Shepard could see a few of the u-shaped covenant dropships descending on the wormhole generator. These were certainly more reinforcements for the beleaguered defenders of the structure. With their time running out Shepard made his move. He waved the others forward, straight towards where one dropship was now hovering just feet above the roof.

* * *

><p>Samara pressed her back hard into the pylon's base. Plasma bolts rocked the metal with their incessant chattering. Behind her, a mass of Covenant quickly closing on her position, in front of her, Zaeed and Mordin kept another contingent at bay. They had walked into a pincer movement and it was closing on them fast.<p>

Samara had no intention of staying here. Shepard was counting on them. She could practically feel the immense amount of energy swirling into the spire. It was going to go off and when it did they'd have only a fraction of time left to act.

Samara moved out of cover as the Covenant horde advanced. She rushed forward at them, firing her assault rifle as she moved. The vindicator's bursts cut down some of gas sucking grunts with ease and she continued to press forward. As she neared one grunt she flung a reave attack against him, the poor creature hunched over in pain as his body tensed up. Next Samara flung a throw attack at the alien and let it fire him backwards into the crowd of covenant. The mixing of biotic energies soon caused the effects to detonate among the Covenant. The bright blue blast killed an elite, two jackals and force the united front apart.

As the devastated remains of those the terrific blast of biotic energy had killed fell to the ground, Samara rushed directly into the fray. She leapt towards the Covenant and landed in their midst, sending a shockwave forward as she landed. It sent two more elites flying away from her. She turned right and stretched out her hand and let a singularity shoot out, catching two bewildered grunts in its thrall. She fired upon their floating gas breathers with her rifle.

As she finished with them she turned quickly and delivered a swift smack to the face of one elite with the butt of her weapon. While the eight foot monster quickly recovered from the attack and raised his plasma rifle to strike her in kind, Samara would not give him the chance to do so. She pulled her arm back and then punched forward, releasing a blast of biotic power straight into the elite's stomach. Sudden onslaught was too much and the elite was sent hurtling into the electrical path of one of the pylons.

The smoking corpse of the elite fell to the ground and Samara looked her for other challengers. She found them in what remained of the covenant assault force. Their plasma weapons blared wildly as they closed in on the Asari, bolts slinging past her head. Samara artfully avoided the shorts best she could and let the aliens get closer to her. The elites, grunts and jackals seemed undeterred by her powers. Perhaps they believed that if they could simply overwhelm her from all sides they would eventually take her down.

True enough every angle of escape was blocked now by a charging Covenant soldier. When Samara tried to fire back the elites easily darted into cover and popped out moments later. They continued to press on, practically stepping over their smaller compatriots in an effort to seize the moment and crush the justicar between them. In that moment Samara expanded her kinetic barriers around her ever so slightly, crossed her arms and then in a dramatic and violent fashion exploded them outward. The kinetic barrier expanded into a massive nova attack that flung the attacking Covenant up and away from her.

Her way back open she ran back to the others, who were fishing up their own ordeal. Zaeed shattered a frozen elite apart with his rifle's stock. He then slammed his foot on a grunt as it tried to crawl away from the fight. Mordin, who had of course frozen the elite with a cryo attack, had just sent an incineration blast out that ignited two jackals, sending them running.

"Enemy resistance strengthening." He stated plainly "Either growing bolder or more desperate. Can't tell."

"They must know the device is about to fire." Samara surmised "We must hurry before it is too late."

Samara moved forward with the others making their way to a clear area on the roof, where the pylons were spreading apart just enough that you could clearly see the spire in its full length. The justicar got out the Cain and began to charge it.

"Shepard we are in position!" She called out over the radio

"As are we!" Miranda added as Samara spoke "What's your status commander?"

* * *

><p>Shepard charged directly into the wall of Jackals, staggering them as the biotics struck them at full force. He opened up his shot gun on all three of them before they had the chance to recover, the inferno rounds easily eating away at them.<p>

Tali was close by herself, between him and Buck's troopers as they all moved through the pylon field. Chiktikka was out in front of the quarian, shooting out electrical bursts towards the covenant forcing them out of cover so Tali could finish them. Her geth plasma shotgun easily brought down all comers. One grunt took a full blast to the shoulder as Chiktikka chased him out of cover.

Tali switched targets to an elite next, but he got off the shot first. She took a hit to her shields, forcing her into cover. She did not back down however. She stood out again stuck out her omni-tool. The elite's shield was stolen from him and transferred to her. Tali quickly fired one medium charge from the shotgun at the covenant officer. The searing attack struck square in the chest and fell to the floor dead.

With each kill they pushed a little bit more forward. They couldn't allow themselves to be stopped for too long. Not when the spire still needed to be taken down. As they pushed forward another skirmisher appeared, the fourth one they had ended up tangling with by now. His little arm shields protected him rather well and he kept his distance from the shot ranged shotguns. He fired his plasma pistols at Shepard, Tali and Buck's team, switching targets as fast as he switched cover. He was so focused on them however, he didn't check on his behind.

An omni-blade stabbed straight through his chest. Kasumi kicked the dead alien off it and retracted the blade. She was the primary reason they were making such great progress. Any potential speed bumps in their path didn't last long so long as she kept her cloak up and out in front. It was strange having a thief at the tip of their spear, but as always Kasumi just adapted to the situation best she could.

Once Kasumi's cloak left her she took cover behind one of the pylons, anticipating the dead alien's friends would soon strike back. To her surprise when she looked out to see the source of plasma bolts being shot at her she saw vorcha pulling the triggers. She had hoped they had seen the last of the ugly little bastards, but she supposed that where there was blood pack there would be Vorcha. She took some solace in the fact the four attacking her currently were probably among the last Kreave's forces had left. They had to be running low on their stock of cheap meat shields right?

Well she might as well thin the herd a bit, but for that she'd need to get closer. Luckily these pylons made duck and weaving a bit easier to do. She could quickly close the gap on the Vorcha if she just kept moving and kept a pylon covering her path for most of the way. She moved forward, keeping her head down and heavy out. She kept a pylon in front of her for most of the way, weaving through the metal electrical secreting blocks. Plasma bolts slashed at both her cover and shields, but she didn't stop.

When she neared the vorcha, Kasumi readied a flashbang and tossed it into their midst. Now at point blank range she rushed out and slashed one of them in the throat. As the vorcha fell, Kasumi fired an extra round into his head. She didn't want to risk it getting back up again as vorcha were wont to do. The thief quickly did the same to the other four blind blood pack shock troopers. Two bullets per each of them was enough to put them down for good as she moved her crosshairs onto each of the vorcha in quick succession. Their heads perforated, the vorcha's bodies fell to the floor one after the other.

Shepard caught up to the hooded woman, still standing among the four dead vorcha. He held in his hands the Cain, not yet charged but still ready to go. The others followed suit and formed a defensive perimeter around Shepard.

"The others are in position." He told Kasumi "Cover me while I get this thing ready."

"Just get this done and us out of here alright Shep." She told him as she took her position "After this ordeal I'm in the mood for some fireworks."

Shepard turned back towards the spire, now pulsating with several different colours of light. He charged up the cain and scanned for a spot to shoot. As he did there was a low rumbling in the ground beneath him. The pylons suddenly surged with a great big shot of energy streaming through them towards the spire properly. The pulsating mixture of light swirled up the spire all the way up towards its sharp pointed tip. In one last instance of the rumbling floor the light shot out from the pointed top and headed towards the sky above. Close to a thousand feet about the quarry the light erupted into blinding display. Swirling energy of every colour imaginable circled around in the sky, a blackened center slowly emerging out of it.

"Shepard what's happening?" Miranda shouted over the radio in shock

"We're out of time." He responded thusly "pick your target and fire on my mark! Mark!"

Shepard removed his finger from the trigger and let the cain shot fire. The orange flaming round catapulted itself across the sky, a blazing trail traveling in its wake. It was joined by two other shots each heading to a different portion of the gigantic spire. When they struck their targets a massive three part explosion ignited. Huge chunks of the spire were torn from the gigantic spike-like tower, clods swirled around it and the fantastic light that emanated from it died down. They had seemingly deactivated the focusing part of the installation, but as Shepard looked to the heavens he still saw the massive swirling ball above their heads, not growing as fast as it had been before but still present.

"Why is it not dissipating?" Shepard asked frantically

"The spire must only discharge and focus the energy!" Tali replied, trying to make herself heard over the sound of the slowly opening singularity. "It assists in the tearing of space/time, but there must be a secondary backup system! Something that locks onto the energy signature and continues the process!"

Shepard could see the spire was leaning to one side. It's broken and shattered form could no longer stand in the face of three devastating miniature nuclear grade explosions. That wasn't the worst part though, it was the fact the spire was tumbling towards them that frightened Shepard.

"Scatter team!" he ordered

The base of the spire completely broke off from the structure itself and the entire construction began to fall. The spire fell towards Shepard and team and the group broke apart as it neared them. Shepard leapt forward as the massive pillar of steel crashed down onto the roof. He covered himself to protect from flying bits of metal and shrapnel, kicked up by the collapse. Energy pylons sparked and died under the weight of the giant spire, not that it mattered as they apparently weren't needed anymore.

Shepard rose to his feet, but could not see any sign of his team. Opened his communication channel and tried to contact them.

"Tali, Buck, Kasumi," he began "are you guys alright?"

There was a slight bit of coughing but soon everyone checked in.

"My squad's fine commander," Buck answered "little shaken but fine. I think we're cut off from you though."

"I'm alright Shepard," Tali answered next "I'll locate Buck's team and try to make my way back to you."

"I'm okay too Shep." Kasumi assured "Don't worry, I'll stay out of trouble and out of sight until I relocate you guys."

Good everyone was alright. Unfortunately they still had a job to do.

"Stay frosty," he told them "we need work our way to the center of this structure. I still have a Cain left. If the schematics are right the core is directly below where the spire was mounted. We should have a clear shot to it now. If I can detonate it we can send this whole complex into overload."

"We'll need to book it to get out of this quarry before it goes up Commander." Buck told him "I hope you have our ride on stand-by."

"I'll contact Holland," he assured "just try and regroup with the others and get ready to run when that thing blows. We can still win this."

It was then that Shepard could hear a terrible sound approaching him, one that had become far too familiar by now. He looked up to see Kreave's Vampire closing on his position. No time to think or fire back, Shepard just ran. Plasma licked at his heels as he made his run, the Vampire diving down at him and following. He dodged, jumping into the cover of one of the pylons. The vampire sped over him, but Shepard knew it would be back.

He was now at the far edge of the wormhole generator, along one of its many little starfish shaped prongs. He kept his shotgun up and ready, he didn't know where his team was or if there were still any Covenant around this section of the roof. He could see the tip of the spire he had toppled just a few feet away from him. Behind him was the giant wall of the quarry looming above him and a sudden drop to the ground below. Not the best situation to be stuck in with a crazy krogan in a ship on your tail.

He could see something much worse and more immediate though. Charging up through the pylons, through the dust kicked up by the battle, was a squad of elites. Shepard could also see a blue glowing light emanating at the center of their formation, getting closer by the second.

"Great, trapped once again between the bloodthirsty fan and the murderous fanatic," he thought aloud "today continues to be so much fun."

The elites charged out of the smoke firing their repeaters and rifles at the lone commander. He had no intention of making it that easy for them though. Cornered never meant dead end, it just meant you had to bulldoze your way out. He ran out to meet the incoming covenant, firing his shotgun forward. Three bursts ripped through shield and flesh, killing the first elite with inferno ammo. Shepard turned right to send a shockwave along the floor the force an elite away from him. He perforated the falling form with another burst of bullets. One elite closed for the kill, his plasma dagger ready. Shepard ducked his swing and let the alien fall forwards onto his the commander's back. He then turned and fired point blank into the face of covenant officer as he collapsed to the floor. But as he turned again, his gun at the ready, he found he was now staring straight into the face of Xytas.

He looked even worse than before. The implants were practically jutting out through his skin and armour. What Shepard could see of the zealot's face was partially metallic and twisted. All further signs that he was losing himself more and more to the power of the reapers. Shepard got a split second look at the latest stage of Xytas' transformation. Within a moment a biotic attack struck him square in the chest and catapulted him into the air.

Shepard landed in a heap several feet away, near the very edge of the wormhole generator. He scrambled to get back up on his feet, pointing his gun forward as the other elites began to advance, plasma swords in hand and at the ready. Xytas was there as well, standing at the back, his own double plasma swords imbedded in his arms at the ready.

Shepard kept his shotgun pointed forward. He could still take these bastards. Of course, then he heard the groaning engines of something from behind. He turned to see something rising from below, the vampire, Kreave cackling as the ship rose high.

"Now I end this!" he declared "Goodbye Commander Shepard!"

Shepard could hear the plasma coils beginning to charge, ready to fire on his position. He didn't have many options left, not cut off like this. He looked up to the swirling mass of energy above them all. Was this is it? Did he come all this way just to die once again?

Then, an explosion, it erupted behind him. He looked and saw something striking against the vampire, the already heavily damaged vehicle veered slightly away as grenades seemed to fall on him. The cause, a Falcon, flying low and just above the vampire. Its gunner was apparently shooting grenades down on the covenant aircraft. Kreave seemed to groan in a mix of anger and frustration. With his needler cannon out of commission from his last bout the Falcon had been able to sneak up on him. The vampire turned towards the falcon, trying to get a fix on it.

That still left the problem of the elites though and they were now closing fast. But as they did three quick gun shots rang out. The elites all suddenly dropped dead, windy smoke trails leading up out of their heads towards the falcon yet again. Shepard peered up to see that alongside the grenade gunner was someone else armed with a sniper rifle. The person shouted down towards Shepard over the gun fire and chaos around them.

"Did you really think you could lose Noble Team that easy Shepard?"

He recognized that voice and as his eyes adjusted he could confirm it. Jun was in the Falcon his sniper rifle still smoking.

"How the hell did you get here!" Shepard shouted back up to him.

"Still have a line to Holland, when I finished up with Halsey I contacted him!"

That was all Shepard was able to get out of the Spartan, plasma started hitting his Falcon and the aircraft veered off. A good idea considering the vampire's stasis beam was still online. Still they had done their job. The vampire was now in critical condition, smoking from every orifice. But Kreave wouldn't let up. He turned his ship back towards Shepard.

"Enough with the interruptions! Just die already!" the krogan screamed.

But before Kreave could open fire something else hit him first yet again. A red laser beam struck the side of his craft, cutting clear through where the left prong and the central body of the ship met. As and fire poured out of the alien ship Shepard looked over to the tumbled spire and saw Dutch and Tali nearby.

"That oughta shut him up." Dutch declared.

The vampire began to spin out of control, teetering from side to side. Kreave tried to level out but soon the vampire began to lose altitude. The smoking burning wreck flew sideways and fell towards the ground. Shepard heard the very audible and satisfying crash moments later. The blood pack leader was out the game at last. That still left Xytas though and Shepard looked back to see he was already stepping over the dead bodies of his comrades the finish the commander off.

"Shepard!" Tali called, holding aloft the collector particle cannon "Catch!"

The heavy weapon was tossed into the air towards him. He grabbed at the object, careful not to fumble it onto the ground. Once he got a good grip on it he fired a full beam blast straight at the charging zealot. The beam cut across the alien's face just as he tried to block the shot. The elite fell to the floor, kneeling over in pain. Shepard would've finished him there, had his back up not arrived. More elites streamed out of cover at him and Shepard was forced to fall back, firing the particle beam as he retreated. He cut apart two of the elites as he moved back, setting them aflame.

He threw himself over the spire, landing among Tali and Dutch. They pulled back from the collapsed spire, leaving Xytas in the care of his friends.

"Sorry we didn't reach ya sooner Commander." Dutch apologized "Easy to get lost in all this crap."

"Just glad you showed up when you did." Shepard assured him "Now let's get moving before something else happens."

Something else happened relatively quickly. Diving down from on high what was left of the banshees in the sky descended from above, firing their plasma down on the assembled group of three. As one dove down it was shot apart by a massive stream of bullets. Its flaming corpse fell to earth and a falcon flew up in its place. Jun's voice filled Shepard's comm-link.

"I'll try and keep them busy!" he said "Just blow this place already!"

That's just what he intended to do.

"Spread out," Shepard told the others "less a target we make ourselves the better right now! I'll work my way to the core! You guys just find a place, hunker down and get ready for extraction! Move!"

The team split apart once more as another flight of banshees began their attack.

* * *

><p>The vampire had crashed into the dirt, leaving a giant gash in ground below. The broken, burning gunship had lost its left prong. It rested beside the crashed ship, torn from the main body of the vehicle. The cockpit canopy was slightly off its hinge before a massive foot slammed into it, throwing it completely off the hinge. Out stepped a bruised and battered Kreave, blood streaming down his temples, his crest scarred from the shrapnel that had slashed at both it and his head during the crash. He grabbed his shotgun from where he had rest it beside the seat and slowly stumbled out of the downed craft. He winced slightly, his leg badly wounded. It would heal, in time. For now though he would need to find safer ground. He had lost his chance today. Even if he could somehow get back up to the roof in time he couldn't face Shepard like this. He'd be crushed easily. He'd have to wait, plan, and devise a new strategy. He'd find the commander again, he'd prove his worth.<p>

For now, he had to drag himself out of this quarry. He began to work his way out of the quarry. Once he reached top level he'd call for an evac ship. Some of his men had to be looking for him. They had to be in phantoms, they'd come for him. He'd have another chance.

But again, not today.

* * *

><p>It wasn't easy ducking and dodging alien aircraft constantly. At the very least the banshees were unable to focus on a singular group of people. The dive bombing had destroyed a great deal of pylons, leaving only their sparking stumpy remains. Shepard could see a lot more now that the roof had been partially cleared. It made it easier to spot approaching Covenant and avoid them.<p>

Jun's falcon had soon been joined by others, but while they had been chasing the banshees the covenant aircraft were tenacious in their pursuit of Shepard and the others. He hadn't seen Tali, Kasumi or Buck's squad for a few minutes now. He kept in contact with them through the radio, checking on their progress more or less. Tali had linked back up with Kasumi, finding her stabbing a grunt through the back of his head. Buck and his team were working their way back around to the core, attempting to cover Shepard's flank as he made his way towards the center of their current predicament.

All the while covenant banshees swooped low now and again, attempting to take pot shots at Shepard and anyone else they encountered. It was becoming daunting. Worst of all they seemed to be heavily concentrated around the core. Every time he looked up they were circling the center in a holding pattern while the massive singularity above them widened. He needed a way to clear them out.

"Holland!" He finally spoke in desperation over the radio "Can you send more longswords? Pelicans? Sabres? Anything that flies and shoots? I need these banshees off my damn back already!"

"Gravelston's sent everyone in his ship out there Commander," Holland hectically explained"everyone is engaged. Everyone! I can have my tanks at the quarry's edge in less than ten minutes Shepard. They're pushing through the wraiths as fast as they can right now. Maybe they can shoot some of the banshees down with a shot or two."

They didn't have ten minutes, that singularity was gonna go critical soon. One the portal opened the battlecruisers would pour through and they'd be glass in seconds. They needed another way.

"Do we have anyone?" he asked pleadingly "Anyone at all?"

Shepard's pleads were answered, but not by Holland. A new voice cackled on the comm. channel.

"Roger that Commander, we read you five by five."

That voice was unfamiliar to him, how it got on the channel he wasn't sure. It sounded human though.

"Who is this?" he demanded to know

"Captain Kristof Jen of the UNSC Savannah," the voice replied "heard the Normandy's captain was in a bit of a jam. Thought we'd lend a hand, look to the sky, you'll see our approach."

Savannah? Shepard remembered that ship, the one Joker saved. It was here? They'd come to repay a debt? How? No sense in looking a gift horse in the mouth. Shepard stared up over the far ridge and saw the clouds overhead part as a large UNSC frigate appeared from the heavens. It started firing it's cannons down below, but Shepard couldn't see at what.

"What's going on Savannah?" he asked

"We're pissing off the mother of the fighters." Kristof explained "Assault Carrier has just taken several hits to its rear and forward batteries. Dumbasses had all their shields powered at its nose it seems. More afraid of the carrier in front of them and not the guys sneaking up behind."

Almost all at once the covenant fighters veered away from the battle. The banshees and seraphs that remained all rushed back to their mothership to engage the human ship that had dared fire on her. It left the skies relatively clear of any major air support and opened the way to the central core.

"Thanks Savannah!" Shepard called out "Can you handle the extra guns coming to you?"

"We'll manage Shepard," Captain Jen assured "Just finish up there fast alright. We aren't built for fighting assault carriers. We're gonna have to keep moving and shooting if we want to last long."

Another voice joined the conversation.

"The Nebraska can move to assist, Shepard." Gravelston assured "Just worry about the wormhole generator. We'll handle the rest."

With that Shepard continued on his way towards the core, edging closer as he ran. It wouldn't take long to finish this, on cain round in the core and they were done, they could get out of here. But fate rarely made things so simple. The ground suddenly shook, making Shepard stumble a bit as he lugged the giant mini-nuke launcher in his arms. Tali came over the radio just then.

"Shepard! Wraiths on the ridge behind us just opened up on the generator!" she shouted "They're trying to clear the entire roof of enemies!"

Shepard looked back and saw blue arcs coming down upon the roof. The massive ball of plasma landed several yards away, but the aftershocks were still devastatingly powerful. He could see a number of the wraiths lining the edges of the quarry clearly.

"They're crazy! What if they hit the core?" Shepard asked Tali

"They don't seem to be aiming that far, just to be safe." Tali replied "I think me and Kasumi are safe, we're out of their line of sight so they can't target us. But we have jackals firing on us right now, so there's that. Also I can see Buck and his men from here. They're zeroed in."

Shepard rushed to the left, weaving through the pylons, scanning the area. He soon found Buck's team, the ODSTs were huddled behind a crashed falcon between two pylons as blue plasma edged ever closer to them. Needler rounds and green plasma bolts struck their cover, forcing them to stay.

"Can you relieve the pressure on them?" Shepard asked Tali

"No, I can't get to them! Not in time!" She replied frantically "These jackals aren't giving an inch and they're right in our path towards Buck! Can you see the wraith's shooting at them from where you are?"

Shepard looked up at the ridge, scanning the blue arcs that were crashing down towards Buck and his men. He could see two wraiths doing most of the work and their aim was getting better with each shot.

"Shepard you need to help them!" Tali pleaded

There was a way to help them, the cain. Its shot could reach the wraiths with ease. It would take them both out and maybe more. But then he'd be out of shots, nothing to kill the center with. They wouldn't be able to take down this generator, not unless they found a substitute. A search which they most definitely didn't have the time for.

Shepard looked back at the core, just a few more yards away from him. He could end this now probably if he aimed the cain right. But if he did, he'd be sentencing Buck's men to death. Tali wouldn't be able to get to them in time. They'd be dead before then. He could already see it, the plasma was eking closer to its intended target.

He had to choose. Save Buck and his men or destroy the generator.

The smart thing to do would be to sacrifice Buck's men. If they didn't kill the generator they'd all be dead anyway. The logical thing was to accept that they had to die to save everyone else. That they knew the risks coming here and that there was no other real choice. Buck had to die, that was that, pure and simple. That was the smart thing to do. He couldn't choke at the hard choices. He had to let the people, who had come to help him out at great risk to themselves, die. Let your ideals slide just this once, he thought. Keeping them had let that zealot escape and come here, threatening the mission. This was the smart thing to do, the logical thing to do.

But it wasn't the thing he would do.

He took the cain in hand, aimed it at the ridge, charged it and fired. The powerful round rocketed out of the hand held mass driver, flying towards its intended target. The explosion came seconds later, a small mushroom cloud appear on the ridge. The wraiths were completely and utterly destroyed, their burnt out husks all that remained.

Shepard threw the cain on the ground and got on the radio.

"Tali, get past those damn Jackals and help Buck." He ordered sombrely

"I will Shepard." Tali promised "We'll link up with them and work our way to you."

Shepard turned back to the core, mulling over the problem in his mind. How was he gonna crack the core now? As he thought about the situation he saw a grunt run across his field of vision, he was moving from pylon to pylon, trying to edge closer to Shepard, maybe fire a full blast straight into his chest or something. Shepard didn't waste time, he threw a pull attack that swerved around and struck the little alien, dragging him out into the open. He fired once into the flailing floating alien with his pistol as he approached. When the body dropped he bent over and picked up a plasma grenade on the alien's belt.

It wasn't much, he'd have to be right on top of the core to make sure he got it inside, but he wasn't sure it would be enough. He walked forward towards the core again, picking up his stride. As he did he thought he saw a glint in the corner of his eye. Suddenly he was thrown straight into a pylon by a biotic ball of energy. He felt his back ache upon impact with the solid metal. He looked up to see blade approaching his head at high velocity. He ducked suddenly and rolled away, the plasma sword imbedding itself in the pylon. Xytas growled as he ripped the sword out, sparks flying everywhere as he did. The side of his mouth was partially scarred and seared, an after effect of the beam that hit him.

"You have failed human." The elite declared "My power grows with each passing second, while yours dims."

Shepard was still catching his breath when Xytas spoke, clearly an indication he had been fighting for way too long. But it didn't matter, he couldn't stop, he wouldn't stop. If he had to get through this zealot to blow this place to kingdom come then so be it!

He charged straight at Xytas, striking his biotic barrier with his own biotic charge. A sword swung at his head, but Shepard ducked under it and let loose a biotic punch that pushed the alien fanatic back several feet. Xytas plunged his sword into the metal floor below to slow his tumble and got back up to rush the commander. Shepard sent out a shockwave, firing his submachine gun at the alien as he approached. The elite blocked the bullets with his swords, deflecting them with ease. Then he jumped over the shockwave in a single bound landing with a resounding biotic wave of his own. Shepard was flung back several feet by the blast and as soon as he landed found he quickly had to roll one way to avoid getting a plasma sword through the neck. Shepard swung out another biotic punch that sent the zealot careening away from him, finally giving Shepard some breathing room.

He stood up once more, just in time to hear Xytas' thunderous landing. He must've dented the metal from the sound of that big old clang. Still, it wouldn't stop him. Not with the implants already enhancing his natural born strength and power. Shepard began to run for the core, he needed to get there before Xytas returned, before he could stop him, before he truly failed.

That was when Tali contacted him.

"Shepard! I'm moving to you now with Buck's team!" she began, speaking a mile a minute "My suit's visor just picked up a massive surge of energy."

"From the generator?" he asked her, trying to clarify the matter.

"No, from Xytas!" she replied "I spotted him just a few yards away running through the pylons. I got a good lock on him and I tried to fire, but I picked up something else. The implants are giving off a massive amount of biotic energy. The power he's giving off, I don't know what they stuck into him but its damn well near the same levels of a drive core's output! He's reaching critical mass Shepard!"

Shepard's eyes bulged at the realisation and he turned back around to where he thought Xytas was coming from. The elite suddenly appeared once more along the long path towards the core. He was slowly but surely approaching with his plasma swords at the ready.

"Tali, are you telling me he's a bomb?" he asked her

"The tech inside him is all that's keeping the energy in check." Tali clarified "If those suddenly and catastrophically failed..."

"What's left of him goes up in a big old puff of smoke and fire." Shepard finished for her, grinning as he spoke.

He brought the particle beam gun out once more and aimed it at Xytas.

"Tali can you and the others meet me at the core?" he asked

"We'll be there Shepard," Tali responded, seemingly understanding what he was planning to do as she tenderly added "be careful."

"I'm always careful." He told her, grinning.

Tali gave a sombre but warm reply to that.

"No, you're not."

Xytas closed the distance, his sword raised high, but Shepard fired first. The particle beam cut deep into the elite's shoulder, forcing him to lower his sword. The elite turned to growl at the commander, turning his head back towards him. A second beam struck him square in the chest, staggering the elite backwards. Another beam cut into his thigh and hip along the length of his leg, forcing him down into a kneeling position. Shepard fired another beam, cutting into the side Xytas' head. His once perfectly decorative helmet was now sliced across the top, his scalp searing terribly.

"Funny thing about Reaper tech," Shepard explained from afar "it's so damn powerful the only thing that ever seems to be effective against it is more reaper tech. Kinda like this little number here."

Shepard patted the particle beam cannon as Xytas kneeled there in pain. Maybe he was wounded enough now that he could calmly bait him the rest of the way to the core. They weren't far now after all. Just a few more yards and they were home free. Xytas clearly wasn't about to surrender.

"I will not die like... this." He declared, gasping for air. "I... I will fulfill... the will... of the forerunners."

He was clearly bleeding from his wounds, purple blood pooling around him as it dripped through his armour. Even with all those powerful little biotic power producing machines inside him the zealot had taken a lot of punishment. The blue glow itself was still strong as ever though, even if his flesh wasn't.

"It's not their will that's driving you anymore Xytas." Shepard told him "It's the reapers. Inquisitor doesn't see you as a crusader, he sees you as a pawn, something to use. That's all you are to him."

Xytas shook his head vigorously.

"No, the oracle..." he began, trying to form words "he... he gave me power!"

"He used your blind loyalty to your faith to sick you on me." Shepard informed the elite "Nothing more."

"You lie!" Xytas shouted with all the strength he could muster.

"He told me as much himself." Shepard finally declared grimly.

The elite tried to jump up from his position and charge Shepard, roaring as loud as he could. But he didn't get far, suddenly he hunched forward, clutching at his head in agony. For a moment, Shepard thought it was the seared scalp affecting him. Then he saw the alien's flesh was starting to fall off, bit by bit. Cracks of light formed in the skin and blue glow emanated even brighter.

"No! Please!" Xytas shouted in anguish "I can defeat him! I can-! ARRRRRRGGHHHH!"

Xytas suddenly lurched up, screaming in pain as his body contorted and broke apart. Large pieces of the implants jutted out, spikes formed along his back, blades jutted out from his shoulders, creeping wires spread out along the body, His feet and hands became more claw like and the plasma swords imbedded in his wrists grew even longer. Finally Xytas screaming stopped as an eruption of blue light overtook him. The elite's body went limp, his now lanky arms and legs, reinforced only by metal braces and mesh across his limbs. Shepard could see part of what use to be the elite's rib cage, covered by a large metal plate with a glowing central chamber in the middle of it, protected by metal plates and wiring.

Then, Xytas spoke again, but his now entirely metallic skeletal mandibles did not move. And the voice was not his own.

"_I have assumed direct control."_

Shepard instantly recognized the threatening wispy hissing tone.

"Inquisitor." Shepard said in a low snarl.

"_Direct action has been deemed necessary."_ Inquisitor announced through the misshapen form of the elite _"I shall see to your destruction personally."_

Shepard just gazed back as Xytas brought his blades up, balling his fists with biotic energy. The plan hadn't been altered by this development, but it had become harder.

* * *

><p>Garrus looked up at the massive above him, he presumed it was big but to see close up you got how big it was. It wasn't just the length that was awe inspiring, it was sheer girth and width. The ship was so alien to every known concept of design back home that he never would've guessed it was human made otherwise.<p>

He turned to the others in the squad and what remained of troopers. They too were staring at the ship before them, their tired faces giving off a spark of hope. Even in the sudden drizzling rain that had appeared just seconds before their arrival, their spirits remained just high enough to hope.

When they had first arrived, just on the outset of the area, they had encountered a small contingent of marines from the Autumn. They were engaging a small group of Covenant. Six and Emile had rushed in first to help eliminate the problem. One frag grenade from Six was really all it took to break the little formation of jackals and grunts apart and allow them to finish off what remained.

The ground they now stood on, the edge of the dry dock was a large metallic platform with green grassy cliff edges to the side. There was small building with a makeshift sniper's nest residing in small box like room on the third floor of it. It stretched down to the bottom of the platform in its entirety. At the very back of the area was a mass driver the marines had said they set up. It was their only form of anti-air support.

"Without it she'll never make orbit." Claimed the marines in reference to the Autumn.

Garrus looked out along the stretch of land they now found themselves on. This was where Keyes would have to pick them up, but more importantly it was where they would have to make their stand. If the mass driver was as important as the marines said taking it out would be the Covenant's top priority. They'd need to defend it as long as they could it if they wanted off this planet. The defence of the platform became even clearer when Emile contacted Keyes.

"We're at the pad sir." The Spartan said

"Copy, Noble." The captain responded "My pelican is ready. Clear us an LZ and I'll meet you there."

This was not gonna be an easy task from the looks of it. They had been trying to outrun most of these fights, not slog through them. They had little choice now though, which was probably what Grunt and Emile wanted from the looks of it.

"I'll man the big gun." Emile announced "Keep their ships from causing too much trouble. You guys just get to the platform when the pelican shows."

Garrus heard something in Emile's voice, his choice of words, it sounded peculiar. He had an idea what it was. He didn't voice his suspicions aloud though, even if it was plainly obvious what the Spartan was suggesting.

"Just be there when we are okay?" Garrus requested.

The Spartan just nodded and took off inside the building at the back to reach the mass driver's position. Garrus turn to the others in accordance.

"Alright then, let's get set up." He reasoned. "I'll hang back here try and coordinate the marines and troopers."

"Me and Legion have the sniper's over watch." said Six pointing to the structure behind him.

"I'll head up front." Grunt declared "Meet the bastards head-on."

Grunt jumped down off the ledge and onto the metal platform below. He stomped off towards the far end of the rocky cliffs while Garrus shouted out at him.

"Just try not to get your head blown off!" he ordered, but he quickly turned to Six and Legion "Keep him covered best you can. He can handle himself just fine but you've seen what happens when he gets in over his head."

"We'll keep him in one piece Garrus, don't worry." Six promised "Come on Legion, let's pop some heads."

"Acknowledged." The geth responded

The two took off for their position while Garrus remained behind. He turned to Corporal Sanders.

"Let's get into cover on the lower levels we should be able to get good coverage." He suggested "Everyone else can take up positions on the ledge up here."

"High ground and low ground, sounds good." Sanders agreed.

It wouldn't be long before Keyes arrived. They just had to hold out for a bit. Once the pelican landed they'd be home free.

* * *

><p>Grunt stood upon the grassy ridge. His assault rifle was at the ready and set on inferno rounds. Whatever dared tried to push through this area wouldn't get far. He'd make sure of it. He looked back on his path momentarily. A few covenant stragglers had revealed themselves as he worked his way down. The little ugly gas suckers and their shield totting bird companions were trampled underfoot of a might krogan charge.<p>

In the skies above, through the downpour Grunt could make out several aircraft swirling around the Autumn. They consisted of both Covenant and human craft from the looks of it, looking to destroy or flee respectively. Grunt wasn't much for the concept of retreating, but he was coming to understand why one would need to abandon a fight. It didn't always make you a coward. Still, at least he'd get one last punch or two in before they had to flee.

He ducked behind a rock as a Covenant phantom closed in on the ridge. He clutched a plasma grenade in his free hand and waited for the passengers to unload. Spilling out of the phantom was a full contingent of brutes. Their eyes already in a crazed murder-haze, whether it was anticipation or a continued high Grunt could not say, but he knew the consequences of such blind rage all too well. It appeared the tables had turned around on his enemies.

He stepped out of cover once the phantom took off and tossed the plasma grenade into the squad of brutes. He successfully stuck it to one of the stupid ape's sloped headed helmets. The brute pulled the piece of armour off as quickly as he could but the grenade detonated just seconds after he tossed it from his head. The blast still killed him and two others nearby. The rest were disoriented by the attack. Enough time for Grunt to charge in and take advantage of their daze.

The krogan butted his head straight into the gullet of one of the brutes launching him clear off the cliff he had just landed on. Grunt turned his gun suddenly towards the remaining brutes, letting a torrent of fire ripe them apart and set them ablaze. The inferno round ignited their disgusting matted brown fur, but they pressed on regardless. Still aflame they fired back at the krogan before Grunt landed a clear shot to one of the ugly creature's eyes. As he fell dead his friend rushed in, intending to slash Grunt with his spiker gun. Grunt ducked just under it and then punched the still burning brute square in the jaw.

A third brute, which had avoided the inferno shots, now closed. Grunt grasped the alien's arm and then kicked him in the groin. He lifted the alien primate over his head, grasping his second hand around the thigh of the brute. He then tossed him clear over the side of the cliff, roaring mightily as he did so.

He then felt a terrible pain against his back. Several spikes had slammed into the bottom of his spine. He turned to spot a final brute closing in for a kill. Grunt fell on his side, pulled out his shotgun and fired a round clean into the brute. It him near the neck and the brute soon hunched over and began to choke on his own blood. Grunt got back to his feet and pulled out one of the spikes stuck in him. It was rather painful to be sure, but he wasn't just gonna leave it in there. He turned his head to the sky suddenly, thinking he heard a low rumbling overhead. He saw another phantom making a landing run with its plasma cannons pointed at him.

Quickly the krogan tucked tail as the plasma blasts began to fall upon him. The struck the krogan's position, singing the earth with their heat. Grunt remained untouched however, thank to Mordin's upgrades to his armour several weeks prior. An armour lock was now in place around Grunt, allowing him safety as long as he kept crouched and tucked in a particular position. Of course the power would eventually drain, and it seemed the phantom was refusing to let up on the giant lizard. Then as suddenly as it appeared the phantom was gone, its plasma stopped. Not because it left, but because it was demolished. Krogan looked up to see falling debris all around the area. The phantom had been completely obliterated save for a few bits of metal. He looked over to see the still smoking mass driver resting on it's perch.

"That was for Jorge!" Emile's voice cried out over the radio.

Grunt just grinned, although admittedly he was jealous that Emile was getting to fire the biggest gun nearby. As he looked on there was another brute to his right lurking up on the krogan but as the dumb ape stood up a bullet whizzed straight through his skull. But the round hadn't come from Grunt.

* * *

><p>The sniper rifle in this little nest had been more than useful in thinning the herd of brutes and their little friends. He hoped Grunt wouldn't be too pissed off he had stolen a potential kill and just be grateful he had saved him another hole in his back. Although from what Six knew of krogans that wouldn't be there for long.<p>

He and Legion had settled in pretty well in this little box, the Covenant just seemed to come easy to them. Their first victims, a group of brutes jumping down from their phantom onto the landing platform across from them, had been easy targets. Six fired a single shot that cut deep into the head of one of them and Legion followed suit with another, striking his brute in the mouth.

The brutes were quick to rush to cover and open up on the little box their gun fire was coming from. Six and Legion ducked down as spikes struck their little hideaway, one slashed right through the air where Six's head had been moments before.

"Looks like they're mad at us, huh?" he asked Legion

"An accurate observation." Legion replied "Relocation may be necessary."

"Point taken." Six agreed "I'll move outside a bit."

Six trudged out the door slight and kneeled down by the corner. He spied the brutes making their way down the steps of the landing platform. He fired one shot clean at the head of the one furthest up the steps. The shot struck the target square in the forehead and the brute tumbled down into his friend. Six followed it up with another shot when the brute turned to see what had hit him. He caught the brute and the back of the neck and the alien gorilla fell clutching his neck.

Six saw Legion's bullet strike down two brutes as they ran across the metal floor below them. They fell back as the powerful bullet cut through them with relative ease. The remaining brutes took cover around a small raised platform in the center of the floor below. They received fire from Garrus' team who was positioned on their level, they returned said fire. At the very least they were unable to shoot back up at Legion and Six.

However Six soon saw that they were not out of the woods just yet. As he looked over he saw a phantom had gotten behind the group and was now letting off a contingent of brutes and heavily armoured grunts. Bounding straight out of the phantom's door was one brute carrying a gravity hammer and he was coming straight towards their little sniper's nest. Six backed away firing shot after shot but the bullets just seemed to bounce off the brute's heavy shields. He fell back as the brute closed in and swung his hammer. Six rolled to his knees and crawled away from the brute, trying to regain his footing. As he did he passed the open doorway to the sniper's nest. The brute raised his hammer, ready to drop it down on the Spartan lieutenant's head. Then a furious spray of plasma struck the side of the brute from the open doorway. Six looked to see Legion firing on the brute with his geth assault rifle at point blank range.

The geth paid for his transgression against the brute chieftain. The handle of the brute's hammer slammed into Legion's head. The machine reeled back, his eye partially cracked by the attack. The brute went to strike the downed synthetic as it hit the back wall of the nest. But Six wouldn't let him. He rushed to his feet, brought out his knife and jumped on the brute's back stabbing him repeatedly in the shoulders, back and neck, anywhere he could stick the blade.

"Get away from him!" Six shouted aloud as he made the brute bleed.

He had lost Jorge and Carter, he wasn't about to lose another, not today, not if he could do something about it.

The covenant bruiser shook violently and backed into a wall, bashing Six repeatedly into it. Legion watched as was being pummelled horrendously by the vicious beast. Even slightly damaged the Geth wasn't about to let the Spartan die like that. Bringing up the widow once more, Legion fired two rounds into the leg of the brute, forcing him to collapse to the ground, relieving Six of his continued thrashing.

Legion walked over to the downed brute and fired a round straight into the head of the brute with the widow, killing him at last. Blood splattered against the synthetic's chassis, but it paid no heed to that. Legion walked over to Six and helped him up.

"Do you require medical attention?" it asked

"I'm fine," Six assured "thanks for saving my ass twice there."

There was little time to contemplate the brush with death for both of them. A green fuel rod blast suddenly rocked the side of the sniper's nest. They both managed to stay upright and six looked out the window through the scope of his rifle.

More brutes on the pad, armed with heavier weapons.

"We're gonna need a new spot." Six told Legion

"The stairs lead down to the main floor of this structure." Legion told him "We can facilitate a better position there."

Six and Legion left their little sniper's nest and headed down the stairs to the right. They found cover in some boxes on the ground floor and set up again. As they did they watched a few banshees fly past the pad. They looked like they were turning into the fight, but they didn't last long. A mass driver shot struck one and obliterated the little aircraft. A second shot followed a few seconds later, completely decimating the other banshee.

* * *

><p>"That was for Commander Carter!" Emile's voice sounded in the radio<p>

Emile certainly loved that big gun of his. At least he was keeping the bad guys at bay. He didn't help right now, but Garrus' team looked like they did. More brutes were advancing on the stairway towards Garrus, who seemed to be in disarray after the Covenant had gotten into their lines with that last phantom. Six fired a shot that killed one of the Jackals making his way up to the marines and troopers above. Legion kept his eye on the new heavy weapon packing brutes on the landing pad, sending out a drone to keep them off balance. The Covenant couldn't keep this pressure up forever, they'd break, they'd just have to hold out a little longer is all.

Emile's stream profanities and macho talk over the radio would've annoying otherwise. Strangely Garrus found his bravado inspiring for once, his anger seemed more honest and honed. As another phantom exploded in the sky Emile cheered aloud with glee.

"That was for Kat!"

Kat wasn't dead, as far as Garrus or anyone knew, but being mauled had certainly left an impression on Emile regardless. His loyalty was commendable, and it seemed to push the troops and marines on further. They needed it because the Covenant weren't letting up.

"Phantom, right side lower steps!" Sanders called out

Garrus looked to see a phantom cruising in low where Sanders noticed it. The turian quickly jumped up and ran over to the steps proper. He got there just in time to see a large squad of brutes barrel out. They stomped upon the ground, jackals by their sides, their gold armour glistening as the rain showered them. Garrus didn't waste time, he tossed in one frag grenade after another into their midst, even as they charged up towards him. The explosions rocked the platform and sent the brutes diving to the ground and flying through the air only to land and never move again.

Garrus ran into the devastated little squad. He saw one of the brutes stand tall, shaking off the explosion. Garrus bashed him in the head with his assault rifle and then plugged him in the skull with a single bullet. The brute toppled off the railing and down to the ground below. That finished Garrus turned to the cliff side path along his left. Another phantom had dropped off its payload and contents were quickly rushing his position.

His needler had long since run out of shots, so he switched back to his standard sniper rifle. The Mantis, he had traded his incisor for it when the shuttle touched down. It was made for stopping power and capacity of rounds. He took aim at one jackal running forward along the path and fired. The jackal didn't feel the sting of the bullet as it struck through his cerebral cortex. Garrus moved his crosshairs to a second Jackal, catching him square in the chest with a single round. That put him down clean.

The jackals were done but there were still brutes bounding towards him. Their spike shots flew over head and Garrus knelt down, making himself a smaller target. His shields sparked as lucky shots hit. He'd need to make this fast. One shot at the hand, to put the brute off his aim a bit, another in his upper torso to push him back slightly, a third shot to hit him dead center in the brain. The brute took each hit and contorted accordingly. He finally fell dead, collapsing the cold hard ground.

Garrus moved the crosshairs again, just as his shields failed. With limited time he fired a concussive shot at the brute. The powerful force of the blast both injured the brute and threw him against a rock. While the primate was disoriented, Garrus fired round after round into the alien's head, he'd stay down now with any luck.

As the brute's body slid down the rock, leaving a trail of blood, one last attacker came for Garrus. It was a brute armed with a grav hammer, barrelling out of the rocky pass, screaming bloody murder. Garrus fired armour piercing shots at the alien, but they just seemed to glance off his shield. Thinking quickly, Garrus used his omni-tool to launch an overload attack, draining the shields down to nothing. He switched to his assault rifle as the alien gorilla drew closer. He fired a stream of armour piercing shots into the brute, pumping him full of holes. The vicious creature kept coming regardless, his drooling snout baring teeth at him. Garrus kept pouring on the bullets until the magazine ran dry.

The brute was now in spitting distance of Garrus. As the hammer swung for his head he dove forward, passing the brute on his left. He pulled out a plasma grenade he had on him and tossed it onto the brute's back. The Covie felt the explosive stick and reached back towards it, trying to get it off. Garrus threw himself against the floor and let the explosive detonate. When stood up and looked back there was nothing left of the brute but pieces.

Garrus took a moment to catch his breath, only to be interrupted by Emile's hollering again. He was shouting about every covie was gonna burn in hell. Nothing new really. Garrus looked out into the overcast horizon to see two mass driver shots, one coming shortly after the other about five or so seconds apart. They slammed into one phantom each, the explosions ripping apart a single banshee between them from the aftershock. It crashed into the landing platform and fell from the sky.

"And that one was for me." Emile declared

Well he had earned that one more or less. Garrus wasn't gonna deny him that. He looked to the others, seeing Grunt running back up the stairs onto the main platform, marines behind him. They had been dropped off by another pelican near his position shortly after he finished up there. He could see Six and Legion holding out on the stairs, keeping brutes pinned with sniper fire. If they kept this up, they might just get out of this alive.

* * *

><p>They weren't gonna get out of this alive, were they? They were dead already, weren't they?<p>

These were Kowalski's thoughts as his mind came back into focus. His eyes could make out shapes and shadows as they fluttered open briefly. He thought he could hear voices, calling his name. He could see flames, hear gun and plasma fire. The flames, they were coming from a vehicle, yeah a vehicle.

Then Kowalski realised, he wasn't dead yet.

"Kowalski! Wake up!"

That was Ellingham's voice! His eyes opened wide and his friend soon came into focus. Ellingham was standing over him, shaking him awake.

"Thank god, we thought we lost ya." He said

We? Kowalski peered to the side, away from Ellingham and saw who this "we" was. Pearson was alive too, although his leg was badly injured. The uniform had been torn apart, blood was streaming down his leg and he was clutching it tightly.

"Fucking banshee got us from behind." He squeaked out, answer Kowalski's inevitable question of what happened before he even asked "Car's totalled, like my leg."

"Well, at least your driving ain't at fault." Kowalski replied

Now sure his friend was awake and responsive Ellingham pulled Kowalski up slowly to his feet. They went over and began to carry Pearson away from the wreckage, draping his arms over them. As they moved Kowalski looked back, hearing a whishing noise. An alien noise. There were ghosts behind them, rushing up along the rocky path towards their position. Covenant foot soldiers appeared out of the dust with them.

So close, yet so far.

Suddenly the ghosts exploded as two high powered shots struck them. Kowalski looked over to see two warthogs rushing up to them. It was Colonel Jensen and Sergeant Taylor! They had come back! The hogs stopped right in front of them and Jensen jumped out. He ran over to the wounded Pearson and looked him over.

"Get him in the warthog, fast!" he ordered

They placed Pearson on the rear gunnery position and let him clutch to the side of the hog. That still left Ellingham and Kowalski without a ride though.

"Hop in my hog and sit in Taylor's gunner spot." Jensen ordered

Ellingham took the gunnery spot, adopting the same position as Pearson. Kowalski got in Jensen's hog as well. But as they loaded themselves into the hogs, the enemy closed in. The Covenant began firing on them, plasma bolts streaming through the sky and smacking the back bumper of the hogs. They were gonna try and overwhelm the stray warthogs. Jensen looked over to the wreckage of Kowalski's car and saw that the partially overturned vehicle still had a working Gatling gun. He raced over to it and flipped the hog on its wheels.

What the hell was he doing? They still had room for him!

"Go!" he ordered "I'll cover your exit! Keep them occupied!"

"Sir!" Taylor shouted looking back from his passenger seat "You cannot be serious!"

"I gave you an order Sergeant! Go!" Jensen demanded again

Kowalski wanted to say something, convince his unit's commander not throw himself away like this, that they needed him. The truth was though that Kowalski nothing would convince him to come with. The hogs took off soon after, leaving Jensen to fight alone. Kowalski did his best to keep watch on Jensen's defensive action from his seat but it was hard. Every second he got further away.

At first he saw Jensen firing on the approaching covenant, taking many down with a spray of superior firepower. Ghosts and elites dropped like flies before the powerful machine gun. Then as the Covenant closed in he thought he saw Jensen pulled the turret clean off its stand and begin fighting with it as he held the giant weapon. He could barely see the covenant now, but for as long as he saw the flares of the chain gun he knew the commander was winning. Soon they were much too far away to see what Jensen was doing, the dust obscured him. But what they did see, however, was a clear powerful burst of plasma energy, striking through the dust.

The entire remaining ride towards the Autumn was carried out in silence. When they arrived they saw an open hatch into the very belly of the ship. Even here they weren't safe, banshees and phantoms were flying about, hitting the autumn with everything they could launch. A lone marine waved their jeep.

"Come on! Get in! We're leaving any second!" he shouted

When they got inside they pulled up to their fellow marines that had been on the journey with them. They found only five other warthogs from their unit. Kowalski just stared at the surviving members of their division. Their tattered, dirty faces said everything. They were alive, but they didn't feel it. Some men were sobbing. Others just looked completely overwhelmed. Kowalski didn't know which category he felt he belonged too.

Taylor helped Pearson down from his spot in the gunner seat. Agley and Ramirez went over to slump in a corner. Ellingham didn't move. Kowalski for his part just walked forward into the ship, bypassing everyone. There was no sense of jubilation or cry of victory here. There was none. That feeling they had felt shooting down banshees had been fleeting.

He soon found another survivor from another unit, a tank corps engineer from the looks of it. He was resting against his scorpion's treads, his face greasy and his hair soaked with sweat and mud. He looked up at Kowalski as he passed, his tired sagging eyes staring into the private.

"How many did you lose?" he asked, looking for a kindred spirit in all this loss.

Kowalski didn't have much to say, what was there. He could only respond with the only real answer anyone could give in this situation.

"Too many." He replied "Too many."

* * *

><p>Shepard was firing full stream on the particle cannon, refusing to release the trigger. The shields seemed to flicker and dim but the Inquisitor controlled husk didn't bat an eye at it all. He pressed forward, swords at the front keeping the beam from hitting him full on.<p>

Eventually the particle cannon ran out of juice. Shepard placed the collector weapon on his back and brought out his shotgun. He kept firing away at the inquisitor even as he continued to approach methodically, toying with him as he could easily just close the gap and take a swipe at him. But the shots barely seemed to hurt him. His armour was just as tough as his barriers.

"_Your fight was over before it ever began, Shepard"_ the Inquisitor taunted _"Your attempts at terminating this form are pitifiul."_

Shepard didn't dignify the monster with a response. Not like he had any to give. This was Saren all over again, just as he predicted. And even now, he was still struggling to put the fucker down. He sent a shockwave at the husk, but it did nothing. He brushed it off with ease, almost as if the implants had absorbed the biotic energy. The kinetic field was soon recharged and the inquisitor forced the elite body forward once more. He needed to take those down again and quick.

He fired his submachine gun at the barriers, rapidly spiking them with every shot. He used warp on the husk proper, striking the shields and burning them away. But again it just seemed to annoy the Inquisitor.

"_This fight grows tiresome."_

In an instant the Inquisitor swung his swords out at Shepard, the human commander dodged backward as the strike almost connected. It cut into his chest plate instead, the searing heat forced Shepard's hand up to his torso, covering the cut slightly for a moment. In a split second of rage, Shepard unleashed a terrible and furious biotic strike. The wave cascaded over the Inquisitor, forcing him to stumble back slightly. That actually seemed to hurt him a bit. Concussive force as well as firepower, that was the ticket.

Shepard looked back for a moment, thinking he was safe for a few seconds. The core was just a few more yards away. He could make it, he could still end this. When he looked back to what was once Xytas however he was struck with a powerful biotic shockwave. The rippling blast sent Shepard hurtling backwards, closing the distance with the bright glowing central core. He looked up and suddenly saw the terrible visage of the Inquisitor's husk form standing over him. He sliced his plasma swords down into the metal, making Shepard twist and turned with every strike. Shepard let loose a kick to back the husk away and then flung himself in a biotic charge from the floor. He slammed into the inquisitor and sent him reeling across the structure. The former Xytas fell to the ground. The husk began sparking and leaking fluid while the arm swords imbedded in the wrists suddenly flickered out and apparently went offline.

He was down, now he just needed to drag the remains to the core and hope the husk had enough juice left in it to go off like a bomb as Tali predicted. He walked up to the downed husk and went to grab him by the neck. Before he could do so, a bony hand rushed and grabbed Shepard by his neck. The Inquisitor's husk form stood up slowly, raising Shepard clear off the ground.

"_You fought somewhat proficiently, but it was futile."_ The Inquisitor declared _"This outcome was never in doubt."_

* * *

><p>Tali watched as a fully huskified Xytas lifted Shepard up by his neck. They were only mere feet away from the open core. So close, and that thing was gonna strangle the life out of Wade right in front of her.<p>

"Shit this is bad." Dutch stated "Romeo can you do anything?"

"I'm not even sure if a bullet to the head is gonna kill that fucking thing!" he shouted back "Is it even alive? I mean, shit! That ain't natural!"

"I say we rush and kick the bastard's ass down the centrifuge." Buck suggested

"Too risky," Tali informed him frantically "He might kill Shepard the instant we try something."

"You have an idea ma'am?" Dutch asked

Tali suddenly looked at Dutch inquisitively for a few short seconds, her eyebrow raised a bit. Dutch, finally taking notice of the looks the Quarian kept giving him, finally spoke up.

"What?" he asked

"When you say that...you just remind me of..." Tali shook her head suddenly "Never mind, later, I need your big laser gun thing."

Dutch looked at the Spartan Laser Cannon on his back, somewhat confused.

"Uh... okay I guess." He complied

Tali turned to Kasumi, who was just fof to her side.

"Kas," she said "hope you got some flashes left. I need those too."

* * *

><p>The Inquisitor activated the plasma sword in his free hand, keeping Shepard uplifted by his neck. The human commander grasped at the claw like fingers that clutched at his neck, trying to break the hold. He felt his life being choked out of him, his wind pipe slowly being squeezed in the palm of the reaper controlled hand. He tried to kick out at the chest of the husk, but the Inquisitor was far too focused on him to bother with a minor inconvenience like that.<p>

"_It is disappointing."_ The Inquisitor spoke, as he lifted the plasma sword up and prepared to stab Shepard through the heart. _"The Collectors were wasted chasing you, Shepard. You are a distraction we can ill afford and one I shall now end."_

The Inquisitor pulled back his arm and prepared to stab forward, but was interrupted by a clanking at his feet. Both he and Shepard turned just in time to see a little disk hit the floor. Shepard quickly covered his eyes the instant he saw it, the Inquisitor failed to recognize the significance.

The flash of light and concussive blast smacked against the kinetic barriers of the husk and blinded his optical sensors. The husk loosened his grip on Shepard and gave the human commander the chance to break out. He punched the husk square in the jaw and released the choke hold at last. Shepard fell to the floor, propped up by a nearby pylon. The Inquisitor, now just a few feet away, finally regained his sight and turned back to Shepard.

"_You again delay the inevitable."_

The Inquisitor raised his sword once more, but was interrupted by a shout from further down the row.

"Hey! Bosh'tet! You like to talk so much?"

Both Shepard and the Inquisitor husk turned towards the sound and saw Tali kneeling down on the floor. Over her shoulder she carried, a Spartan Laser cannon, fully charged, glowing red hot and ready to fire.

"Tell me how much this hurts, will you?"

The Quarian released the trigger and let the laser fire. It travelled faster than the Inquisitor could dodge and the force of the blast and the extreme heat sent the husk form flying backwards straight into the core. Red smoke emanated from the torso as the husk fell down into the heart of the generator. Tali, for her part, had been thrown back a bit by the recoil of the gigantic weapon. She quickly recovered and stood up proper.

"Choke on that, reaper." She taunted gravely.

Shepard walked over to the edge of the generator's core and looked down into the open maw of the machine. He could see the Inquisitor's husk form laying there, his plasma sword arm lodged into one of the grinding gears, energy circling around him, ripping portions of the husk apart, his torso sparking and flashing violently as the implants began to become unstable. Shepard looked up to the giant swirling vortex above and saw that it too was reaching critical mass.

"Well you fought somewhat proficiently Inky," Shepard informed the husk as he pulled out the plasma grenade "but let's be honest. This outcome was never in doubt."

The reaper husk was unmoved by the taunts.

"_Fool,"_ the Inquisitor replied _"we shall simply rebuild. Nothing can stop the invasion. Again you delay your end. There is no tomorrow for you Shepard, only your inevitable ascension. You will be harvested."_

Shepard bent down and looked the husk directly in the eye. He knew it was futile to argue with a reaper, but it always felt good to stick it to them. This time it would be literal.

"You'll rebuild and I'll stop you again. Just like I always do." He stated plainly "Your Covenant invasion ain't happening, plain and simple. Not while I still breathe. I'm gonna keep fighting and I'm gonna shatter your cycle to pieces, one way or another. Your new pawns can't stop me, and neither can you."

Shepard ignited the plasma grenade, holding down on the button as he prepared to toss.

"_I will find you Shepard,"_ the Inquisitor warned _"I will end you."_

"Looking forward to it Inky," Shepard smirked "really I am. Till then, tell Harbinger and all your friends I'm coming for them."

He tossed the grenade down into the hole and backed away. He thought he could hear an ear piercing shriek as he did. When he was a good few feet away the grenade detonated and plume of blue fire erupted out of the center of the core. The pillar remained there, shooting up into the sky in a constant inferno. Tali rushed up to Shepard along with the others.

"Place looks like it's about to go all A-bomb on us!" Buck observed, darting his eyes about

"Then let's not stick around!" Shepard shouted over the sound of explosions behind them. He activated his comm-link "Holland! Get your fly boys down here already! Objective accomplished we need to pull back!"

"Birds are already on their way Shepard, my tanks have removed what's left the opposition we have a clear line to you! Mark your positions with flares we're coming to you!"

Shepard repeated the order to the other members of the squad and soon little flares went up all around the roof. Falcons and pelicans soon descended on roof top, picking up what was left of the strike force and pulling them out of the quarry as fast as they could. Shepard's pelican arrived soon after he made the call for the evacuation. Not a moment too soon as the blue plume of fire had started spreading out. Bits and chunks of the roof were exploding outwards. Cracks of fire spat out from beneath the floor as transports tried to take off. Shepard backed up to his pelican. Everyone else had already climbed in, squeezing past the warthog that was attached to the loading clamps at the back of the bird.

"Shepard come on!" Buck cried out "We gotta bail!"

He wasn't leaving yet, not until he knew the others were safe.

"Shepard to all teams, what's your status?" he demanded over the comms.

After a few brief seconds he got a response.

"Commander, this is Miranda! Everyone is onboard and accounted for! We're already leaving the quarry as we speak!"

"Samara here," the asari responded next "we're pulling out now! Everyone is on board!"

"Good!" Shepard responded "Get Joker on the line and get him here! We need to get as many people off this rock as we can!"

Shepard scrambled inside his pelican, still hovering over the roof. He took his seat and the aircraft took off. They were joined by several other transports, all racing away from the generator as it was slowly ripped apart. The singularity remained but wouldn't be long before the entire facility went up in smoke. The vortex would vanish with the destruction of the device. But that didn't mean they were out of danger.

"This is Captain Kristof Jen of the Savannah! We are breaking off the attack on the assault carrier and pulling back in to orbit!" buzzed the radio "Be advised! Carrier is moving to intercept transport craft!"

Shepard looked to see the assault carrier flying towards them, its swarm of fighters on the collective tails of the escapees. Below he could see tanks and warthogs pulling back to the staging area, pelicans that could were flying down to pick them up and get them to safety faster. They wouldn't stand a chance if that carrier closed on them.

"This is Gravelston," the admiral's voice sounded over the comms. "We are on intercept course with the assault carrier."

"You got the fire power to take that thing head-on Admiral?" Shepard asked

"Not much, but we can do something else to the bastards. Talked it over with the crew, we're all agreed on the course of action."

Shepard didn't like the sound of that. H watched as the massive Heavy Carrier bypassed the fleeing assault force. The titanic ship cruised through the sky directly towards its covenant counterpart.

"Admiral," Shepard began, somewhat hesitantly "are you sure about this? You know what you're doing right?"

"I do," Gravelston assured him, his voice sombre and low "don't worry son. You just get off this planet, find your way home. Sorry I couldn't help more with that. I brought you to Reach, least I can do is help you get off it."

"Gravelston," Shepard spoke up, a little lump in his throat "thanks... for coming here. Wish it could've turned out differently."

There was a brief pause as the Nebraska closed on it's target.

"Likewise commander, see you on the other side."

The carriers collided, every gun on both ships firing wildly at the opposing one, attempting to break the other apart. The Covenant ship gave way first, its nose coming clean off the rest of the ship's stern. There was a sudden eruption at the back of the Nebraska, the engine core had gone critical. In moments a glorious red fire ball erupted next to the exploding plasma fires of the covenant carrier.

"Keelah Se'lai, Admiral Gravelston." Tali spoke up, lowering her head slomenly.

Suddenly the pelican rocked violently from side to side. A banshee flew past the open cavity at the back of the transport. Great, as if they hadn't just dodged one bullet.

"Left engine's shot!" the pilot screamed "I can't carry all this weight! Gotta set it down and unload you or we'll never get out of here!"

"How the hell are we gonna get out of here now then?" Romeo asked

Shepard turned to the warthog, hanging on its cargo perch.

"We drive!"

The pelican quickly set down a few moments later, unlatched its vehicular cargo and everyone barrelled into the warthog. It was a transport Hog, no gun, meant purely as a way to get people to and out of the fight on the ground. It seated six, including the driver and front side passenger. Meaning there was just enough room inside the vehicle for Buck and his squad to join Shepard, Kasumi and Tali. Tali of course sat beside her commander as they pulled away from the smoking pelican. The aircraft took off and their hog joined the race out of the AO.

Banshees hounded them as they drove forwards, firing on scorpions and warthogs alike. They couldn't shoot back but everyone else did. Shepard put pedal to the metal as he raced the vehicle across the barren wasteland. He could hear terrible eruptions from behind them. The generator was about to blow. He didn't know how bad it would get. They needed to be far away from this place and with all these enemy aircraft still trying to take them down he wasn't sure if they'd make it to minimum safe distance.

"Shepard to Normandy!" he called out over the radio "Do you read? Holland? Anyone? Do you read?"

There was a terrific sudden boom in the sky, as something rocketed out of the clouds. Three banshees were shot clean out of the sky two powerful cannon blasts. Speeding through the debris was the ever welcome sight of the Normandy.

"Copy that last Commander, didn't think we'd leave ya hanging now did ya?" Joker's voiced sounded off.

The Normandy fired a few missiles, taking down more banshees on their approach. The ship then cruised down to land on the open terrain. Its hanger doors opened wide as Shepard's hog closed on them. Racing out of the open end of the ship was the Hammerhead. Its gun was pointed to the sky and it fired off several missiles, taking out three more banshees in the shooting spree.

"Damn I love this gun!" came an unfamiliar boisterous voice over the radio, it was on the Normandy's channel from the look of it.

"Who the hell is driving my hammerhead?" Shepard asked, confused at the whole situation.

"Long story." Tali replied quickly, fumbling her fingers.

Another banshee fired close to the warthog, a few of its plasma shots striking the engine. The hog suddenly died on them and the team was forced to jump out.

"Get to the Normandy now!" Shepard ordered

They all made a dash for the Normandy, which was now only feet away from them. More missiles were fired from the hammerhead, striking down more banshees on their approach. Dust was kicked up from the Normandy's thrusters as it hovered in place, ready to boost away the second its passengers were on board. Everyone jumped aboard the ramp as fast as they could, helped up by crew hands mostly. Shepard was the last to get on board and he grasped the hand of someone on the ramp that was covered in green armour from head to toe. He pulled the commander up onto the ramp with one brisk motion of his arm.

"Spartan-117, Master Chief Petty Officer," the green armoured soldier greeted him "welcome back aboard Commander!"

Shepard was now standing on the ramp, his hand

"Thanks for the assist!" Shepard shouted over the roar of the engines as they lifted off. "Mind me asking where you came from?"

"Your acting captain pulled us out of the fire if you need to know!"

Chief's head turned to Tali as she passed by, she saluted the Spartan when she spotted him.

"Thanks for returning the favour!" she told him

"Anytime," The Master Chief responded "now let's get the hell out of here!"

They all backed off the ramp and into the ship. Shepard looked back as the doors closed. The banshees were veering off and looked like most of the assault force had escaped their vengeful hand. Just before the doors closed, the vortex high above the generator failed, vanishing as quickly as it had appeared. A second later, its disappearance was overshadowed by a terrific flash of light that partially blinded the crew. As it vanished a mushroom cloud rose high over the quarry, the Normandy shook slightly from the aftershock.

"Little turbulence there folks, best strap in." Joker spoke over the intercom "Next stop, the Pillar of Autumn!"

* * *

><p>Emile kept his eyes focused ahead, firing as fast as this mass driver could at the incoming flights of Covenant ships. Considering the circumstances anyone else would feel nervous, concerned, frightened. A whole planet coming apart around them, their position the only thing standing in the way of snapping victory from the jaws of mass defeat, all of that was a lot of pressure to be sure and no one could blame someone if they broke down at the enormity of it all. But Emile? He was in his element. Every shot felt good, every blast a burst of elation, every burning husk of a Covenant ship bursting into flames as he pulled the trigger, it was exhilarating. He was made for this, he was born for this.<p>

And yet despite his taunts and jeers at his dying foes, Emile didn't think about the kills he was racking up. His thoughts were on Commander Carter, Jorge, Jun and Kat. Did Jun get a ride out? Was Kat alive? Did Carter plan for that final charge when he ordered them out? Did Jorge know what was happening at this moment wherever he was now? He hoped Kat was alive at least, then again he wondered if she'd even want to be after what happened to Carter. Hell, maybe Jorge and Carter were the lucky ones in the end. They wouldn't have to deal with the aftermath.

He looked down Six briefly, taking his off the scope. The Lt. was with his machine buddy, as per usual. Both were fighting off scores of Covenant, popping heads like balloons. Just like him, they were in their element.

He'd make sure Six got off this planet. He had to get off this planet. Someone had to. He deserved as much. His place was here, it had always been here.

Emile spotted another incoming phantom headed for the pad and took aim at its cockpit. He fired one shot and took the head of the aircraft clean off. The residual heat from the shot detonated the rest of the phantom and it fell to earth. With that, the Covenant were wiped from the face of the platform. Keyes had his landing. Emile contacted him immediately.

"Noble Four to Keyes, pad is clear."

"Understood Noble, on approach now."

Emile sat back in his seat briefly, taking a breather.

"Nice shooting up there Emile." Garrus contacted him "You made me jealous."

"Rightly so, my gun is bigger." Emile smirked, his cocksure voice apparent.

The turian seemed to chuckle slightly, although it felt half-hearted. He knew what was coming next.

"I suppose, but if I was up there I bet I could've gotten more." He replied to the Spartan

"Next time Vakarian, next time."

Most of the team reassembled in the center of the metal platform. The marines and troopers began rushing to the pelicans that were landing for them. The Normandy Squad and Six wouldn't be joining them, they still had to wait for Keyes.

"Thanks for the assist you guys." Sanders spoke over the radio as she stepped on the pelican "See you on board!"

The pelicans took off. As they left, Keyes' transport, as well as another pelican escorting him, appeared out of the bulky cruiser. They made their way towards the landing pad, standing out amongst the mix of ships thanks to a marker on their HUDs. Emile looked as the dot approached ever closer.

"Alright Six, time for you to leave." He said "Get the package to the Autumn and get your ass off this planet."

"What about you?" Six asked, seemingly already knowing the answer.

"I got your back." The Spartan assured "Don't worry."

He looked to see Grunt thumping his chest once or twice.

"It's been an honour Noble Four, kick'em in the quad once for me will ya?" the krogan asked

"No prob lizard, think of me next time you rip a heart out or two okay?" he asked in return

The krogan just laughed and headed towards the path. He watched as Garrus did the same, but Emile wasn't done just yet.

"Hey, Garrus," he spoke up, catching the Turian's attention as he turned back to the gun "you ain't half bad... for a butt ugly xeno."

Garrus just snickered a bit under his breath.

"You ain't so bad yourself, for a hairless racist primate." He responded

Emile just laughed.

"Yeah, now get on out of here already." He ordered one last time.

Six of course was the last to say goodbyes.

"I wish... I wish it didn't have to happen this way." He said solemnly.

"I did, better than the other option." Emile admitted, seemingly somewhat for the first time since Six had met him "Sorry Six, didn't want you to lose two in one day either."

Six stood silently for a moment, Legion padding his shoulder and beckoning him to come.

"Just do me one thing Lt." he spoke up "Remember us, all of us."

"As if I could forget." Six replied in a sombre tone "Good luck Emile."

Emile had never been one for sap talk. But as he saw Six run away towards the steps and towards the pelican now closing in for a landing, he appreciated the sentiment. He wasn't the nicest person or the easiest person to deal with. He knew that. But it was good to know, that for once, he could let the anger go and just relax. He returned to shooting down the Covenant shortly after, more relaxed and calm. This was where he belonged, where he was meant to be.

* * *

><p>Six watched as Garrus and Grunt got in the Pelican bypassing the curious faces of the marines nearby. Keyes stepped out onto the platform with his escort. He was in full proper military dress, befitting an officer. His medals proudly displayed and his short grey lined hair made his veteran status clear. Legion still by his side, Six handed the AI fragment over to the seasoned captain.<p>

"Good to see you Spartan, Catherine..." he paused catching himself as he took the containment unit from the lieutenant "...Halsey assured me I could count on you."

He didn't deserve the sole credit, he didn't want it.

"Not just me sir." Six responded

Keyes put a hand on his shoulder, trying his best to sound fatherly and reassuring.

"They'll be remembered." He promised

He ushered Six and Legion to the pelican, but stopped dead suddenly. He looked to the clouds, seeing something coming out of the black hazy storm. It was the shape of a Covenant battlecruiser on a direct intercept course. Keyes quickly contacted Emile again.

"Cruiser! Adjusting heading for the Autumn! Noble Four I need fire on that cruiser or we're not getting out of here!"

"You'll have your window sir." Emile swore, his breath tired and anguished from all his screaming and exertion.

Keyes jumped back into the Pelican quickly, Legion and Six trying to clamber on themselves.

"Bridge this is the captain we have the package, prep for lift off we are returning to the Autumn!"

Before Six or Legion could join the captain, however, a Phantom appeared overhead. It fired several plasma shots at the escorting pelican and forced Keyes' craft away from the edge of the platform momentarily. The escort pelican was now on fire and spinning out of control. It missed Keyes' transport by mere inches and slammed into the platform. Six and Legion fell to the deck as the phantom passed over them. The both fired on the transport vessel and it returned in kind, forcing them back down.

Then it headed for Emile.

"Emile! Incoming! Watch your back!" Six called out over the radio.

The phantom floated over the mass driver and dropped off a heap of Covenant onto the platform. Six could hear struggling from Emile's comm. Grunting and groaning. An Elite landed on top of Emile's cabin, a sword pointed at the Spartan. A single shot shattered the glass and the zealot collapsed off the gun, still holding on by his fingertips. Emile climbed through and shot another round finishing the elite off.

"Who's next!" Emile screamed aloud, daring the next challenger.

But he wasn't out of danger.

"Emile! Behind you!" Six cried out

The cry for help had come too late. A plasma sword stabbed straight through the silver-grey armoured Spartan's back, poking right out of his chest. The zealot elite held Emile high, like some kind of trophy. Emile seemed to stare at the blade, somewhat perplexed, yet still in pain as his growl indicated. And yet, Six thought he heard his team mate laugh. It was like he was content, at peace, happy even. The elite pulled him off the blade, holding him by the neck like a ragdoll.

"I'm ready!" the Spartan shouted to the heaven, pulling his kukri knife out in one swift motion. He then turned to the Elite "How about you?"

He stabbed the elite through the neck and they both disappeared behind the gun.

Six stared in shock at the scene. Every fibre of his body wanted to scream out in a rage, but he didn't. He couldn't, he buried it for a few more seconds, a few more minutes. He needed to process it all. He looked to the battlecruiser, still barrelling down on them. Still on approach. A gun with no trigger man sat on the platform above. He reached in his pocket, pulling out Jorge's tags once more.

Legion suddenly grasped his shoulder.

"We cannot remain!" it spoke aloud "We must withdraw!"

"Why?" Six asked the machine "We won't make orbit with that thing coming at us."

"We will attempt to override the gun's systems from the Autumn and take remote access." Legion told him

"How long will that take?" Six asked

"Nine point five minutes precisely." The geth answered "We shall require a terminal uplink-"

"And how long till the battlecruiser is in range?" Six interrupted

The Geth's head plates narrowed slightly and then drooped.

"Seven point five minutes." Legion responded, his eye flickering sadly

"And the Covenant could probably just destroy the gun in the same amount of time." Six added "No... it has to be manual."

Six stepped forward along the platform, but Legion grabbed him once more.

"No, we cannot allow you to self-terminate." Legion answered "We shall go. We shall upload ourselves to the Normandy before-"

"I'm not losing another friend Legion, not to this." Six stated firmly, turning to the synthetic.

But the Geth was adamant.

"This platform is disposable!" said Legion, its voice raised to an even more panicked state "Yours is not!"

"I have to do this Legion!" Six shouted back in frustration.

"No! You do not!" the synthetic answered, it's voice growing more agitated and angered, it's eye flaring red "I will not allow you to kill yourself!"

Legion grasped the Spartan's arm firmly, refusing to release it. Six shook his head rapidly at the action, noticing another change in Legion's speech.

"You just said 'I' again! Not 'We!' Doesn't that tell you something?" he asked the Geth

Legion ignored the question.

"This is illogical! There is another way!" Legion affirmed once more.

Six calmed himself slightly and paused for a moment. He caught Legion's faceplates smoothing out, positioning themselves into a strange sort of distressed expression.

"Do you remember that story I told you Legion?" he asked "Agis the Third? He died to save more than himself?"

Legion's faceplates flicked about slightly, its eyes returning to blue.

"Your team needs you, your people need you." Six continued formally and directly "Most of mine... they're still here."

The pelican closed back on the platform, Keyes, Garrus and the marines all still in the doorway.

"We do not understand." said Legion, its voice seemingly saddened.

"You will, in time." Six assured the synthetic "Now go, get off this planet. Live, survive. Remember us and what happened here. And above all... make it count."

Legion backed away slowly. Backing into the pelican as it landed. The Geth never took its eye off Six as it left. A marine beside the synthetic beckoned at Six.

"Lieutenant! Come on! We gotta go!"

"Negative." Six stated "I have the gun."

He turned away from the Pelican, his DMR in his hands as he walked.

"Good luck, sir." He said as he departed

Keyes, still clutching the AI containment case watched as the Spartan left.

"Good luck to you Spartan."

Legion never wavered in looking at the Spartan as he left. The synthetic felt maybe it should say goodbye, but it couldn't find the words. As the pelican lifted off the ground, however, and Six began to move away, Legion decided that it just couldn't leave like this. It took the Geth plasma rifle off its back.

"Six Noble!" He called out tossing the weapon.

Six caught the assault rifle as it headed for him.

"Highly effective against Elite shields!" Legion called down "Normandy contains schematics to create more! Use it efficiently!"

Six gave a salute up to Legion and placed the Geth weapon on his back. Legion watched from the door as long as it could. It's eye focusing on Six. The Spartan picked up a fuel rod cannon and then made his way to the back of the platform. A single Zealot with a squad of grunts stepped out onto the upper landing leading into the building. As quickly as he appeared three bullets from Six's DMR slammed into his shields. They went down and Six rushed up to collided head on with the elite. He slammed his fist several times into the alien's head while the grunts fell back screaming their heads off. The elite finally kicked him off only for Six to toss his knife straight into the elite's eye. As the covie collapsed he ran over and pulled the knife from the head of the dead creature and ran inside, fuel rod cannon out and at the ready.

The pelican's doors closed after that and Legion could see no more. Its head fell down, it's faceplates clicked forwards away from the main head. It slumped to the back of the pelican and sat down. No one bothered to interrupt the machine.

* * *

><p>Six first saw an elite smack one of the grunts down in front of him for daring to flee the battle. Six didn't waste time on the bastard, he fired the fuel rod cannon point blank at his head in two quick shots. The blasts flung the body of the covie clear across the room, crashing down along the railing to the far side.<p>

Another elite armed with dual plasma rifles rushed out to attack the Spartan. Six's shields spiked wildly as he raced forward. He fired a shot at the alien's legs, stopping him in his tracks. Next thing the covie knew the butt end of the giant fuel rod gun slammed straight into his face. He collapsed to the ground and Six continued to pummel him with the b road end of the gun until he moved no more.

A pool of blood at his feet, Six stomped up the stairs at the back of the room. When he got the top a giant green bolt hurtled towards him. His eyes wide in fright Six dove to the left. His already dying shields went offline and the searing residual heat of the blast cut deep against his armour. He got up and saw his attack, one last zealot surrounded by grunts still fleeing towards the safety of their leader. Six sprinted forwards, the fuel rod shots chasing him as he ran. He fired his own shots at the elite, all of them missing as the covie jumped and dodged away. The grunts paid the unfortunate price of the firefight, getting taken out as collateral damage.

As the dead cannon fodder piled up, the two soldiers were quickly running out of ammo. When Six reached the end of the other end of second level, a railing separating him from a steep fall, he finally got a good shot on the elite and let loose when his crosshairs turned red The elite edged back, but the blast still sent him reeling backwards. He looked ahead, scanning for the Spartan, scowling as he did so. He didn't see that the human had used the blast to sneak up along the side through a mess of machinery stacked on the second floor. He bashed the Covenant's head in with the butt off the empty fuel rod cannon.

Angered by the transgression the elite turned and forced Six into the railing just as the Spartan pulled out the Geth plasma rifle. He clawed at the Spartan's visor, intending to rip off his helmet or break through the glass. Six held him back with one hand and pressed the assault rifle into the zealot's body. He fired several shots, forcing the elite off. Bleeding profusely, the zealot pulled out his plasma sword and charged again. Six pelted him with more shots from the rifle, riddling him with gunfire. The Elite stumbled forwards and Six backed out of the way. He clubbed the alien on the back of his head and pumped even more lead into the zealot's back. The elite turned momentarily raising his sword high in an angered roar. Six simply landed a slug from the rifle in his maw. He watched the elite step back, purple blood streaming down his mouth, choking as he slowly backed away and then he fell clean off the edge of the railing into the abyss.

His path cleared Six wasted no time running up to the mass driver. He bounded up the steps, gun in hand. He reached the top of the platform and found Emile's body. Two elites were sprayed out nearby him. The fourth member of noble's armour was stained with red blood. He slumped on the railing, his knife still grasped in his hands.

"Rest easy Emile," he said as he knelt down by his fallen comrade "I'll take it from here."

Six turned and scrambled up the ladder to the gunner's cabin. He sat down in the chair and quickly reactivated the controls. He could see further down into the valley below now. Covenant Scarabs were moving through the ship graveyards, burning all in their path. Six thought he saw gunfire shooting back at the massive walking tanks. It was fleeting, it didn't last long, and the four legged monsters continued on their path of destruction.

They weren't his concern now. That honour went to the thing above him that was. The shadowy visage of the battlecruiser closed on its target. The Autumn, still in dry dock, was a sitting duck.

"Cruiser closing to engage! I need it dead!" Keyes ordered over the comms.

Six turned up to the ship, steadying his aim and preparing to fire when it got in range. But as he did, plasma fire struck the gun. Cruising over his left side and Phantom shot at the mass driver repeatedly. Six turned the weapon on the craft as it passed and fired a shot straight into its belly. The phantom was instantly destroyed.

But it wasn't the only one. More phantoms accompanied by banshees emerged from behind the cliffs and from out of the skies. All dead set on taking the mass driver out. Six turned to each Phantom as it closed and shot the driver as fast as it could charge. The gun cut clean through the length of the little transports, the banshees just ceased to exist as he turned the gun to them. But there was more Phantoms than Six could deal with at a time. They managed to get close enough more than once and Six's only defence was to turn the cabin away from them while it charged back up lest the unprotected cabin was perforated with plasma.

As one phantom rose up he turned the gun once more at the ship and let loose a shot that just as the crosshairs were placed over the craft's right side. The phantom was torn apart and soon fell from the heavens. A banshee charged forward, slamming plasma into the cabin. Six's shield went haywire, a stray shot struck his shoulder. He winced in pain and turned the gun back to the banshee. He fired a shot once more and the attack craft was turned to vapour.

Six looked back up at the Crusier, now closing in for the kill. Its underside glowed red, a familiar sign he had seen at New Alexandria. This was his chance, the only chance he'd get. He had to hit this thing in the gut. Before it killed the Autumn. Before it killed Legion.

He charged the weapon, aiming directly for the giant glowing red light above. He gripped the controls tightly as the charge reached its apex.

"Smile ya son of a bitch."

The slug sped out of the gun, flying straight up towards the massive ship. It struck right in ventral energy projector, the weapon used to glass planets. Now it would be the cause of its demise. A little taste of the Covenant's own medicine. The belly of the beast erupted into a blaze and the whole ship shuddered as it began to fall. Six watched as the battlecruiser fell upon the very same scarabs he had sene just moments before. They tried to run from the fast descending friend above, but they weren't fast enough. Six took it as a nice bonus.

"Good guns Spartan." Keyes congratulated through the comm.

As Six climbed down the ladder, the Autumn began the final take off sequence. Atmospheric rocket pods on the ships' sides lifted it out of dry dock. It moved the ship away from the structures and turned it towards the sky. The thunderous roar could be heard from miles away. Six watched as the pods ended their task and fell away. Then the Autumn kicked in it's engines and the massive Halcyon-class cruiser lifted off into the sky.

"This is Pillar of Autumn, we're away and the package is with us."

Keyes final words were a bittersweet comfort. Six now walked out onto the valley that stretched before him. Scorched earth and burning hulks of metal were all he could see. That and the swirling torrent of clouds above, lighting cast out from them constantly. Reach, the planet with lush country sides and beautiful city, now a smoking wasteland. Billions dead or dying as he looked out into the horizon.

And yet, it didn't matter to him. Legion was safe. His friend would live. That's all that mattered. He clicked a fresh magazine into his DMR. There was only one thing left to do now, live up to his name sake.

Three hundred survived three days, Agis fought off an army long enough for his to flee. How long would he last? He relished the challenge.


	25. There will be Another Time

Epilogue: There will be Another Time

**August 30****th****, 2552**

The sand and dust brushed past him, obscuring his vision partially. All he could see was the outlines of buildings, the fading setting sun and several Covenant aircraft circling the area. His joints ached as the dust climbed into the little pieces of his armour. The howling wind filled his head, drowning out almost all sounds. The barren landscape stretched before him, the area lousy with Covenant. What had once been a small outpost station was now an abandoned mix of concrete and metal.

Six had been avoiding and dodging Covenant patrols for a good while now. He had been trying to find a good place to make a stand. There wasn't much left in this outpost to be frank, both in the way of supplies and weapons, but it was as good a place as any. He supposed he could try hiding out in the caves, tucking his tail between his legs and hoping they moved on. But that wasn't who he was.

He had come to Reach, joining a team not his own. It would end up being his tomb and he'd die alone. Fitting that it end like this. Alone, once again, his friends all dead, gone or far away from here, as they should be, just like before. At least one of them was safe now, that much he could take heart in. He supposed he should feel sad about it all. He had mused before how futile his existence felt. How he didn't know what he was gonna do if he lived through this. That burden was off his shoulders now.

He had spent much of his life as a lone wolf, lacking any real friends, predictable that he end it the same.

On his back were his DMR and Geth Plasma Assault Rifle. Currently he now stood atop a tower, several gun emplacements surrounding him. Good amount of firepower, it would be useful. He could see, just barely, through the dust and sand, that the Covenant were already swarming around, searching for him. He didn't want to disappoint them.

"Hope you're ready to meet your Gods Covies." Six said as he took up the chain gun "I know I am."

He fired down upon a squad of brutes moving through the area. The bullets slashed through their thick hides with ease. Their faces were filled with holes, their bodies turned to mush as the rounds jit them repeatedly. They were all dead before they had even figured out what was happening. But a phantom knew. It closed in with its right side guns and onboard passengers opening up on the Spartan. Needles and plasma smacked against his shields. Six let loose a torrent of fire into the ship, he ripped the covies apart with ease, blood and guts filling their transport as a stream of bullets cut them down. They either fell out of the ship or caked the floor of it with their bodies and blood.

The phantom turned to face the Spartan head on and began firing on the tower. Six ripped the gun off its stand and jumped from the dizzying heights, the plasma shots tearing his previous perch to pieces. He landed in the dirt below, the heavy gun still in his hands. He trekked forward, keeping the barrels spinning so he didn't have to wait for the weapon to warm up. A brute a couple of jackals appeared from around a rock. They opened up with needles and spikes. Six returned fire with a devastating wave of bullets. The Brute took six shots to the head before falling down. The jackals tucked tail and tried to hide under their shields. Eventually they couldn't withstand the pressure and they broke formation. They fell backwards as their bodies were filled with led.

Six didn't have time to savour his victory. Several concussive shots rang out behind him. Elites were coming, closing fast on his position. He turned the gun and opened up on them as they streamed down the dunes towards him. He backed up towards the buildings far to his back. If he could get there, he could make the place a killing ground. Close quarters, good places to hide, good places to shoot from, good places to lay in wait for ambushes. Yeah, he could hold out a lot longer there. Take a few more Covenant down before the end. One less stupid religious alien nut to threaten marines and troopers, one less bad guy Legion would have to deal with when they were done here. That's what every dead Covie was to him now. One less.

He turned and ran towards the buildings, a pack of grunts standing in his path as he ran through what used to be a small parking lot. Their plasma struck his shields incessantly, but he pressed forward. He cut through the Covenant with bullet after bullet, in moments the pack of grunts lay dead in the sand, their bodies torn to shreds.

They'd have more company soon enough.

* * *

><p>The Normandy had linked up with the Autumn in orbit, as did several other Pelicans. All of them carrying members of the strike force. Both army troopers and marines stalked the hall of the Autumn now, all of them trying to settle in for the long trip out of this system. Preparations for the jump were already being made. For now, everyone was just trying to find someone else, see if they had made it off the planet, if they were okay. Holland had become the defacto leader of the troopers aboard the Autumn now, so they all looked for him for answers. The marines looked for answers in anyone they could find, even the alien crew members of the Normandy. The gambit questions consisted of "how many made it out?" and "where are we going?" But no one could really answer those questions.<p>

Tali felt bad having to say to so many people as she walked by. They recognized her as part of the Normandy. Many of the marines aboard the Autumn had long since been told the temporary captain of the Normandy that had helped them out was an Alien. Tali could tell many were still suspicious, but they kept it in check. They had other concerns right now, and they had been fighting aliens all day anyway. No sense in getting embroiled in another one, especially when she had risked her life to save many of them.

The Normandy itself had become sort of crowded with Marines, Troopers and their ODST counterparts. Many were here out of curiosity, seeing a small but still considerably big ship docked inside the massive hanger wing of the Autumn. Others were here hoping to find a less crowded place to get a drink or food, many of them needed it. Others still were here for more personal reasons.

Tali remembered passing by Buck and his squad. They were sitting at the table on the crew deck, chatting it up with a friend of theirs. Garrus seemed to be enjoying the attention a little.

"You know you could've told me you were an alien." Buck informed the Turian

"Well, would you be willing to let me cover your back as much if I did?" Garrus asked

"You gotta admit boss it would've been a bit weird." Dutch informed the sergeant

"Still, a little info would've been nice is all." Buck reiterated with a shrug "I mean, would've cut down on the shock of seeing half of your friends down there."

Garrus just laughed slightly.

"I suppose, sorry about that Buck." Garrus apologized "It's just considering you guys don't have the best relationship with aliens I was worried you wouldn't trust me."

"Hey anyone that can put a bullet in the eye of one of those space gorillas at over 300 yards is golden in my book." Romeo informed him "So what if you're an alien and sent us dropping into a mess of crazy covies trying to mess with space/time. You've saved our hides and made sure we actually did something instead of sitting on our hands and watching Reach burn. I wouldn't mind cracking open a cold one with yas is all I'm saying."

"That's good to hear Rome," Garrus said graciously "but uh... that may be a bit difficult. Different amino-acids and all."

Tali giggled a little at it all. It was good to see Garrus was trying to keep upbeat about all this. She was worried after what he said went down planet side he wouldn't be in the mood for conversation. It was better than seeing him brooding that was for sure.

After that Tali had gone down to the engineering deck to get something she needed currently. A data file. When she came up she saw a marine walking along the hallway towards Samara's room. The doors opened and Samara was sitting there in her usual spot meditating. The Marine made a little coughing sound and the Asari.

"Private Kowalski?" she said, seemingly amazed

"I know," the marine said, his arms up somewhat defensively "this probably seems creepy, me always showing up at random it's just... I kinda need someone to talk to."

The poor soldier sounded rather distressed, a private matter no doubt.

"I could talk to guys but..." he never really finished that line of thought."But you know if you're busy..."

The marine looked like he was about to leave. But Samara patted the floor beside her and the private quickly took a seat.

"You need only have asked Private Kowalski." She assured him "Despite how often we seemingly cross paths, I do enjoy your company."

Tali thought she saw a smile on the marine's face, if only a small one. She didn't get a good look though as the doors automatically closed behind the marine soon after.

She continued on her way to the medical bay, she needed to check up on someone before she left. She passed by Thane and Jun on the way, discussing sniper tactics.

"Gunners didn't kill all the banshees down there," the Spartan claimed "I caught at least one through the canopy with a clean kill during the retreat."

"Well after we blew up the spire we had to make a run to a nearby clear area and hold for pick up." Thane informed him "I killed at least two elites with one clean shot."

"Oh please." Jun shook his head in disbelief.

"Ms. Lawson's overload program is sufficiently useful against Elite shields." Thane added

"Then that's an assist Thane, don't take full credit." Jun argued

Tali let the two have their conversation and stepped into the medical bay. On the nearest table, Mordin and Chakwas were standing over a Spartan, the Chief's friend, Linda from the looks of her. Tali passed them by.

"How is she?" the quarian asked

"Stable, for now." Chakwas assured "We're gonna need more time with her. She took a bad hit, plasma burns are just like burn damage to be honest, but that doesn't make them any less worse. Plus they're more precise, which can be both a blessing and a curse to be honest."

"Need to return to stasis after treatment just to be sure." Mordin added "Should be back in the fight soon enough though."

Chief would be happy to hear that, especially after what he told her about his other friend. They couldn't find him, even with the Normandy's sensors. There was just too much debris. However he wasn't the only Spartan lost today.

"And how is she?" Tali asked, her voice hushed and low.

Everyone turned to a slumped over Kat, staring at her feet morosely as she sat on the medical table, her one good arm against her legs being the only thing propping her up.

"About as well as you can expect I imagine." Said Chakwas "Be careful when you talk to her, she's very vulnerable right now. I suggested maybe Chambers should see her when she's ready."

Tali nodded and walked lightly over to Kat. The Spartan didn't look up as she passed by.

"Kat," Tali began, trying to keep her composure, maintain an aura of understanding "I'm... I'm so sorry."

The Spartan didn't respond, her face sullen and downcast.

"If I could change it, I would. I swear. I'm not sure if it helps but..." Tali paused at that, trying her best to consider her words before she spoke "...I know what it's like to lose a friend. To lose many friends."

Kat remained silent for awhile, not commenting or looking at Tali. The Quarian wondered if she had offended her somehow. Thankfully she did break the silence.

"I knew he'd do something stupid." She finally said, her voice slightly vitriolic "He always like that. The second he picked me up in the caverns I knew he was gonna do something like this. He always had to be the damn hero. Always had to blame himself for everything so it would make it easier to rationalise. They say Emile had a death wish? Carter had the biggest one of them all. And he finally got it."

Tali joined Kat in her saddened look. She had been where she was a little over two years ago. Back when Shepard had died, when she lost him like Kat had just lost Carter. In that way she felt a kinship. She didn't voice it though. She got Shepard back. Kat wouldn't get the same chance. She reached out her hand to Kat's shoulder and grasped it.

"He... he did what he felt he had to." Tali told her sorrowfully, remembering that first day so long ago "It's what made him who he was. He wouldn't be the person you knew and respected otherwise."

"Yeah, I know." Kat admitted, still grief-stricken. She suddenly turned to Tali. "Do... your people have an afterlife?"

The question came somewhat at random, but she supposed Kat had the right to ask the question. She was trying to rationalise everything. So Tali did her best to answer.

"My people believe in something called the walled garden." She explained "It's where our ancestors reside, where we pass into when our time comes. You'd think we'd have abandoned a lot of that after reaching the stars but, well, I think through the hardship and death it's always nice to know there's something better waiting for us all."

Kat turned her head back to the floor.

"And what's waiting for us, Tali?"

That was a question she honestly couldn't answer, not just yet. Tali wanted to help her more, but she wasn't sure what to say. She tried her best to summon up the words she had heard from others before.

"Carter wouldn't want you feeling sorry for yourself, blaming yourself." She told the Spartan "He'd want you to move on, to fight harder, for what's left."

"Yeah he'd probably say something like that, and then blame himself for getting killed." Kat spoke that last line with a saddened little chuckle at the memory of her fallen commander. She then looked to her stub of an arm. "I'll need a new one though."

"That's why I came down more or less." Said Tali, her voice a bit more chipper. "I wanted you to see something."

The quarian mechanic brought up her omni-tool and a holographic display when she clicked a command. And image of a three fingered arm appeared, similar in design to that of a certain synthetic platform.

"Legion's platform is sturdy but there's always the risk it'll need replacement parts." Tali explained "That and I have extensive knowledge of geth hardware systems. It's possible I could retrofit a new arm from some supplies and with the use of our micro-replicators. Won't be the same as your old one, but it's worth a shot."

Kat's eyes gave the geth arm schematic a good once over. Finally she just nodded.

"Heh, alright Tali. Let me know when it's done okay?"

Kat wasn't smiling, but her voice was less downtrodden than before. Tali hoped that meant she helped in some small way. She said her goodbyes, there was a lot to do before they made the jump and Tali had little time. As she left though, Kat called out.

"And Tali," she said "thanks for coming down here. I guess I needed someone to talk to."

"Anytime Kat." Tali assured "Us techie girls, we gotta stick together right?"

Kat nodded in agreement and Tali left through the opening doors. She had another meeting to get to, one that was almost as important. As she walked to the elevator to get off the Normandy she brought out Halsey's little journal and started flipping through it. She needed to be ready for this.

* * *

><p>The elites moved through the desolate buildings cautiously, their plasma rifles pointed at every possible angle. The human was trying to lead them into a trap, that much was clear to them. They didn't think much of it. It was only one pathetic human regardless of how powerful he was. He'd be easy to kill, especially if he was still lugging that giant gun around.<p>

They eventually found said giant gun lying in the dirt at their feet as they turned a corner. He couldn't be far though. One elite went over to the discarded machine gun, trying to get a better look at it. As he did, something smacked into the sand nearby. He looked and saw what it was, a grenade.

The elite was torn apart by the sudden explosion and sand dust was kicked up around his compatriots. They coughed and choked on the dirt, trying to look through the sand to find the foolish human that defied them.

But Six was not too far away, in fact he was in a nearby building, his DMR focused on the disoriented elites. He had them now. He fired into them while they were still trying to grasp the situation. He took down at least two before they figured out what was going on, their shields dropping under the sustained fire. The elites quickly looked for cover and ducked into the nearby buildings for safety. Six kept them in the scope, firing on them, not letting them get any breathing room. When an elite popped up through a window, blasting out with his plasma rifle, Six met him with a furious barrage of gunfire. The elite staggered back as the rounds shot his shields apart and his body contorted till he fell dead.

Another elite rose up blasting at the window with reckless abandon. He strafed out from cover, his repeater beginning to smoke. Six watched his shields go offline, but he had the last say against the alien. He ducked down, changed out for his geth assault rifle and fired into the elite as he charged across the sand. He caught the Covie officer in the leg with ease and he tumbled to the dirt. Six fired another round into the alien's body as he lay there, ending him.

Then he was struck full on in the face by a blast of red energy. The concussive round sent him flying across the room straight into a wall, cracking the already weakened concrete as he struck it. The elite who fired the shot poked his head out from cover and began to walked towards the building. Surely the human was dead now. He just had to verify the kill.

He stepped through the doorway and suddenly felt a pain in his gut. He looked down to see a knife stabbed straight into his belly. Six appeared from behind the door frame, a shotgun in hand, one that he had found inside the building when he picked it as his spot. He pulled the knife out and then raised the gun to blast the elite's head clean off. His final team mate rushed out of his own cover, plasma sword in hand. Six fired every round in the gun's chamber, taking down the elite's shields and pummeling him with lead. The elite soon fell to the ground, just inches from his target.

Six took a moment to breath. It was then he saw that part of his visor had been cracked, just a little. That concussion shot hit him hard it seemed. No sense in pondering it he needed to keep moving. He brought the geth assault rifle back out and began to make his way out. It was then a giant green explosion erupted behind him, tossing him to the ground. He turned to hear the screeching sound of a banshee and watch as the vehicle closed in from the skies for the kill. Six fired up at the banshee as it closed with his assault rifle. Struggling to get to his feet as the smaller plasma burst licked up at him. The banshee veered off and Six turned his gun to continue firing on him as he fled. He knew the pilot would come back around. He wouldn't pass on the chance to kill a single lone human, who was so easy a target.

Six began to run from the banshee, he may have scored some hits but it wasn't gonna be easy to take him out without a bigger gun. The craft, now trailing some smoke behind it followed the fleeing Spartan, shooting its plasma coils in tandem with his steps. The craft got close to the ground, almost touching the tops of the buildings. Six kept running turning back now and then to shoot wildly at the pursuing aircraft.

Then he took a shot to the back of his leg. The plasma burned at his thigh. He fell forward. He quickly turned on his back, pulling his pistol off the side of belt and opened up on the alien attack craft. The banshee barreled down directly on him, taking every shot the Spartan fired head-on. The pilot didn't think it was that bad, but the damage from the little gun soon accumulated. One of the bullets suddenly hit the plasma coils and the banshee exploded along its side. The vehicle tumbled through the air in a spiral sideways. Passing clear over Six's head and crashing into one of the forgotten buildings behind him. An explosion followed soon after.

Six got to his feet and looked to the pistol. He pulled out the cartridge. Empty, just like his shotgun. He tossed the weapon aside and made his way forwards. He wasn't done yet.

* * *

><p>Tali fumbled her fingers, like she always did when she was nervous. She had met Keyes in person just a few moments ago and he had handed her the eponymous package. He assured Tali that she was waiting for her and that the terminal was ready. She'd have to make it quick though. The Autumn was moving away from Reach, preparing for the jump. Tali insisted that before they instructed her to make it that she needed to get the fragment reinstalled. They didn't have much time. The Covenant were focused solely on Reach for the moment, but they would be coming for them eventually. They were also waiting for signs of more survivors in pelicans making their way to the Autumn in orbit, but not for long. They needed to be out of this system in less than twenty minutes, that's all they had.<p>

It was all Tali needed.

She took a deep breath and entered the room with the closed off terminal. There was a small window peeking out into the void. The terminal was directly in front of it. There she could see her, already standing there, watching the planet they had left behind slink off into the distance. She was waiting for her.

"Um... hello." Tali spoke up at last.

The AI turned her head to look at the Quarian, still not saying anything.

"I'm Tali'Zorah-"

"- vas Normandy, acting captain of the SR2 Normandy." The AI completed for her "I heard the discussions you had with Keyes over the communication lines during the battle. He told me to expect you when he requested I upload myself into this terminal before returning to the bridge."

Tali gulped a little, the fragment container shaking in her hands.

"It's... just Chief Engineer now actually, Commander Shepard is back in command." Tali corrected her

"Oh, I see." She observed "Well with the way you commanded the ship out there I think he better watch his back. You might just steal his job."

That relieved the tension a bit, she laughed at the snarky comment. Just as Halsey had told her, a lot more lively than most AI she had met.

"We haven't been properly introduced I assume," the AI continued "AI Designation CTN 0452-9, or the less of a mouthful, Cortana at your service Ms. Zorah."

Cortana stood upright with her chest out as she spoke. Tali approached her, fragment in hand.

"I'm here to reintegrate this into your systems." She explained, holding the fragment up.

Cortana looked puzzled.

"What is it exactly?" she asked

Halsey had told her Cortana had no memory of the fragmentation process. It was better for her. The memory would only serve to traumatize her otherwise. She gave Tali a story to tell Cortana in case the subject came up.

"It's more or less an upgrade for better interfacing capability with the Autumn's systems." Tali explained "The Halcyon-Class is a bit old you see and we felt you could use a better connection to the ship."

Cortana still looked puzzled for a moment before nodding at the explanation.

"Oh, I noticed that I was having difficulty with some of the higher functions." She surmised "Added capacity and runtime capability would be appreciated. No sense dawdling, we're on a schedule. Plug it in."

Cortana slowly opened the hatch on the terminal and stuck the container into the system. In moments the machine was humming loudly as the light from the package began to surge upwards. Cortana seemed to tingle slightly as the fragment reintegrated with her. Her head shivered and shook for a moment before settling.

"Whoa, that was..." she said blinking slightly as she looked around "that felt a bit weird."

"How do you feel?" Tali asked, a mix of caution and concern. "Do you need me to see if it uploaded properly? Cause I can-"

"No Tali, No. I'm fine, don't worry." Cortana assured, calming her down "I just, need to adjust. One moment."

Cortana placed her fingertips up to her head for a moment, her eyes closed. She opened them a second later.

"Hmm, memory and storage capacity seemed to have increased." She observed "Oh and I apparently have some new data logs. Runtimes improved, processing speed increased as well. Connection to Autumn... yes fully integrated. Thank you Tali, this is... well this is great."

Tali smiled under her mask, it worked. The fragment, the data, it was in Cotana's head now. Everything the artifact contained Cortana possessed and was capable of understanding. She would just need time, as Halsey suggested. The fragment's knowledge would work on a subconscious level.

"It was my pleasure Cortana." Tali replied graciously "We're all in this together now, so we all need to be at our best I think."

Cortana returned a coy smile.

"Well I was pretty great before," she spoke "can't complain with being more awesome I guess."

Tali giggled, she reminded her a bit of Garrus with his usual snark and bluster. Good signs, good signs indeed. Cortana's expression soon turned from pride to curiosity once more.

"Strange," she said "you know this is the first time I've met you but... I feel a sudden familiarity. It's... I guess it's kinda like if you passed someone in the street and met them later, but you can't recall when you saw them. I think, not sure."

Tali was glad her helmet masked her feelings more or less. She wasn't ready for Cortana to know how happy she was to hear that remark. Subconscious level indeed, just as Halsey said.

"Well I don't think you've met too many friendly aliens before." Tali explained, waving her three fingered hand in front of Cortana "It's probably just a sudden feedback from overhearing the conversations I had with Captain Keyes before, during the battle."

Cortana just shrugged.

"I suppose." She accepted "Now that's that done I better get working on establishing a jump pattern for our escape. Well... just as soon as I check on one last thing."

Cortana turned seemed to open a file in front of her. Puzzled Tali walked beside the AI, trying to get a look at the file she was reviewing.

"What is that?" she asked

"Oh... well uh..." Cortana replied, seemingly nervous "... it's just some progress I'm checking on. Using some of the last vestiges of the system's communication satellites, you know before goes offline entirely. Covenant has been blasting them out of the sky one by one. Probably gonna be the last comm.-buoy we can contact for awhile."

"Progress on what though?" Tali asked again

Cortana brushed her arm slightly, humming under her breath.

"Well... I don't know." She began, hesitantly "I felt it was better to keep this a secret, safer for me and a friend of mine. But... well I feel like I can trust you for some reason. So..."

Cortana steeled herself a bit before coming out with what she was doing exactly. It was, to say the least, very intriguing. According to Cortana she had been with the Master Chief just a day ago, when she met Colonel Ackerson for the first time. Cortana grimaced at the name, if she ever had to hear about that man again her life it would be too soon.

Cortana seemed to share the sentiment as she recounted the events of her and Chief's first training exercise together.

"It was supposed to be routine and simple, but the bastard was using live ammunition. Practically almost got me and Chief killed. And for what? To get Halsey's funding of course. So, I went into his closet and found a few skeletons. Just some little things to make him regret that decision, that's all. Jail's too good for him. Still wish I got something a bit bigger though, something to bury him in red tape and tribunals for a good long while."

Tali had to admit, she liked the plan. Couldn't happen to a nicer person as far as she was concerned, but the temptation to throw her own hat into the ring was overwhelming.

"What's the charge for a UNSC/ONI liaison for attempting to kidnap a civilian engineer to build a private drone army?" she asked

"Well that's not technically treason. ONI can get away with a lot of things from what I hear." Cortana sadly admitted, although her curiosity was clearly peaked. "You could always beat the charge, but I doubt you'd ever be able to show your face in the sunlight again after the tribunal is over with. In fact, you'd probably get discharged for it in the end. Sent away to some deep dark corner so no one can use him as a punching bag in the media to point and ridicule. Bad for ONI's image, UNSC's too. Why you ask?"

The quarian smiled.

"I think I may have some more dirt to bury him under." Tali replied

She clicked her omni-tool and a recording began to play.

_-That's what your spy was after_ _You weren't after our weapons and shields data, you just wanted him to find out more about Legion and the Geth!-_

_*Those tidbits were a nice bonus though. I appreciate you sharing. Especially since a number of the notes pertaining to the Geth were based on your personal history and knowledge of them.*_

Tali fast forwarded the recording a bit to another section.

_*You won't be able to contact your friends on the Normandy for some time. At least until you can create a sufficient number of Geth programs for our use. Nothing major, around ten should suffice. Or whatever number is required for them to start replicating en masse. We'll take it the rest of the way from there.*_

Tali stopped the recording there.

"There's a bit more, but you get the gist of it." Tali explained

Cortana was at first wide eye at the information, then she grinned, giddy at the possibilities.

"That is just beautiful." The AI said, almost laughing "I probably can't send it now, but I'll be happy to hold onto a copy of it for the time being. Once we eventually get back to civilization this is gonnna make that asshole's face redder than lobster."

"Thought you'd like it." Tali added

Cortana soon closed her progress file, uploaded the recording from Tali's omni-tool and began making preparation for the jump. She'd need to go to the bridge to make the final adjustments. But with any luck she'd do what Halsey and Tali hoped she would. The signs that that would be the case were all there. Before she left however, Cortana said one last thing to the quarian mechanic.

"You know Tali," she spoke up "when they told me you were an alien I was a bit wary. But now having met you I think having a few xenos around could be advantageous."

"We'll do our best to prove you right Cortana." Tali assured

"I would hope so. I hate being wrong." Cortana said, quickly adding "Which I'm never, not to toot my own horn of course. In any case, I think we're all gonna work well together."

"Looking forward to it Cortana," Tali told the AI as she walked towards the exit, a mix of anticipation and hopefulness in her voice "looking forward to it."

* * *

><p>The elites kept covered in the rocks as they made their way through the area. They felt themselves safe, the dust and sand flowing through the wind covering their approach. They were wrong. Several powerful shots from the geth assault rifle cut through their shields with ease. Those that managed to survive the initial barrage of slugs got into cover and fired back. Six kept charging forward, even as the plasma cut through his shields, striking at his armour. He fought through the pain that seeped through the metal. He rushed up to one elite taking cover behind a rock and slammed down hard on him with his boot. As he stood atop him he fired a round into his head. He turned and tossed a plasma grenade at another elite moving out to strafe. It stuck right on his chest plate and the Elite roared in anger. The blue explosion blew the alien apart. He turned rapidly to the last elite among the rocks, using up what was left in the geth assault rifle to tear the alien's jaw clean off.<p>

Six quickly reached into one of his ammo pouches, pulling out another thermal clip. He plugged it into the weapon while he took a breath. He had a few more of those, not much though. He wondered how much longer Legion's gift would last before he had to use it as a club. Bit of a disappointment, he wanted to keep it as long as possible. If only to say Legion had helped him live a few seconds more.

As he thought about the matter a bullet grazed through his shield, slicing at his shoulder. He stumbled back, clutching at the wound. He looked ahead and through the blinding dust saw five lumbering forms moving up through the rocks. They weren't elites or brutes, they were krogan, the blood pack. And they were armed with disruptor rounds from the look of his shoulder. Six opened up on the slowly advancing krogan as he backed away, more bullets whizzing towards him. He quickly ducked into the rocks nearby, taking cover among them as the rounds speed past.

He remembered what Legion said, that krogan were devastating in close quarters, that shooting them long-range was most cost-effective, that their eyes were the most vulnerable parts of their body. He was lucky he found that sniper rifle in one of the abandoned buildings along with some sparse ammo. He raised the gun up, propped it against the rocks and peered through the scope at the advancing krogan. It was hard to keep an eye on them through the dust and whirling sand, but he could see their outlines more or less. Even partially obscured they weren't exactly invisible.

Six lined up the crosshairs on where he suspected the eye to be on the krogan in the middle. He fired a shot and watched as the alien staggered around, clutching his head. He fired another shot, cutting deeper into the giant lizard's head. That one dropped him. His friends quickly sprinted forward firing on his position. He switched targets, firing on the approaching krogan with two quick shots in succession. They hit dead center in the same spot, breaking apart the skull with ease. The hard plated forehead crest didn't stop the high velocity round. The lumbering lizard fell back dead and Six quickly reloaded. There were still three left.

The krogan were quickly closing in, Six would have to make these shots count for something if he wanted to make it out of this. He fired off one round, but it went wide, it didn't eye, just sliced along the side of the krogan's head. By now he was charging full throttle towards the Spartan, intent on crushing him underfoot. Six looked and aimed lower along the helmet of the giant alien. He fired another round, this one cut through the mouth section. The krogan choked on his own orange blood as he skidded to the ground.

Six turned to the two last krogan, they were so close now he could see their eyes clearly. They had stopped their charge and were now pelting his cover with round after round. He fired one shot clean into the eye ball of the first krogan. He crumbled down to the ground with ease. Six moved the bullet to the next krogan and fired again. But the lizard tossed something his way before the bullet struck him dead, a small cylindrical canister. Six rolled away as it fell down on his position. It exploded open, spreading fire as it seemingly cracked against the side of the rock. Six was partially caught in the blast and furious forced himself down to the ground to put his arm out.

The sand killed the fire quickly, but the armour was blacked by the attack. Six stood up, breathing heavily from that shock. Five krogan, dead, on his own, it felt a bit empowering to be sure. His inner celebration was interrupted however when a bolt shot across his side, barely missing him. He turned his rifle towards where the shot had come, but when he pulled the trigger it just clicked.

"Out of bullets eh?"

Six looked up to see a lumbering mass coming out of the sand cloud breezing past. Another krogan, in heavy blood pack armour, an orange crest, a plasma sword in one hand and plasma repeater in the other. He didn't recognize the krogan, but he had a feeling he knew he was.

"What are you gonna do?" he asked the Spartan as he walked out of the dust "Hit me with it?"

Six looked at the rifle again and tossed it to the ground, pulling out his DMR quickly and pointing it towards the krogan.

"This one still has some punch left." He stated

"And the geth gun you have?" the krogan asked

Six paused momentarily, should he bluff or tell the truth? He wasn't sure. Hell he wasn't even sure why this guy was bothering talk with him, but his suspicion as to who he was had become greater. So he spoke his mind.

"You this Kreave I kept hearing Shepard mention?" he asked

The krogan smiled at the question.

"So he did speak of me, good." He said "Shows he recognized my prowess."

"He recognized your big mouth and pompous ego." Six responded

Kreave didn't respond, instead he began to circle Six, staring intently at him as he did. Like a shark swimming around a diver's cage, sans the cage of course.

"Those men you killed were the last of the blood pack I had with me." He told the Spartan "I convinced them to follow me here when we heard the Covenant were hunting a most dangerous quarry. I congratulate you on for once proving those idiots weren't just exaggerating your capabilities."

Six gripped tightly on the DMR, keeping his finger on the trigger and crosshairs firmly on the krogan's head.

"I've heard of your kind you know." Kreave continued, speaking low and calm as he circled "Spartans, the best soldiers the humans have to offer. The Covenant call you demons, I always thought it was just another religious charged title meant to vilify you. Now, I see it's a name well earned."

"Most find that out the hard way." Six replied "Kinda like your boys there."

"You've only made this situation more fitting of song human." Kreave stated "The last krogan on Reach, versus possibly the last human still alive on this wretched mud ball. It's poetic, a good story at least. That much I can thank you for."

Six dug his feet deeper into the sand, studying the krogan with every move. He looked to his leg, the merc was trying to hide it but he could see a slight limp in his step. A recent wound, not yet properly healed.

"It's funny you know," Kreave continued to speak "the people who hired me I have no respect for as warriors. No desire to praise or admire. But my prey, those they ask me to kill, I can only extend the greatest of krogan honours. That you are worthy of being killed, something the Sangheili would never admit to. To them you're just insects to stomp, to me you're opponents and ones that should never be underestimated. You held this planet by the skin of teeth till the end. The Covenant call you stubborn, I call you hardened."

"We're kinda both I think." Six answered

Kreave chuckled deeply stopping his circling suddenly as he stomped on the rocky cracked earth uncovered by the winds.

"Do you know why I'm here Spartan?" he asked

"From what I understand it's because you're crazy fanboy with a murder hard-on." Six answered harshly

The krogan just shrugged, raising the repeater up to rest on his shoulder.

"True, the chance to hunt Shepard was irresistible." Kreave confessed "It disheartens me greatly that I was never able to truly test my mettle against his. I was so close to ending my fight, but it was stolen by... your kind. Humans from your dimension, not mine. To be beaten by Shepard would be one thing, but by lesser men... that was just shameful. I'll get my chance to redeem myself though."

"You wanna place bets on that?" Six taunted

Kreave didn't respond, his expression didn't change, he simply returned to the subject at hand.

"The truth is I didn't come here for credits, I came here for the same reason you're here now." Kreave explained "Think about it, why are you still fighting? There's nothing left here. No one left. You're alone. Abandoned. Forgotten. Why continue to fight? Why not hide and hope to live? Why continue a struggle when you know it is pointless? There's no victory here."

Six didn't respond, he used the time plan a strategy. Maybe if he could get behind him, stab him once in the back of the neck or side he could wound him enough. He could probably mess up his aim a bit too if he aim at one of the arm joints.

"You don't need to answer, I know why, and I approve." Kreave spoke again after the moment of silence "War is in our blood Spartan. We live it, breathe it, need it. I love the sting of combat. The sound of gunfire and plasma cannons. The roar of mighty bomber craft. The rumbling of tank treads. The smell of the caked blood and oaken ash as the city burns. The sounds of screaming men on fire. The shattering earthquake as a space station falls out of orbit onto an entire platoon. The rush I feel when I thrust my hand into the heart of the enemy and pull it still beating from his chest."

Kreave thrust his sword forward as he spoke of the last example, and continued on.

"I love war Spartan, and so do you." He informed Six "In the end victory or defeat isn't the main factor. It's just the war itself. The fighting, the killing. In regular society the things we do are considered monstrous, horrendous, criminal, evil. But under the aura of battle, we're branded heroes, rewarded for our deeds. Men like us are born for this, no other life can compare. We need it, we can't live without it. The next fight is the only tomorrow we have. Even if it's our last, we need to fight it, because we can't escape it. The lucky ones are those who die a glorious death in truth. What is left for those that survive? What is truly there for them Spartan? Nothing. We were made for war, we were made to be legends, our deeds sung of by comrades in arms for others to worship and emulate. We're of the same creed in that sense Spartan. The same mould. The same blood."

Six grimaced in anger under his visor, his hold on his gun tightening.

"I'm nothing like you." He denied with a venomous tone in his reply "You think being a warrior is about the self-gratification. That it's about satiating your blood lust. That's why you're here, not me. Maybe I don't have a tomorrow, maybe I can't function in the real world and this was always the only real outcome for me in the end. But at the end of the day, I'm not fighting cause I love it, I'm fighting so other people can see the tomorrow I won't. The people I care about, my brothers in arms, my friends, my family. And that's something you'll never understand."

The condemnation caused Kreave's brow to furrow in anger, his fist tightened on his sword.

"Know that when I'm done here, I'll continue my search for Shepard and I will fulfill my destiny. You can't stop that." Kreave guaranteed him, a determined steadfast emotionless tone in his voice "You'll have the honour of being the second loudest verse in my song of legend, next to Shepard. You'll be remembered, take comfort in that before you die."

Six chuckled at the threat.

"Don't you know anything?" he asked mockingly "Spartans never die, we're just missing in action."

That was when the staring contest ended.

Kreave dropped his repeater arm to his side, raised his sword and charged forward roaring loudly. Six fired a shot from the DMR, cutting into the lizard's side. He ducked under the slash of the sword and fired two more shots into the back of the merc leader. Kreave turned, firing repeater at close range. The krogan was so strong he only needed one hand to hold and fire it. Six took the full brunt of the plasma bolts, one after the other before he felt a head slam into his gut. He smacked into a rock, groaning loudly as his back buckled in pain. Kreave then thrusted his sword forward, barreling straight towards him. Six to pushed himself off the rock and down to the ground, barely missing the blade by inches. Kreave slashed through the rock and stabbed downward at the dirt. Six rolled to the side, pulled his knife and slashed against the krogan's bad leg.

Kreave buckled forward and Six jumped to his feet. He fired on the krogan as he pulled back, but the lizard quickly recovered. He charged straight at the Spartan, hitting him with the full force of his giant head. Six was thrown several feet away, dropping his DMR in the process. He landed with a terrible thud. Gasping for breath he looked around, seeing his rifle just inches away from him. He reached for it only for plasma to strike at his finger tips. Six rolled onto his knees, clutching his hand as it burned. He quickly got to his feet and began to run, his hand smoking as he did. Kreave followed still firing on him as he did

He needed a plan, bigger guns, more guns, anything, some kind of new strategy to get the momentum back.

A stream of bolts struck his back throwing him to the ground as it smoked. He crawled forward, trying to ignore the pain, feeling the stomping footsteps of Kreave getting closer. He landed next to a dead trooper, his pistol still in his holster. Six reached for it, grabbing with his still burning fingers and flipped onto his back. He fired six bullets into Kreave as he tried to stand back up. The lizard covered his head as the powerful magnum rounds struck him. Six went for the other magazines on the dead trooper's belt and made a run for cover. He needed to put some distance between him and Kreave, figure out a plan of attack, some way to wear the regenerating space dino down.

Not an easy task, but it wouldn't be a noble mission if it was easy.

* * *

><p>The slip-space jump was in progress, the Autumn was speeding away from Reach like a bat out of hell, as humans would say. For Tali her people lack sufficient after world punishment, the world quarians lived in was punishment enough. There were close approximates to the stated animal though, although it was sort of a reptile and not a mammal from what she recalled of zoology.<p>

In any case Tali was just happy they were underway. Well, maybe not happy, it was hard to be happy about retreating blindly into the unknown universe. Still it was better than the alternative. That being staying and watching the Covenant burn that beautiful planet to ash. That is if the Covenant would've even let them watch instead of blowing them out of the sky. So many lives lost and for the survivors their home probably wouldn't be liveable for decades when the Covenant were done with it. Chances were no of them would see Reach again, at least not as it was.

It was a sobering fact. Tali couldn't completely relate, she hadn't ever lived on a planet. She knew what it was like to be without one, it was only her collective people that knew what it was like to lose one retroactively. Even then the situation wasn't entirely the same. The quarians lost their world due to hubris and arrogance. These humans had lost it to fanaticism and religious extremism. More importantly the Geth had never blasted plasma on the surface of Rannoch until it burned to glass. At least as far as any of the history files stated.

Ironically enough it was one of the beings that had taken her people's world that brought her thoughts away from the destruction of another. She looked up from her walk down the halls of the Autumn to see a familiar face, or flashlight head whatever you called it. Legion was standing in the hall looking out a port window along the side of the Autumn. Tali had thought Legion had retreated back to the AI core on the Normandy, to contemplate and process events. Instead she found the Geth here, staring blankly into the abyss.

It was hard to read geth, but Tali had a feeling as to what it was doing here.

"Legion?" she said as she approaching, catching the synthetic's attention.

The Geth turned momentarily to the quarian mechanic and then back to the void.

"We were compiling information." It explained

"You don't usually do that in public." Tali reminded it, freely showing concern "What's wrong?"

Legion's head looked down for a bit, the plates along its head scrunching up and spacing out from another before it turned.

"Six Noble's actions were troubling." It explained "There were a number of possible ways to avoid the need for him to remain. He rejected all of them and forced us to leave. We do not understand why."

Tali's hunch proved right, but sadly she didn't know if she could help. When Legion returned with the others, sans three Spartans, the Geth didn't speak. Save for saying that Noble Six had 'stayed behind.' Then it seemingly slumped away, if geth could slump of course.

This was the first time she had seen a geth mourning, if you could even call it that. This was the closest to the emotion of grief Legion could probably muster, no doubt exacerbated by the glitch still in its systems. How exactly did you comfort something that couldn't feel or, more accurately in this case, wasn't supposed to feel a sense of loss comparable to organics? This wasn't like losing a program within the network, it was losing a friend. You couldn't rationalise it the same way. And while Tali knew that the separation of the Geth and the Geth Heretics had been distressing for Legion's faction, she wasn't sure if Legion's confusion and distress about that easily translated to this.

Noble Six didn't leave because of a math error or difference of opinion. He stayed behind when Legion felt he didn't need to. Was this survivor's guilt?

"He did it to save you Legion." Tali attempted to claim "He stayed so you could live."

"This platform is not required for us to survive." Legion reminded her "We could have easily transferred ourselves back to the Normandy or Autumn's systems, abandoning our hardware. We would not suffer any significant loss."

Legion had a point, the networked programs inside the body she saw before her weren't bound it. They could easily upload themselves, abandon the platform to Reach. But Tali had a feeling it wouldn't be as easy as Legion thought.

"Legion you must have already done the calculations, would you have been able to get all your programs uninstalled from the platform and back either the Normandy or the Autumn in time?" she asked

"Given significant range of both vessels from planet as well as the mass quantity of data required to transfer, we would have potentially only lost two point five percent of current programs contained in this platform as well their residual memory. In total a loss of five percent of available data."

That didn't sound like much out of context, but Tali knew geth, she had studied geth, and she knew that while it may seem paltry to them, five percent of their code, their data, was quite a bit.

"How much exactly would you have lost in bytes Legion?" Tali asked

"Nine point seven terabytes of information. Compared to Six Noble's life this is minor."

Legion's monotone masked a deeper connection which Tali picked up on quickly.

"Legion, you would've lived, but there's a chance you would've lost a part of yourself, of what made you who you were." She told the machine "I think Six understood that. He wanted you, all of you, to get out. He wanted to save you."

Legion turned his head away, processing her statement from what Tali could surmise.

"Six Noble claimed as much." It explained, turning its eye back to Tali's gaze "His last request was for us to survive, remember, to make it count. We can only assume he believed our survival was of greater importance. That it meant something more deeply rooted in organic thought processes. It is possible he even believed that when we tried to stop him it was an emotional response and not one steeped in logic."

"What do you mean?" Tali asked, confused as to what Legion was talking about.

"During our attempts to make him leave, Six Noble noticed that our glitch activated." Legion elaborated "He claimed we said 'I' instead of 'we' and asked us what we thought that meant. It was this observation that changed our consensus to a significant degree, that it was perhaps us that were using false assumptions and poor judgement. This combined with Six Noble's apparent plead for self-determination on his part convinced us to allow him to do as he wished, even if we objected to it."

Just as before, Legion's collective mind appeared to be in flux. Only this wasn't like with the heretics, a split evenly down the middle concern about which action should be taken. This was a conflict concerning an after effect, an attempt to rationalise the decision to leave Six behind. Try as they could, the collectively networked geth within the platform could not find a conclusive answer. And with that glitch inside the hardware, infecting Legion with an unstable and unquantifiable sense of individuality it was hard to know how the geth would ultimately react, only that it couldn't the why of it yet.

"But you still don't understand why he made the choice he did." Tali added a mournful drone in her voice.

Legion looked out once more to subspace as it sped past the window, its plates still stretched out aong the length of its head.

Tali could reason why Six had stayed, she didn't know him as well but she had been where he was, much like Kat. He steadily and assuredly lost friends on Reach, two in a single day at the end. Perhaps the only friends he truly had. Could he really leave Reach knowing they died there? Would Jun have come with them if he hadn't found out about Carter? If Kat had the choice would she have stayed?

Tali had thought about it once herself, on Haestrom. Locked in that observatory, hearing her friends die just outside the doors and not being able to help them. If Shepard hadn't shown up when he did she probably would've just opened the doors and let the heretic geth, probably taking as many down with her as she could. She would've felt even more guilty about surviving the ordeal had Kal not lived too.

Now it was apparently Legion's turn to feel the same way and the machine couldn't comprehend the concept. To Legion the fact it happened was even more illogical, because there were so many ways to avoid it.

"Six Noble claimed we would understand eventually. As well as made note of a story he told us. One of another Spartan who stayed behind to cover a withdraw." It said, its plates smoothing out but only slightly, spreading apart more as the synthetic spoke "We comprehend the meaning which you have confirmed. He wished for us to live as we are presently, to not have to sacrifice even a part of ourselves for his survival. But we offered, and he refused it. An organic sacrificed himself so we, synthetic life, could continue. We did not account for this possibility to occur when we left Geth space."

"You were his friend Legion." Tali tried to explain. Her voice earnest and clear as she spoke, her hands outstretched towards the geth "He had lost so many so fast, he wanted to make sure you at least made it. That may not be logical to you in the scope of things or within the context what happened, but it was to him. He couldn't sit back and watch you discard your body and probably lose a piece of yourself. To him, that was illogical, that was unacceptable."

Legion looked back to Tali slowly, the plates on its head still spread out and drooping slightly.

"He died so others could live," Tali continued "so you could live as you are, so you wouldn't have to make the same sacrifice. That's what separates the selfish from the humane."

Legion finally nodded and turned fully towards Tali.

"Then we shall do as Six Noble requested. As geth always have, with the creators and now him, we shall remember."

"I think that's all any of us can do in the end, Legion," Tali agreed "remember and hope we can live up to the same example."

Legion plates clicked together, his iris opened and closed slightly. Tali had seen this before, when Legion remembered or recalled some additional information, but she couldn't imagine what. Perhaps something else Six said to it. The geth suddenly refocused back on her.

"We are grateful for your discussion Creator Tali'Zorah." It stated "In response we have meant to speak to you about a subject that relates to this. One that Six Noble helped us in concluding."

Tali, taken aback but clearly interested in the change of subject, relaxed her arms to her side, supporting herself with one arm on her hip.

"I'm all ears Legion, go ahead." She told it

"We have long reconciled and understood your people's hatred for the Geth." Legion told her "We hold your homeworld, we killed many of your people. Self-defence or otherwise, these events are regrettable. We did not however understand your desire to return, believing it to be irrationally motivated by revenge. While that may be the case for many creators, it is clearly not the sole factor. Our actions have caused your people pain and hardship, the Geth likewise have done nothing to achieve reconciliation nor have we attempted any resemblance of action to do so. We believe now that this was born out of a feeling that until the heretics was impossible for Geth, but recent events have shown that be a false assumption."

Tali stood upright once more and looked at the geth in anticipation.

"And that is?" she asked

"Mistrust," Legion admitted "we did not trust the creators to seek any other action but our destruction. We observed your people with the same form of suspicion you showed us when we gained sentience. This was a grave error on our part. We were fearful of the repercussions of any such attempt at negotiation. In this light we are as much at fault as the creators are."

In another time Tali may have tried to shift the blame fully onto the Geth, to shout out that they had no reason to feel guilty. Legion's admission of partial guilt would've at the very least filled her with a burgeoning sense of pride. But Tali was a lot older, a lot wiser and a lot humbler now. Thanks in part to Legion and EDI themselves, as well as a certain aging human doctor. One believed there was more to her than what most others saw.

"I guess both our sides have to grow up a little if we want things to change, huh?" she asked

"It will not be easy, stagnation is hard to overcome." Legion replied, its head plates perking up a little "The past is not something easily forgotten. But if the UNSC can accept alien allies, perhaps there is a chance for reconciliation."

"Trust me Legion," Tali said staunchly "I'd like that outcome, I really would. Regardless of everything that's happened, I don't want to be your enemy anymore than you do with me. I want the fighting to end, for both our people."

Legion nodded simply.

"We believe you Creator Tali'Zorah." It assured her.

The two stood for a little over half an hour, just watching space slip by. Autumn crew members passed them now and then, catching an eye full of the quarian and the geth. None of them would've guessed these two belonged to races that were long time enemies, like they and the Covenant. To them they were just a synthetic and an alien, staring out at the stars peacefully. And for some they didn't even recognize the difference between them at first or at all as they passed.

If only Legion knew fully of what she and Halsey did down there in all those weeks. Tali wanted to tell the geth about everything she learned, about synthetic mental processes, programming, intelligence adaptation, what it all meant to her. But she couldn't, not yet. She was still trying to figure it out herself more or less.

Halsey had said Cortana needed her to help the AI along her "natural" evolution. Right now, as she looked out at the stars with Legion, Tali wondered if she wasn't also there to help her as well. Being able to stand here with a geth, to just have a moment of quiet contemplation with one another without any fighting, it wasn't hard to imagine that was the case.

* * *

><p>Kreave stomped across the dead cracked earth before him, looking for his quarry in the sandy mists. He was disappointed, he expect much more of this Spartan. For all his taunting, even after all the praise he had heaped onto the human, he was just a coward in the end, running away. Still, better he find and kill him first and not the elites. The last krogan on Reach killing the last human was too good a chance to pass up. They'd just look at him as another dead animal. He'd at least see something more. In fact the human should be glad to die at his hands. What shame was there in dying such a noble death?<p>

"Come out Spartan!" he cried aloud "I know you're better than this! I saw you and your brothers fighting at Sword! Don't tell me that was just a fluke! Don't tell me I'm wrong! Is the title of demon is just bluster among the elites after all?"

As he called out among the stones his foot hit something. He stared down at the path below to see a single dead grunt. Already half buried by the sand. It was a fresh kill, but Kreave saw that something was missing... the gas sucker's weapon.

Suddenly a fully charged green bolt struck his repeater's arm. In the shock he dropped the gun. In the next moment he felt a sting in his hump as something sharp dug into it. The Spartan's head popped up on his shoulder.

"You weren't wrong." He said

Another terrible pain stuck into Kreave's back. He swung himself around as another terrible plasma burst was fired at point blank range into his face. He grabbed the plasma pistol, even as the super heated gel ate his skin. Six let go of it, letting the Krogan crush it in his hand. The Spartan then scrambled around the krogan's left side and slashed against Kreave's eye. While the merc leader recovered, blood pouring down his face, Six jabbed the knife between the edge of the krogan's orange crest and began to dig the blade in. Kreave screamed in agony as his crest bleed profusely, the bone coming apart from the scalp. His cries stung at Six's ears, but he pressed on forcing the knife deeper inside. It hurt the bastard, good enough for him.

Kreave could withstand a lot of things, krogan were like that, but this pain was more than he could bare. He needed it to stop. He reached his now gun-free hand up and pulled at the back of the Spartan's neck. The blade came with the Spartan as he was yanked off the back of the giant lizard. Part of the crest was ripped out along with the serrated edge of the Spartan's dagger. Kreave, still in immense pain, held the Spartan by his neck.

"You stupid mammal!" he screamed aloud, his right side burned black with skin falling off, blood pouring from his wounds, his cut eye shut tight. "You stupid fucking mammal! I'll kill you! I'll tear you apart! Tear you apart! Eat your fucking heart right out of your torn asunder rib cage!"

The once so eloquent and broad speaking Krogan, self-acclaimed master strategist, now reduced to a hollering crazed barbarian. Six's visor was coming apart at the seams, but through the cracks he could see the vulnerable neck of the alien lizard. He stabbed downward with the knife in one last quick motion, burying it deep between the neck and shoulder. The krogan roared in pain and then delivered a powerful headbutt to Six's face.

The visor shattered and Six fell to the ground, smacking himself against a rock. He looked up in time to see Kreave looming over him through the broken glass of the helmet, his sword aimed for his head. He quickly grabbed the hand of the sword as it thrust down, stopping it inches in front of his nose. He held the massive titan of an alien's arm with all his strength, trying to hold him back. Six didn't let his eyes off the angered visage of the blood pack leader, but he still knew where his feet were.

He delivered a kick straight to Kreave's groin. It didn't get the alien saurian off him, but he managed to loosen the grip on the plasma sword enough to pry it away. Six grabbed at the sword's handle with his right hand slashed out across the krogan's armour with it as he motioned it back. Kreave quickly stomped onto his arm, trapping the sword under it. With his left he went for his pistol, but Kreave stomped onto the back of his elbow, crushing it with his other foot. Six growled in pain and Kreave began to barrel his fists into Six's head, pummelling him to death.

Six could barely move his pistol arm at all now, but he could move it enough and hand enough feeling in it, that he felt he could make at least one shot with it. He pointed the gun up towards the krogan's head and fired. The bullet grazed clean past the merc's head, cutting deep enough to force him off the Spartan. As he clutched at his face in pain Six sat up and jammed the plasma sword forward.

Kreave spat up blood in his giant mouth, looking down to see the plasma blade embedded in his stomach. He plodded backward, gripping at the handle of the blade. He fumbled around it until he found the sword's shutdown button. The blade flashed out of existence, the handle fell away and Kreave fell back into a rock of his own. The gaping hole in his gut allowed for a pool of blood to form around him. His eyes darted back and forth as his breathing became heavier and rushed.

"This... this wasn't supposed to happen." He squeaked out "This isn't how it's supposed to end. I had... I had a destiny. I was to be legend."

Six managed to walk over to the dying merc, his battered face seen clearly through the broken pieces of the visor. He still held his pistol in hand as he looked down at Kreave, the knife he stabbed him with earlier still sticking out of his neck.

"I was supposed to become legend." Kreave spoke, more blood pouring from his mouth, his frightened distressed and disbelieving voice becoming ever more haggard and sad."I was to be remembered as the greatest of all krogan."

Six just stared down at the krogan with pity.

"That's the thing about life Kreave," Six informed him "we don't get to chose how we're remembered. That's for others to decide. Nothing we do can change that."

Kreave hand shook as his breathing increased, his eyes darting around like mad, finally resting on Six himself.

"But... but now... no one... no one will remember me." He said, sounding like a scared child "I... I'll be forgotten. In death, I'll be forgotten."

Six wasn't sure why, but he felt he should do something. The krogan wasn't a friend, he probably didn't deserve it. He had been trying to kill just seconds before. But as despicable a creature he was, as selfish and self-centered as he was, Six didn't feel like gloating over him. Even though he knew that if the situation was reversed Kreave would do so, he wanted to be the better one in all of this.

"Before he died my friend asked something of me." He told the mercenary "When I knew I wouldn't be able to do it, I passed the duty on to another friend. It wasn't much of a request. All he asked, was that somebody remember us. Remember this place, this planet. As long as someone knows of Reach, of what happened here, they'll remember us. It doesn't require song or monuments, just someone else to remember the place we fell."

Kreave looked up, his pained, frightened expression giving way to a small weak smile.

"Then... it's a good death." He said weakly.

The krogan suddenly coughed up a large puddle of blood onto his torn open body. He slumped back onto his rock.

"Do me a favour Spartan," he said, fading fast "when the Sangheili come... kill many. Die... well."

Kreave's head rolled to the side, letting out one last pained breath as he slipped away. Six looked upon his dead enemy for a moment longer. Knowing he'd soon be like that himself. And yet, he wasn't afraid. He was content, just as Emile had been. Just as Jorge. Just as Carter.

A plasma bolt ripped into his shoulder and Six stumbled forward. He pulled off his shattered helmet and threw it to the ground. The sand and wind cut deep into his wounds, but he pressed on despite the minor inconvenience, the pain would pass soon enough. He pulled Legion's geth assault rifle off his back and fired into the approaching elite. He practically poured every round he had left in the chamber into the covie bastard. He watched the shields fail and then finally the alien fall to the ground in a heap. He then heard the snapping flash of a plasma sword behind him and turned to shoulder check the elite sneaking up from behind in the face. The alien went down and Six pulled out his pistol to fire a round clean into his skull. He fired the rifle again along with his pistol, cutting into the elites now swarming him. Plasma slashed against the side of his torso, but it didn't matter. He stared straight into the eyes of his enemy as they closed firing bullet after bullet from his pistol and rifle as the aliens approached. He took down a third elite with his pistol, his body collapsing just in front of Six's discarded helmet.

That was when the fourth elite got the drop on him, tackling Six the ground. The Spartan kicked him off briskly before turning to punch one of his onrushing friends clean in the face. He punched him hard enough for his sword to go flying. The elite he kicked off rushed in again with his sword and once more Six punched him clean in the jaw sending him tumbling away.

He saw more elites crowding around and the one he socked hard enough to make him drop his sword coming back as well. He activated a second blade and closed for the kill. Six didn't blink, didn't shut his eyes, he stared the covie bastard down, roaring loudly with bit of strength he had left.

* * *

><p>Tali walked through the open door way as it slid open for. She was back in Shepard's cabin, the first time since their argument. Unlike before this time the Commander was waiting for her, sitting on the bed, his helmet in his hands. He looked up as he saw the doors open wide.<p>

"Keyes says as long as we're in slipspace we'll be fine, but we'll have to leave eventually." She began "Most of the UNSC personnel have been shooed off the ship for now. They're still drawing up who will be sleeping where. A lot more people ended up on this ship than they thought, so we made have to start rationing all our food. Luckily, Gardner says he bought a lot of stuff in bulk so we should be okay. And I've already arranged for some of the engine crew to do some shifts helping out on the Autumn. Should give us some experience for the continued work on our own slipspace drive."

"Well, guess nothing to do but wait till we leave slipspace huh?" Shepard asked "Wherever this blind jump takes us."

"I guess." Tali agreed

There was a brief silence, Shepard looking down at the floor through most of it. Tali finally worked up the nerve to get close enough to ask the obvious question.

"Are you okay?" she asked "It was... pretty bad down there."

"We got as many out as we could, took down the generator, but we still lost the planet." He said forlornly "I guess as soon as the armada showed up that was inevitable."

"We made a difference where it counted," Tali assured him "if it wasn't for the Normandy more ships would've been lost to that supercruiser. We stopped the Covenant invasion of our home dimension. And we took their relic away from them."

Shepard huffed a chuckle.

"I guess you have to count your victories where you can." He admitted, finally standing up. He looked directly into Tali's eyes, catching her silver gaze as he approached her. "Look, about before."

Tali tried to shake her head.

"Wade, you don't need to apologise." She sincerely replied.

"No, I do." He insisted "You were trying to make me see what I was doing to myself. How I was closing off everyone that wanted to help, that I was only thinking about how this all affects me, not you. I was being selfish and in the course of it I was forgetting who I was, what I stood for. You tried to bring me back and I yelled in your face for it."

He grasped Tali's hands in his.

"I could've lost the one chance I had to remind you how much you mean to me." He told her, delicately stroking her fingers. "That's inexcusable, and I am sorrier than I can possibly express for that."

Tali brought Shepard's hands up to her face mask and nuzzled them lightly.

"Someone told me it's easy to get angry, it's harder to forgive." She said "You don't need to worry about that with me."

Shepard nodded in response, pulling her closer to him.

"I just wanted you to know. You helped me see what I was becoming and stopped me from going down that path." He said to her softly "Just like you did before at the collector base. Down there, I had the chance to end the wormhole generator quick and easy. But it would've meant sacrificing the lives of Buck and his people. I couldn't do that, but I almost did. You pleading for me to help them... I think it brought me back from that train of thought. And if you hadn't stopped me I would've killed Xytas in the hold and then we wouldn't have had the bomb we needed to complete the mission."

She looked flattered, but regardless she responded somewhat sceptically.

"Sounds a bit more luck working in our favour for once actually." Tali admitted

"Maybe, but it still proves I was wrong before." Shepard continued "I can't second guess and ask what could've been, what I should've done and all those what ifs that plagued me before. I need to stick to my convictions as best as I can, who I am as a person as long as possible, remember what I value and hold dear. Otherwise, what am I fighting for in the end? I need to trust in myself and those around me, or none of us will make it through this. But the worst consequence of all that is that I'd risk losing everything in the process."

He pulled Tali into him and the Quarian wrapped her arms around his neck. She stood on the tips of her toes, bringing her eyes to his. Shepard steadied her by placing a hand on her hips, using his free one to stroke her mask.

"You haven't lost me yet Wade," Tali assured "you can count on that."

Shepard smiled warmly at the quarian, moving his hand down the length of one of her arms.

"Still, I need to make up for all the time we've lost." Shepard told her, his voice becoming a bit more brazen "Sounds like we have quite a bit of time actually. Does that offer you made awhile back still stand?"

He could see Tali's eyes flutter a bit and narrow into a unabashed stare.

"Trouble with Tribbles?" she asked, a flirty little edge to her voice

"I'm sure Gardner has some dextro snacks you can enjoy while we watch." Shepard added slyly "I'll even throw in the NOMAD episode just for you."

"You know just what to say to a girl." Tali giggled

She placed her head against Shepard's chest for a brief moment, while her Commander held her close to him. He smoothed his hand across her back, eliciting a little tingly little moan from Tali. However, the Quarian suddenly backed her head away.

"I just remembered," she said, sounding more serious in tone "there's something you need to know. About this blind jump we're on."

"What about it?" Shepard asked intrigued.

"When we were imprinting and transferring data into Cortana's fragment one of the chief pieces of information was a set of coordinates embedded within the relic." She explained to him. Her voice was steady and grave. "It was based on a specific set of symbols. We don't know what they said, but we gathered they referred to a star chart and something else. Something important to the Forerunners."

"What exactly?" Shepard asked intrigued

"I don't know, but Halsey said that with the fragment's knowledge of the coordinates and its understanding of the symbols themselves, once it was reintegrated into Cortana she would be able to decipher some of their meaning. Maybe not enough to know what is there exactly, but she should know enough to figure out how to reach it."

Shepard looked up to the window above his bed into the ceiling of the Autumn's hanger bay.

"So our blind jump isn't so blind is it?" he asked "Does Keyes know?"

"I think he suspects, he wouldn't have went along with if Halsey didn't give him a reason for all this." She surmised "Whatever it is, Halsey had a hunch that Reach in general was just a means to an end. A way of finding that set of coordinates. If it's that important to the Covenant it may just be the thing that could turn the tide in this war and maybe even the reapers."

A hopeful thought to contemplate on at least. Shepard turned his eyes back to Tali and reached under her chin with a hand.

"Who knows," Shepard told her gingerly "we'll find out when we get there. For now, I've spent enough time worrying about tomorrow I think."

He placed his forehead against Tali's and began to lead her to the bed to lay down. There was still a war to fight, a home to get back to, galaxies to save. But for now, all that mattered to each of them was this moment, this point in time.

* * *

><p><em>Shepard escaped, the device has been destroyed. The information was stolen. Shepard most likely possesses it.<em>

**It is of little consequence. You shall rebuild and reattempt to stabilize the singularity. We are nothing if not patient. Shepard's place in things is still in flux. He could still be useful.**

_He is a distraction Harbinger. He must be eliminated._

**In time he shall. Is he aware of the invasion's true intentions?**

_He believes the Covenant shall be our heralds. He does not know the truth. The misinformation was deliberate and necessary. He needed to believe his assumptions were correct._

**If he possesses the information then he will lead you to what we seek. It is therefore fortunate your trap failed.**

_There is nothing to support that conclusion. In any case the next time I encounter Shepard I will remove him from the equation. He will have served his purpose regardless._

**Do as you wish. Complete your repairs and then follow this, Pillar of Autumn to our prize. Be wary, the UNSC is doubtlessly aware of your existence now. You are not equipped to fight them.**

_I will not need to if this mission bears fruit. The cycle will continue._

**The harvest approaches rapidly "Inquisitor." Make haste with your declaration. This exchange has ended.**

* * *

><p>The Inquisitor returned to a outward view of its systems. Below the smoking burned husk of the planet Reach, the wreckage of hundreds of human warships strewn about it in orbit, countless bodies floating in the void. Around him the Covenant fleet worked tirelessly. They were using mesh and metal from their destroyed ships to repair the massive multi-legged machine with eager zeal. They were most willing to please.<p>

Soon he would be revitalized, repaired, whole again. He would have a new weapon, one he would quickly see about upgrading to increase its already potent potential. And then, he would see that the wrath of the Covenant followed in pursuit of Shepard to end his interference once and for all.

Nothing would stop the cycle.

* * *

><p>Countless light years away something was waiting. It stared out into a room full of metal dead things, things that kept it imprisoned. It had been like this for so long, so very long. It floated in its brine, diminished but not defeated. Powerless, but patient. It could sense its long desired freedom drawing near. It could sense that events were soon to unfold that would see it break free of this prison of glass, liquid, metal and rock. Till then it would focus on the one thing that kept it sustained and yet caused it so much agony. Soon, the universe would once again share in that single prevailing thought. That single minded goal that would unite all under its banner. They would answer the coming call, they would join it, welcome it.<p>

Its cry of hunger would be answered at last.

* * *

><p>AN: And with that, we close the book on the story of Reach and the trials of Normandy crew to survive it. Now Buck, Dutch, Romeo, Kat, Colonel Holland, a whole cadre of troopers and Marines, Jun and even Linda are along for the ride with the Autumn. The Savannah survives, and just so you know, and this will be expanded on next time, Keyes and Holland are aware of the Reapers at last. Kreave is dead, but that's not all she wrote from the Blood Pack in this story. They may not appear as much next time, but they will be present in a sense, maybe not where you think however. Shepard and Tali's relationship is mended, Kowalski has survived, Garrus has his confidence back, Legion has lost its (or more accurately their) best friend, Kat has survivor's guilt time ten, and of course Shepard and the Master Chief have finally met. All in all, a pretty good mix of a bunch of bad with some sprinkles of good. Much like life in general to be honest.<p>

I gotta tell ya, it's been one hell of a ride writing this story. I didn't expect as big a response as I got from you all and I appreciate your continued support. I wouldn't have powered on through this without knowing that all of you guys out there enjoyed and eagerly awaited reading each chapter of this story. I hope I've opened your eyes a bit to the Halo Universe and showed it's just as legitimate an epic sci-fi story as Mass Effect if you were one of those sceptical folks of the series. Halo is a lot deeper than the run and gun generic FPS title it gets slapped with constantly and hearing from people that this story made them actually care about the characters from the Haloverse means to me that in some way I accomplished that goal. For people who are more Mass Effect fans, I hope this little story of mine reminded you of what makes the series great. For good or ill, it will always be the characters that bring you back to Mass Effect. That was why people got so angry and passionate about ME3, the characters. I don't think it was so much the decisions that pissed people off as it was the lingering questions and problems people saw in character action that angered so many. Above all, we kinda wanted to know what happened to the friends we got to know so well over the course of three games. I do hope I reminded folks at the very least why they loved this series so much, regardless of how they feel about the ending of it all.

And even though we've had our rough patches, debates about plasma and concerns about character nerfing, and not to mention my frequent annoying spelling mistakes that I'm still constantly always vigilant for and continuously searching to annihilate, I'm happy you tolerated it all and didn't abandon my silly little crossover because of them. For that I'm truly grateful, and I will always try to improve myself and better the story because of your input.

But of course, and just to make clear for the billionth time as everyone keeps asking me, this is not the end. As a great man once said, we're just getting started. The battle installation zero four is on the horizon people. I'll be taking a good long break, as I'm kinda Halo'd and Mass Effected out as of now. But I will be working on the story periodically over the coming months and hopefully I'll have the first chapter out before Halo 4 drops. Till then I'm gonna be kinda on a Transformers vacation. With Fall of Cybertron coming up I have my own epic story to eagerly dive into soon. And before you ask, yes, I totally got inspiration for the Kreave and Six fight scene from watching Megatron and Optimus Prime fight each other in the animated movie. In any case, I got games to catch up on, outlines to plan, other less demanding projects to work on and inevitably a new school year upon me. I'm gonna enjoy what little summer I have left. So until next time loyal and dear viewers, remember... Spartans never die, they're just missing in action.


End file.
